Mastering Articles: A, An, The

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 1

Mastering Articles: A, An, The

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will understand the correct usage of articles a, an, and the.

Introduction

Articles are small words that come before nouns. They help us understand whether we are talking about a specific thing or something in general.

Definite Article 'The'

The definite article 'the' is used when we are talking about a specific noun that both the speaker and the listener know about.

Indefinite Article 'A'

The indefinite article 'a' is used when we are talking about a non-specific noun. It is used before words that start with a consonant (medeklinker)sound.

For example:

A car

A boat

A dog

Indefinite Article 'An'

The indefinite article 'an' is used when we are talking about a non-specific noun. It is used before words that start with a vowel (klinker) sound.

An apple

An egg

Exceptions

There are some exceptions where 'a' is used before words starting with a vowel sound and 'an' is used before words starting with a consonant sound.

For example:

A university

An hour

A Euro

No Article

Sometimes, we don't use any article before a noun. This happens when we are talking about something in a general.

For institutions such as hospital, school, prison, college, university or church we don't use 'the' if we think about the use of the building and not about the building itself. We also leave out the article when use of street names, years or even meals.

We do use 'The' if we really mean the building

She had been wandering around the hospital all night.

He is in hospital now.

I live on Sloterkade 167 in Amsterdam.

Spring is my favourite season.

I am going for lunch now.

Je gebruikt wel "the" als je echt het gebouw bedoelt:

She had been wandering around the hospital all night.

Examples of not using the

• We go to school every week.
  
• He is in hospital now.
  
• I live on Sloterkade 167 in Amsterdam.
  
• Spring is my favourite season.
  
• I am going for lunch now.
  

Example when we do use the:

She had been wandering around the hospital all night.

Common Mistakes

Common mistakes include using 'the' before general nouns or using no article before specific nouns.

Summary

Articles are important in English grammar to help clarify the specificity of nouns. Remember to use 'the' for specific nouns, 'a' before consonant sounds, 'an' before vowel sounds, and no article for general or abstract nouns.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.