What Is An Article in English?

In English grammar, there are two different types of article, the definite article and the indefinite article. In the most simple terms an article is a way of letting the listener or speaker know that a noun is either unspecific or specific. The words which are used as articles are the, an and a.

Let’s take a look at some examples to clarify the meaning of an article.

• During the long journey, the family played car games.

You can see that when we use the article ‘the’ that we are showing that we are talking about a specific day and also a specific family. However, if we change the article, we can show that we are not talking about a specific journey or family. Take a look at the example now:

• During a long journey, a family can play car games.

Simply by changing the article, we have made the sentence a more general statement and not about a specific thing or person.

Quick note: 

• Articles are small but important words in the English language.
• Articles are considered adjectives because they modify or help describe nouns.
• Articles always come before or precede the nouns they describe.

There are only three articles in English: a, an and the.

There are two types of articles indefinite ‘a’ and ‘an‘ or definite ‘the’.