Hi Lyn,
Here is one of my posts from a previous thread on the topic of articles. It might help.
Posted: 03-30-2005 12:26 PM
The correct use of articles is acknowledged to be one of the most difficult points of English grammar, so don't be despondant Ali; mistakes don't usually matter too much, as you will still be understood.
First, we don't usually use an article with plural or uncountable nouns. e.g. "there are lots of fish in the sea" NOT "Lots of the fish in the sea". "I love cats" NOT "I love the cats".
"The" is a definite article, as Jazz says. We use it for the following:
* to refer to something which has already been mentioned
"Ali posted a question to English Forum; THE question was about articles."
*when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not been mentioned before.
"Have you done the housework?"
* when we are speaking about a particular person or object
"The man over there is a famous film actor."
* objects which are regarded as unique
"The sun" "the moon" "the sea" "The world"
* with adjectives which refer to a whole group of people
"The English" "The Americans"
* names of geographical areas
"The Indian Ocean" "the Sahara Desert"
and finally
* with groups of years
"the seventies" "the 1800's"
a/an are indefinite articles.
We use 'a' when the word which follows begins with a consonant. (i.e. any letter whch is not a vowel),
"a book" "a film"
We also use 'a' in front of a word which begins with vowels which sound like a consonant (e.g. 'u' & 'eu' sound like 'y', so we say "a university", "a euphoric experience"
We use 'an' when the word which follows begins with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u).
"an apple" "an exciting time"
As Jazz says, sometimes 'h' isa silent letter, i.e. we don't pronounce it, and we use 'an' in front of these words. I'm afraid these just have to be learned, but there aren't many of them. (e.g. "an hour" "an honest boy" "an hotel".)
Indefinite articles are used:
* When we talk about something for the first time.
"lets go to see a film"
* when we talk about particular groups of people (don't confuse this with the groups mentioned above)
e.g.
*jobs "a doctor"
*nationalities "an Englishwoman",
*religions " a Muslim"
*musical instruments "a piano" (but, if we are describing an action we say "he is playing THE piano", because we are speaking about one particular piano)
*names of days "I go to town on a Monday"
*with numbers "a hundred pounds" "a thousand and one uses"
*when we talk about one particular thing or person "she has a beautiful silver bracelet", " a thief stole it"
Ok - that's a fairly long explanation! Now how about some practice? Go to this site
http://a4esl.org/
Click on English grammar quizes, easy, then look at level 2 "Articles". You will find some exercises there to help you.
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