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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thanks very much for watching this
lesson and I will see you again soon bye
bye
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