Articles: The, A, An.

 In English certain properties of nouns are told through the articles the and a or an, and determiners. Articles and determiners announce that a noun is about to appear in a sentence. They also tell the reader about the noun, indicating number, placement, and familiarity. The writer, then, is telling the reader how to think about the noun before it appears.

 A or an tell the reader that the noun is a singular count noun they are not familiar with. Count nouns are persons, places or things that can be counted: one teacher, two teachers; one classroom, two classrooms, one pen, two pens. Noncount nouns are things that cannot be counted, such as abstractions and elements: air, metal, clothing, anger, frustration, intelligence. (Noncount nouns can vary from language to language, so it is important to become familiar with the concept as it is applied in English.) The articles a or an mean the noun about to appear is "one among many" or "any one." A or an also means that the noun about to appear is not known to the reader. A is used before consonant sounds and an before vowels.

 Let us go back to the second sentence of this worksheet: Articles and determiners announce that a noun is about to appear in a sentence. No article is needed for the first two nouns "articles" and "determiners" because they are plural. The article before the word "noun" tells that the word is both single and not specific to the reader, as does the article before the word "sentence". The words are referring to general nouns and general sentences. 

The tells the reader that the noun about to appear is known to them in some specific way, or has a specific identity. The noun may already have been mentioned (as the noun in this sentence was announced by the sentence before it). The noun may be clarified or limited by a phrase or clause: the man wearing a huge red wig. The noun may describe a unique thing, or be made unique by a superlative: the handsomest man, the Taj Mahal. There are, however, some tricky exceptions. The is generally not used with singular proper nouns like names, states, cities, streets, continents, countries, and single mountains, lakes, or islands. However, oceans, seas, gulfs and rivers do need the article. 

Determiners, like articles, give nouns an identity; they force nouns into time or place or reference. Determiners include possessive nouns (Henry's cat), numbers, and possessive pronouns such as my, your, his, her, its, our, their, theirs, all, each, either, few, some, etc.

 Article Exercise

 The following, adapted from a story in Edith Hamilton's Mythology, has had all articles removed. Replace the articles with appropriate explanations. Remember that adjectives and modifiers may come between articles and their nouns. (The big, mean, ugly, stinky dog,)

 Story of Arachne

 Minerva was finest weaver among all Olympian Gods and Goddesses, and she considered things she wove finest in world. When Minerva heard that simple farm girl called Arachne had declared her own work superior, Minerva went to hut where Arachne lived and challenged her to weaving contest. Farm girl Arachne accepted and two women, human and Goddess, set up their looms. They both wove beautiful cloth and finished at same time. But Arachne's weave was as fine as Minerva's. In fit of rage and jealousy Minerva cut Arachne's cloth to shreds and destroyed her loom. Arachne then hung herself in disgrace and shame. But Minerva then felt moment of remorse and turned Arachne into spider, where her skill in weaving continues to show to this day.