What is the Article in a Sentence?

For example, every day we use something called “articles” in our sentences, yet few people give them a second thought until, perhaps, it’s brought up on a test, or maybe during a classroom conversation that revolves around proper grammar or sentence structure. So, if you’re wondering what they are and how they’re used, we’ve got you covered!

What are articles in sentences? Articles in sentences are nothing more than these three little words: the, a, an. They’re there simply to clarify who or what you’re referring to in a sentence. Using them in specific ways can change the type of articles, and what you’re saying about the noun it modifies.

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What are the different types of articles? Even the simplest of words in the English language are classified and subclassified. Articles come in two forms: definite and indefinite. Unlike other parts of speech, article classifications follow strict rules and are easily identified. “The” is a definite article, while “a” and “an” are indefinite articles. What does this mean? “The” is a definite article because it’s identifying a specific noun. For example, saying you went to the zoo and saw the elephant would imply that you saw the only elephant at the zoo. You’re referring to a specific elephant.

“A” and “an” are indefinite articles. In contrast to using a definite article, use of a and an implies that you’re not referring to a specific noun. Along the lines of the previous example, you might go to the zoo to see an elephant, which means you saw one of any number of elephants. You’re not specifying which elephant you saw, but you did see one. You’re referring to an undefined noun by using a or an.

What are the rules with “a” and “an”? The rules with “a” and “an” can get a little hairy when you’re looking at the words on their own. The rules are as follows: “a” is used when a word starts with a consonant sound, while “an” is used with a vowel sound. That should be easy enough, but we sometimes get a little caught up in what letter a word starts with rather than paying attention to the sound. For instance, a word that starts with a “silent h” like “honor” would be preceded by “an.” (e.g., It would be an honor to guide your sleigh, Santa.) In contrast, the word history does have an “h sound” at the start, so you would precede it with “a.” (e.g., I’ve written a history of the events from the last two years.) Don’t get hung up on what letter a word starts with. Instead, listen to how it begins to properly use “a” and “an.”

Why do we need articles? Articles aren’t often looked at as a significant part of a sentence, but they provide a crucial verification of whether you’re referring to a specific noun (direct) or the noun in general (indirect). You can clean up your communication and make it easier for someone to understand what you’re talking about by correctly using articles in a sentence. Consider if you have someone helping you put together a piece of furniture and you need a hammer. If you have several different types of hammers and you need a specific one, you might say, “Please hand me the hammer with the blue handle.” If you simply need any hammer available and not the one with the blue handle, you could say, “Please hand me a hammer.” In this case, it lets your assistant know it doesn’t matter which hammer you’re handed.

Are there nouns that don’t need articles? Yup! Not all nouns need articles for them to make sense. In fact, an article can take away from the meaning of certain nouns when used incorrectly. For example, here are some instances in which you wouldn’t use articles:

• Languages (e.g., “I speak English,” not, “I speak the English.”)
• Sports (e.g., “I play baseball,” not, “I play the baseball.”)
• Names (e.g., “I spoke to Chad,” not, “I spoke to the Chad.”)
• Religions (e.g., “Hinduism is an ancient religion,” not, “The Hinduism is an ancient religion.”)
• Ideas (e.g., “He practices medicine,” not, “He practices the medicine.”)
• School subjects (e.g., “I took math last semester,” not, “I took the math last semester.”)
• Companies (e.g., “I went to Walmart,” not, “I went to the Walmart.”)

Of course, there will be exceptions to each of these. You can still use direct and indirect articles when they fit the context of the sentence, which is when the nouns described above are used as adjectives. For example, “I played in the baseball game.” In this instance, baseball is used as an adjective for the type of game rather than the noun. Since it’s not a noun, you can use either a direct or indirect article, depending on the context of the sentence.

Don’t leave any ambiguity in your writing or wonder, “What is the article in a sentence?” You can now use articles correctly to clarify whether you’re speaking about a specific person, place, or thing or simply referring to them indirectly.