When To Use Definite vs. Indefinite Articles in English

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hi everybody my name is Alisha in this

lesson I’m going to talk about how to

use a and the and when to use no article

so let’s get started okay first I want

to begin by talking about using a and an

these are the indefinite articles that

we use in English regarding

pronunciation

you might hear people use up or a you

can choose whichever you prefer they’re

both correct so we use the indefinite

article or an when we want to introduce

a noun so that means it’s our first time

using the noun like when we’re telling a

story for example so the first time we

introduce the noun we use a or an to do

that so we use a if the following noun

begins with a consonant sound a

consonant sound some examples of this a

cookie this is a consonant sound a pen

this is a consonant sound and a fish so

this is a consonant sound so if the next

word if the following noun begins with a

consonant sound we should use the

indefinite article then we use an when

the following noun begins with a vowel

sound so some examples of this are an

apple so here we have a as our vowel

sound we use an and apple and egg hear

the sound and then an hour so here this

is a vowel sound so this is a great

example of this note that I want to

mention sound does not equal spelling so

I said when the following noun begins

with a vowel sound we use an here yes

we have the consonant H beginning this

word but it makes a vowel sound and our

our so it’s like the H doesn’t make that

H sound so an hour we use this

indefinite article and instead of so

please be careful we’re listening for a

sound not for the spelling in this case

okay then as you can see we use the

indefinite article before nouns in the

singular form only so for example you

don’t see s at the end of these words we

can only use the singular form so

meaning one of something only the

singular form when you’re using the

indefinite article so a very simple

example sentence using the indefinite

article is I got a dog we might start a

story with this I got a dog so dog is in

the singular I got one dog this is a new

dog I’m introducing this dog to my

conversation so I use to do that okay

let’s compare this now to the definite

article the is the definite article in

English so we use the to refer to a

known or a specific noun so this can be

something that we directly explain or we

just understand it from the context so

relating to this point something that we

understand from context or a specific

noun this can be when there’s only one

of something so a great example of this

is some countries for example the United

States of America or like the republic

of so-and-so does begin with the so

there’s only one of that and we

understand that we use the in cases like

that then like the title ok so we use

that to talk about things we know about

so something that we heard earlier in a

conversation or earlier in a story for

example or when we know what the noun is

so we can use this before singular or

plural forms of nouns so

here’s an example I got a dog which we

saw before I got a dog

I bought a bed for the dog here I’ve

used the because in this sentence I

mentioned this dog the dog in this

sentence is the dog I bought or I got

rather in the first sentence so I’m

introducing it here I got a dog this is

my introductory statement kind of my

full sentence here’s this new

information this new noun I got a dog in

my next sentence I want to mention this

same dog I use that to describe that I

bought a bed for the dog

you’ll also notice here I’ve introduced

another new thing I bought a bed for the

dog so I’ve used the indefinite article

here this is another new thing but I

want to refer to the same known noun

that I introduced in the previous

sentence okay so this is an introduction

to using the definite article now let’s

look at when to use no article so no uh

no and no the we use no article when

referring generally to a group or all

instances like all kinds are all types

of something we use this a lot when

we’re talking about things we like or

dislike for example so we use the plural

form of the noun we do not use the

singular form we need to use the plural

form a very simple example of this is I

like dogs I like dogs so you’ll see here

I’ve used the plural form dogs so by

saying I like dogs it means I like all

instances of that I like all examples of

dogs all different kinds of dogs I like

dogs

okay so let’s continue on then to a

short story example that I prepared so

this example includes uses of the

indefinite article the definite article

and cases where we’ll see no article

there are a couple points I want to talk

about so let’s take a look

last weekend I took a

us to a park near my neighborhood I

walked around the park then I found a

place to sit down and relax I read a

book took photos and enjoyed watching

the people at the park but I got bit by

a bug

I hate mosquitoes so this is a very

simple story about something that

happened recently this is a past tense

story

it features indefinite definite articles

and no article so let’s take a look

last weekend I took a bus so I’m

introducing a bus this is the first case

where I’m explaining a bus in my story

so I took a bus to a park near my

neighborhood so a park near my

neighborhood this means there could be

other parks near the neighborhood I want

to talk about one in particular to a

park in my neighborhood I walked around

the park so here I used the to refer to

this park I introduced earlier in my

story I walked around the park this park

I talked about before then found a place

to sit down and relax so my next step

was to find a place so I’m using up here

because the place is just any place I

just chose one specific place to sit

down and relax this could be any place I

want to talk about just one in

particular okay then I said I read a

book so again I’m using a here to

introduce this so I have not talked

about the book before I want to

introduce my book to the story I read a

book took photos so here there’s nothing

you’ll notice I took a photo I could say

I took a photo if I took one photo but

maybe if I took a lot of photos I would

say I took photos I took photos and I

enjoyed watching the people at the park

so this the I think is pretty clear at

the park so I’m talking about the

specific park I visited

this one however I’ve included in

parentheses watching the people at the

park why did I do this so there are some

cases where it’s correct to use the and

it’s correct to use no article this is

one example of that here enjoyed

watching the people in the park and

enjoyed watching people in the park

those are both correct sentences

actually there’s not really a difference

in meaning here because I’ve included a

location here like if I said I enjoyed

watching the people I might be confused

as the listener like which people who

were you watching

so saying watching people at the park

makes it clear that it’s only about

people who were at the park if I want to

be extra specific and give extra

emphasis I can include that here

watching the people in the park like

this is the thing I was focusing my

attention on in the park so you can

choose to include it you can choose not

to include it they communicate the same

thing but this is one example of a

situation where you could use you could

use the article or you could choose not

to okay then our last sentence but I got

bit by a bug a bug so again new thing

something new is in my story a bug in

this case by one bug then I finish with

this expression

I hate mosquitoes so mosquitoes are

those small bugs that bite you and it

gets really itchy a mosquito but I’m

making a general statement all

mosquitoes I hate mosquitoes may be

because they bite so I used the plural

form I hate mosquitoes with no article

I hate mosquitoes so this is a simple

example of a situation or a story where

you would use definite indefinite and no

article to explain something that

happened to you so I hope that this

lesson gives you a good introduction to

how and when to use a an and that and no

article but if you have any questions or

comments or if you want to practice

making a story in the comment section

please feel free to do so of course if

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lesson and I will see you again soon bye

bye

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