English Teacher Melanie: Grammar: Articles – Indefinite vs. Definite Articles
A lot of English learners struggle with articles. There’s a lot of confusion about when you should use a/an and the. In a previous post, I explained which article to use when you have one of something. In this post, I explain another difference between the indefinite articles a / an and the definite article the. ~
A / an are indefinite articles. Use a / an when you are not talking about something specific: Do you have a pen?(Any pen will do. I’m not looking for something specific.)
The is the definite article. Use the when you are talking about something specific:Do you have the pen I gave you last week?(I’m looking for a specific pen. The exact pen I’m looking for is the one I gave you last week.)~
In conversation or in writing, when you introduce something for the first time, use a / an:A snow storm is wreaking havoc across several northeastern states in the United States.
When you talk about the same thing again, use the. It is used when the speaker and the listener (or the writer and the reader) know exactly which thing you are talking about:The storm has forced several airports to close and stranded travellers.
In the first sentence, I introduced the topic: a snow storm.
After I mentioned it in the first sentence, everyone knows what I am talking about.
In the second sentence I can say the storm because now everyone knows which storm I am talking about: the snow storm that is affecting the northeastern U.S.~
Related Posts:
When NOT to use ‘the’
