Articles are small words that we use before nouns. There are only three articles in English: a, an, and the. They tell us whether we are talking about any one thing or one particular thing.

Without articles:
Riya saw elephant in zoo.

With articles:
Riya saw an elephant in the zoo.

See how the articles make the sentence sound complete?

Two kinds of articles:

Kind Articles Used for Example
Indefinite articles a, an any one person or thing (not a particular one) I saw a dog. (any dog)
Definite article the a particular person or thing I saw the dog. (the one we both know)

When do we use a or an?

Article Used before Examples
a words that begin with a consonant sound a book, a pen, a university
an words that begin with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u) an apple, an egg, an hour

Careful! We go by the sound, not just the letter. “University” starts with a “yoo” sound, so we say a university. “Hour” starts with an “ow” sound because the h is silent, so we say an hour.

Remember: A and an are indefinite (any one thing). The is definite (one particular thing). Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound.

Last modified: Saturday, 24 October 2026, 11:14 AM