ARTICLES

We use a/an to:

1. Refer to one thing (a dog, a cat, etc)
2. Talk one thing for the first time.
3. Make generalizations (A banana is yellow.)
We can use plural nouns to make generalizations
(Bananas are yellow.)
We use a before a consonant and an before
a vowel (u,e,o,a,i)

We use the:
1. to talk about a specified thing (the dog in my house,
the car I bought last year, etc.)
2. to refer to one thing for the second time
3. with countries or places where the name refers to a
group of islands or states (the United States, the UK,
the Philippines, etc.)
4. with superlatives (the best, the longest, the highest,
etc.)
5. with cardinal numbers (the first, the second, the
third, etc.)
6. when there is only one in the world (the sky, the
internet, etc.)
7. with musical instruments (the guitar, the piano, the
violin, etc.)
8. to refer to general geographical area (the
countryside, the beach, the forest, etc.)