03.02 Articles

Articles

The 'Desperate Housewives' pointing meme with Shakespeare’s face.

What and why?

Definite: the
Indefinite: a / an

What and why?

Telling the reader whether they already know about a thing, or whether it’s new to the conversation.

A bit of history

The Rosetta Stone

Definite: the

Images of Julius Caesar and Choleric the Goth from the Asterix series of comics

Indefinite: a and an

Image of the card game 'Uno and friends'.

Fake it till you make it

$Flowchart for using the, a, an, and none of them at all in English.$

Specific?

Flowchart, highlighting 'Specific?'.

There’s only one

A picture of outer space.

There’s only one (in scope)

The earth

There’s only one (in scope)

Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands

There’s only one (in scope)

Charles III, King of England

Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands

There’s only one (in scope)

Charles III, King of England

Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands

Elvis Presley

There’s only one (in scope)

A single car with a target on it.

There are many, but this is mine

Dog with a rock on its nose and the caption 'This is my rock. There are many like it but this one is mine.'

It’s a specific group

Dark and light Lewis chessmen

Specific: the

Flowchart, highlighting 'Specific?' and 'THE'.

Non-specific

'The Son of Man' painting by René Magritte.

Countable?

Flowchart, highlighting 'Countable?'.

Countable

Picture of Captain Kirk with multiple tribbles.

Uncountable

Composite image of a drawing of a lightbulb, a section of the Periodic Table of the Elements, a photo of a body of water, and a photo of a pile of grain

Non-specific, uncountable: —

Flowchart, highlighting 'Countable?' and '---'

Singular?

Flowchart, highlighting 'Singular?'.

Non-specific, plural: —

Flowchart, highlighting 'Singular?' and '---'

Vowel sound?

Flowchart, highlighting 'Vowel sound?'.

Vowel rules

Image of 'The Scream' with 'AN' over it, and 'Mona Lisa' with 'A' over it.

Exceptions

Flowchart, highlighting 'MyTh? PLANS?'.

MyTh?

Picture of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings, pointing at the viewer

PLANS?

The word PLANS in an architectural font

Exceptions: —

Flowchart, highlighting 'MyTh? PLANS?'.

Fin

Line drawing of a fish