- Articles (a/an, the, or no article) are used with nouns to indicate definiteness or specificity. - "A/an" indicates an indefinite or unspecified person/thing. "The" usually refers to something specific already being discussed. No article is used for generalizations. - Whether to use "a" or "an" depends on the sound of the following word, not its spelling. Vowel sounds use "an" and consonant sounds use "a". - Countable nouns take "a/an" and uncountable nouns take no article.