ARTICLES

The Indefinite Article

A or an
A or an comes before a singular countable noun. A comes be a consonant sound, but an comes before a vowel sound.


Examples:
1. I would like to eat an apple.
2. My uncle is an honest man.
3. My uncle has a car in his house.


Use a (n)


1. Before an unidentified singular noun that is one example of its class, but the number one is not being emphasized.

Examples:
- A white cat  is standing in the road.( The emphasis is not on the number).


- One white cat is standing in the road. ( The emphasis is on the number).


2. Before an unidentified singular countable noun that is representative of its class, as in a definition.


Examples:
- A tiger is furous animal.
- A computer is a technological apparatus.


3. Before a predicate noun after to be if no other determiner is used.


Examples:
- Midey is a good friend.
- Michael Jackson was a famous singer.


4. With uncountable nouns to mean a kind of, or  with kind of, or centain.


Example:
- Estela has a responsability that we all appreciate.


 The definite article

The can be used with all nouns. Use the to identify a noun that shows.
1. Reference backward to anoun already mentioned.


Example:
- A lion has been roaring all night and here is the lion now, standing outside the zoo.


2. Reference forward to a identification soon to be made, often by modifiers following the noun.


Examples:
- The thief at the door wants to steal your T.V
- The big parrot that has been repeating all afternoon has finally stopped speaking.


Also, use the  before superlatives and before ordinal numbers.


Examples:
- This is the best friend that I have ever known.
- Humberto is the tallest man that I have known in my class.


3. Context known to both writer and reader.


Examples:
- Here comes the classmate.( one classmate known to the class)
- Turn off the light in the bedroom.( only one light in one bedroom)




4. Identification of a class, especially in a generalization.


Example:
- The child is the hope in the family.