To choose an appropriate article for a noun, you must first determine whether the noun is common or proper, count or noncount, singular or plural, and specific or general. The chart describes the types of nouns.
Articles are classified as indefinite and definite. The indefinite articles, a and an, are used with general nouns. The definite article, the, is used with specific nouns. (The chart explains general and specific nouns.)
A and an both mean “one” or “one among many.” Use a before a consonant sound: a banana, a tree, a picture, a happy child, a united family. Use an before a vowel sound: an eggplant, an occasion, an uncle, an honorable person.
The shows that a noun is specific; use the with one or more than one specific thing: the newspaper, the soldiers.
Choosing articles for common nouns
Types of nouns
Exercise: Using articles 1
Exercise: Using articles 2
Exercise: Using articles 3
Exercise: Articles and types of nouns
Related topic:
Types of nouns