What is an article? Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns. English has two articles: the and a/an. The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns;a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite article. the = definite article a/an = indefinite article For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I say, "Let's read abook," I mean any book rather than a specific book For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I say, "Let's read abook," I mean any book rather than a specific book. Here's another way to explain it: The is used to refer to a specific or particular member of a group. For example, "I just saw the most popular movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use the. "A/an" is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. For example, "I would like to go see a movie." Here, we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking about any movie. There are many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in mind. Let's look at each kind of article a little more closely. A, An or The? When do we say "the dog" and when do we say "a dog"? (On this page we talk only about singular, countable nouns.) The and a/an are called "articles". We divide them into "definite" and "indefinite" like this: Articles Definite Indefinite the a, an We use "definite" to mean sure, certain. "Definite" is particular. We use "indefinite" to mean not sure, not certain. "Indefinite" is general. When we are talking about one thing in particular, we use the. When we are talking about one thing in general, we use a or an. Think of the sky at night. In the sky we see 1 moon and millions of stars. So normally we would say: • I saw the moon last night. • I saw a star last night. Look at these examples: the a, an • The capital of France is Paris. • I have found the book that I lost. • Have you cleaned the car? • There are six eggs in the fridge. • Please switch off the TV when you finish. • I was born in a town. • John had an omelette for lunch. • James Bond ordered a drink. • We want to buy an umbrella. • Have you got a pen? Of course, often we can use the or a/an for the same word. It depends on the situation, not the word. Look at these examples: • We want to buy an umbrella. (Any umbrella, not a particular umbrella.) • Where is the umbrella? (We already have an umbrella. We are looking for our umbrella, a particular umbrella.) EXAMPLE! 1. A good teacher uses simple language 2. She reads a newspaper everyday 3. The newspaper she reads is the Media Indonesia 4. The Jawa Pos is also a newspaper 5. Ms. Ridha has a book. It is on the desk 6. The book on Ms. Ridha's desk is blue. 7. I like the shirt she is wearing. 8. She eats an apple 9. The apple she likes is Manalagi. 10. My mother bought a spring bed. 11. The spring bed she bought is green 12. She lost an iron 13. The iron is made of steel. Perhatikan bahwa : 1. a dan an, bermakna sebuah/satu. Digunakan ketika spesimen yang tidak dikenali/tak tentu, diperkenalkan. 2. a digunakan untuk kata yang diawali dengan huruf mati/konsonan 3. an digunakan untuk kata yang diawali dengan vokal (a,i,u,e,o) 4. the digunakan ketika diyakini bahwa pendengar/yang diajak bicara mengetahui orang, tempat atau benda yang ditunjuk/dimaksud. Tentang zero article/no article : Kita tidak menggunakan a, an atau the pada kasus berikut: 1. sebelum nama jalan, titel/judul yang diikuti nama orang 2. sebelum nama kota, provinsi, negara, kecuali digunakan sebagai adjective: 1. the United Arabic Republic 2. the people Republic of China 3. the USA 4. the UK 5. the USSR 6. the Netherlands 7. the Philippine