Indefinite
Articles “a”, “an” / Definite Article “the”
A/an are indefinite articles meaning one
and are used before singular count nouns.
A is used before words beginning with a consonant
sound (a house, a wide avenue, a university);
an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound (an
apple, an hour, an unhappy boy.)
The definite article the, meaning this one
or that one, is used before the following:
ordinal numbers
the tenth name on the list
superlatives
the best in the country
family names used in the plural the Browns, the
Smiths
geographical areas
the South, the East
names of certain countries the United States
specific rivers, seas, oceans, gulfs
the Columbia River
mountain ranges
the Rocky Mountains
nouns modified by a clause the house which we bought
a language when the word language follows
the English language
certain illnesses
the flu
The is omitted before certain nouns:
a language when the word language is not included
French, German, Spanish
countries, with few exceptions Venezuela, Italy, Egypt
streets, avenues
Third Street, Fifth Avenue
cities
Kansas City, London, Paris
games, sports
football, jogging
proper names
Henry, Mrs. White, Professo Jones
certain parts of the day sunset,
dawn
cardinal numbers
ten, sixteen, twenty-three
school subjects
chemistry, algebra, history
plural of uncountable nouns used in a general sense
Coffee is grown in Brazil.
meals
breakfast, lunch, supper
holidays
Thanksgiving, Christmas
days of the week
Monday, Thursday, Saturday
months of the year
January, March, August
lakes (except groups of lakes) Lake Huron (but:
the Great Lakes)
bays
Hudson Bay
islands
Treasure Island
parks
Central Park
continents
South America, Asia
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This page last updated on 1/27/03