2. What is the difference between
definite and indefinite
articles?
 Definite:
oThe
o Definitely points to a
specific thing.
o The book.
o The desk
 Indefinite:
a/an
 Not pointing to a
general thing.
 A book.
 A desk.

3. Read the
examples
 A teacher
 An English
teacher
 An immigrant
RULES:
 A / an before a







singular noun.
Ex. A native speaker
⇒
A before a
consonant sound.
Ex. A foreign
language
⇒
An before a vowel
sound.
Ex. An official
language

4. Pay attention to these examples
 A university – singular noun with a
u
 An European city – singular noun
beginning with eu
 An hour – silent h
 An NBA player – consonant with a vowel
sound

5. When do we use the definite and
the indefinite articles?
 Definite article:
 Indefinite article:
a/ an
 To talk about a person
or thing that is not specific.
Example:
 English is an
official language in India
 (there are other
official languages besides
English)
the
 To talk about a specific
person or thing.
Example:
 English is the
official language in
Australia
 (English is the only official
language in Australia)

6. You should also use the when you
have already mentioned the thing
you are talking about.
Example.:
 "She has two children; a girl
and a boy. The girl's eight
and the boy's fourteen."

7. We use the to talk about
geographical points on the globe.
 Examples:
 the North Pole
 the equator
We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas
• The Amazon river
• The Pacific Ocean

8. Zero article
 We don’t use THE with:








First names
Names of meals
Colors
Sports
Names of days of the week
Names of months
Countries / cities
Festivities

9.  You do not use an article before the names of
countries except where they indicate multiple
areas or contain the words (state(s), kingdom,
republic, union). Kingdom, state, republic and
union are nouns, so they need an article.
 No article - Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, England
 Use the the UK (United Kingdom),
the USA (United States ofAmerica),
the Irish Republic
 Multiple areas!
the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Ballestas
Isles.

10. 1. I bought ………………. pair of shoes.
2. I saw ……………………. movie last night.
3. They are staying
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
at ……………………….. hotel.
I think …….. man over there is very
unfriendly.
I do not like……………….. basketball.
That is ------------------ problem I told you
about.
………………. night is quiet. Let's take a
walk!
……………………..price of gas keeps
rising.

11. 1. John traveled to ……… Mexico.
2. Juan is …………………..Spanish.
3. I read ……………….. amazing story yesterday.
4. My brother doesn't eat ………………chicken.
5. ……. love is such ……………beautiful thing.
6. I live in ………… apartment. ………………….
apartment is new.
7. I would like …………………..piece of cake.
8. I was in ……. Japanese
restaurant. ………..restaurant served good
food.
9. Sara can play ………………. Guitar.

12. Choose 'a', 'an', 'the' or no
article for the following sentences
in the paragraph
I was born in Seattle, Washington. Seattle is ……. city
in the United States. It is near ……..border of Canada. I
live in …….town called Olympia, in …………… house in
…………street in the countryside. ………street is called
"Bear Street" and ……..house is beautiful but very old more than 200 years old! I am …………..English teacher
at ……school in the center of …… town. I like books
and taking photographs. I usually have ….. lunch at
1pm and go home by car. We have all kinds of food in
Olympia. I like ….. Italian food very much. Sometimes,
I go to ….Italian restaurant in Seattle.……restaurant is
called "Luigi's". Italian food is great!

13. 














Write a or an in the spaces.
1 ……..unreasonable decision
2 ……..unit of work
3 ………honorable man
4 ………UFO
5 ………happy girl
6 ………elephant
7 ………...BBC program
8………..universal problem
9. ……….eucalyptus tree
10. …….X-ray
11. …….T-shirt
12. …….H-bomb
13. ……..hospital
14. ……..UNESCO worker