Articles: A, An, The

Use 'a' before consonant sounds, 'an' before vowel sounds, and 'the' for specific things both speaker and listener know.

beginnerDeterminersDifficulty: 1/10

Explanation

Indefinite Articles (a, an):

  • a - used before words that start with consonant sounds
  • an - used before words that start with vowel sounds
  • Used for non-specific, countable singular nouns

Definite Article (the):

  • Used when both speaker and listener know what is being referred to
  • Used with superlatives (the best, the tallest)
  • Used with unique things (the sun, the moon)

Examples

[{"correct": "I saw a dog in the park.", "incorrect": "I saw dog in park.", "explanation": "Use 'a' for non-specific dog, 'the' for specific park"}, {"correct": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away.", "incorrect": "A apple a day keeps doctor away.", "explanation": "'Apple' starts with vowel sound, use 'an'"}, {"correct": "The book you lent me is great.", "incorrect": "Book you lent me is great.", "explanation": "Specific book that both know about"}, {"correct": "She is the smartest student.", "incorrect": "She is smartest student.", "explanation": "Use 'the' with superlatives"}]

Practice

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Grammar Stats

CategoryDeterminers
Levelbeginner
Difficulty
1/10