ARTICLES AND DETERMINERS.

A determiner is a word that introduces a noun.

It always comes before a noun, not after, and it also comes before any other adjectives used to
describe the noun.

Determiners are required before a singular noun but are optional when it comes to introducing
plural nouns. For example, consider the placement and usage of the common determiner the in
the sentences below:
 The bunny went home. (Comes directly before the noun)

 I ate the chocolate cookie for dessert. (Comes before the adjective “chocolate” that
describes the noun ("cookie").

 Metal cans are recyclable.  (there is no determiner, as determiners are optional for plural
nouns and noun phrases.) (“cans” is plural)

 The metal cans are recyclable. (Determiners are used here as to refer to specific nouns
i.e., the metal cans right here).

There are four different types of determiners in English: articles, demonstratives,

quantifiers, and possessives.
ARTICLES
There are three singular articles: a, an, and the.
A and an are indefinite articles and are used when you are talking about a general version of the
noun. For example:
 A dog is a good pet.
 An ostrich would beat a chicken in a race.
You use the article "a" before words that start with a consonant sound and "a" before words that
start with a vowel sound. 
A consonant sound is words that start with sound from the letter b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q,
r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z
Example
1) A barn
2) A cat
3) A horse
4) A river
Vowel sound is word that start with sound from the letter a, e, i, o, u.
Example
1) An ostrich
2) An apple
3) An open door
4) An hour
However, there is an exception towards this rule as some words that start with the letter a, e, i, o,
u is required to start with the article A
Example
1) A university
2) A unique point of view
3) A European
This is because the sound of the word comes from consonant letters which requires us to put the
article A before it. This is the same case as certain words that start with consonant letters but has
the article “an” before it due to it starting with the sound of vowel letters.
Example
1) An hour
 2) An honor
3) An FBI agent
1. The is called the definite article because it usually precedes a specific or previously
mentioned noun
 We went to the best restaurant in town.
 The dog is barking too loudly.
Here the speaker is referring to a particular dog and a particular restaurant. It's not a general
category, but only one animal or place that's important. When your meaning is specific, use a
definite article.

2. The is used with specific nouns. The is required when the noun it refers to represents
something that is one of a kind:
The moon circles the earth.

3. The is required when the noun it refers to represents something in the abstract:
The United States has encouraged the use of the private automobile as opposed to the use of
public transit.