subject: T1 - "A, An, The" definite and indefinite articles in English [print this page] T1 - "A, An, The" definite and indefinite articles in English
B1 - I am from Seattle, Washington. Seattle is a city in the United States. It is near the border of Canada in the northwest corner of the USA. I live in a town called Olympia which is on the Puget Sound. I live in a house in a street in the countryside. The street is called "Bear Street" and the house is old - more than 100 years old! I am an English teacher at a school in the center of the town. I like books and taking photographs. I usually have lunch at school. I usually go home by car. We have all kinds of food in Olympia. I like Italian food very much. Sometimes, I go to an Italian restaurant in Seattle. The restaurant is called "Luigi's". Italian food is great!
Here are the rules for when to use "A, An or The": * a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonants She has a dog. I work in a factory. * an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with vowels (a,e,i,o,u) Can I have an apple? She is an English teacher. * the = definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know) The car over there is fast. The teacher is very good, isn't he? * The first time you speak of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that object use "the". I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms. I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good. * DO NOT use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States". He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier. They live in northern British Columbia. * Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas - My country borders on the Pacific Ocean * DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general I like Russian tea. She likes reading books. * DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport He has breakfast at home. I go to university. He comes to work by taxi.
