How to Use Articles in English Grammar

Case 01

When we are talking about something and you are very specific.

"The dog that I have in my farm bit one of my cows yesterday and ran away. Bad dog!" (we're talking about a specific dog).

Case 02

When there is only one of the kind. For example:

"The Pope is coming to Brazil."

“The Moon is beautiful tonight”, and “the Sun will be shining brightly tomorrow”.

Case 03

Another way to use "the" correctly is when you use it in sentences with superlative adjectives.

"Peter is the tallest member of our family".

Case 04

With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, unemployed to talk about groups of people.

"I think the rich should pay more taxes" or "Life can be very hard for the poor."

Case 05

Use “the” before any musical instruments.

The guitar, the violin, the piano etc.

An article is a word used to modify a noun, which is a person, place, object or idea. Technically, an article is an adjective, which is any word that modifies a noun. Usually adjectives modify nouns through description, but articles are used instead to point out or refer to nouns.

A and AN are indefinite articles and they are invariable. You use one or the other, depending on the first letter of the word following the article, for pronunciation reasons. Use A when the next word starts with a consonant, or before words starting in U and when they sound like YOU.

"There is a university just around the corner".

However, when you pronounce that start in vowel letters and vowel sounds, you must use AN instead.

"I bet you cannot eat an egg in five seconds, can you?"

Learning how to use articles correctly is important. Learn how to properly use articles, especially, the definite article "the" because it is the most frequent word in English. The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. 

Let us check out and review the possible case examples. We use this definite article in front of nouns when we believe the hearer/reader knows exactly what we are referring to.

Case 01:

When we are talking about something and you are very specific.

"That dog that I have in my farm bit one of my cows yesterday and ran away. Bad dog!" (We are talking about a specific dog).

Case 02:

When there is only one of the kind. For example: When you are talking about something and you are very specific.

Case 03

Another way to use "the" correctly is when you use it in sentences with superlative adjectives.

Case 04:

With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, unemployed to talk about groups of people. "I think the rich should pay more taxes" or "Life can be very hard for the poor."

Case 05

Use “the” before any musical instruments. The guitar, the violin, the piano etc.

There are cases in which omission of articles are mandatory. There are some common types of nouns that do not take an article. Names of languages and nationalities are some examples: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian, Brazilian etc. You only use "the" when you refer to the population of the nation. You can then say, "The Brazilian are known for their warm hospitality". Names of academic subjects (mathematics, biology, history) or when you talk about names of sports (volleyball, volleyball, baseball or football) there is no need to use "the".