What is an article?

An article is an adjective.

English has two articles:

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 definite article. the = definite article

We call a/an indefinite article. a/an = indefinite article

The first time you speak of something use "a or an",

I live in a house

The next time you repeat that object use "the".

The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.

I ate in a Chinese restaurant.

The restaurant was very good.

Compare a and the in these examples

A man and a woman were sitting opposite me. The man was American but I think the woman was British. When we were on holiday,we stayed at a hotel.Sometimes we had our dinner at the hotel and we sometimes went to a restaurant.

 This morning I bought a newspaper and ___ magazine. ___ newspaper is in my bag but I dont know where I put ___ magazine.

 This morning I bought a newspaper and a magazine. __ newspaper is in my bag but I dont know where I put __ magazine.

 This morning I bought a newspaper and a magazine. The newspaper is in my bag but I dont know where I put ___ magazine.

 This morning I bought a newspaper and a magazine. The newspaper is in my bag but I dont know where I put the magazine.

 This morning I bought a newspaper and ___ magazine. ___ newspaper is in my bag but I dont know where I put ___ magazine. I saw ___ accident this morning. ___ car crashed into ___ tree. ___ driver of ___ car wasnt hurt but ___ car was badly damaged. My friends live in ___ old house in ___ small village.There is ___ beautiful garden behind ___ house.I would like to have ___ garden like that.

 This morning I bought a newspaper and a magazine. The newspaper is in my bag but I dont know where I put the magazine. I saw an accident this morning. A car crashed into a tree.The driver of the car wasnt hurt but the car was badly damaged. My friends live in an old house in a small village.There is a beautiful garden behind the house.I would like to have a garden like that.

 a/an is used before a singular noun which is uncountable . I need a visa They live in a flat. He bought an ice-cream.

 A is used before a word beginning with a consonant or a vowel with a consonat sound; a man a hat a univercity a eoropean a one-way street An is used before words beginning with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) or words beginning with a mute h: an apple an island an uncle an egg an onion

A/an is not used.It is omitted: Before plural nouns An egg eggs Before uncountable nouns Before names of meals,except when these are preceded by an adjective. We have breakfast at eight. We had a good breakfast. The article is also used when it is a special meal given to celibrate something or in someones honour; I was invited to dinner. I was invited to a dinner given to welcome the new ambassador.

THE

We use the when it is clear which thing or person we mean.

 We use the when it is clear in the situation which thing or person we mean.For example,in a room we talk about the light/the floor/the ceiling/the door/the carpet etc. Can you turn off the light,please?(the light in this room) I took a taxi to the station.(the station in that town)

WE SAY
the sun the moon the world the sky the sea the country the police the army the piano the guitar the radio in the morning in the afternoon in the evening

WE DO NOT USE THE WITH:

television breakfast lunch dinner

NAMES WITH AND WITHOUT THE

We do not use the with names of people.In the same way we do not normally use the with names of places.For example: Continents:Africa Countries:England Regions:Central Europe Islands:Corsica,Sicily,Cyprus Mountains:Everest,Etna,Klimanjaro

 But we use the in names with Republic,Kingdom,states etc. the United States of America (the USA) the United Kingdom the Dominican Republic We visited Canada and the United States

PLURAL NAMES
We use the + plural names of countries/islands/mountains: the Netherlands the Canary Islands the Philippines

SEAS,RIVERS ETC.
We use the +names of oceans/seas/rivers/canals: the Atlantic Ocean the Mediterranean Sea the River Nile the Suez Canal the Black Sea the Amazon