T1 Articles

Printed Page H-86

count noun A noun that names people and things that can be counted: one teacher, two teachers; one movie, several movies.

noncount noun A noun that names things or ideas that are not or cannot be counted: thunder, money, happiness.

proper noun The capitalized name of a specific person, group, place, or thing.

The rules for using articles (a, an, and the) are complicated. Your choice depends on whether the article appears before a count, noncount, or proper noun. An article is used before a common noun to indicate whether the noun refers to something specific (the moon) or whether it refers to something that is one among many or has not yet been specified (a planet, an asteroid). In addition, for some nouns, the absence of an article indicates that the reference is not specific.