The Article

The Indefinite Article

In English, the two indefinite articles are a and an. Like other articles, indefinite articles are invariable. You use one or the other, depending on the first letter of the word following the article, for pronunciation reasons.

Use a when the next word starts with a consonant, or before words starting in u and eu when they sound like you. 

Use an when the next word starts with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) or with a mute h:

• a boy.
• a car.
• a big elephant.
• a european.
• a university.

• an apple.
• an itchy sweater.
• an ugly duck.
• an animal.
• an ice cream.

• a unniversity.
• a euro.
• a european.
• a use.
• a usually.

• an hour.
• an hospital.
• an helicopter.
• an ham.
• an hamburger.

The Definite Article

The word "the" is one of the most common words in English. It is our only definite article. Nouns in English are preceded by the definite article when the speaker believes that the listener already knows what he is referring to. The speaker may believe this for many different reasons, some of which are listed below.

Use the to refer to something which has already been mentioned:

• the cable.
• the hospital.
• the cap.
• the school.
• the car.

• the armour.
• the ear.
• the ice.
• the ocean.
• the uncle.

• the milk.
• the fish.
• the ship.
• the car.
• the motocycle.