Tip 7
A\an vs. The
The following tip will help you significantly improve the way you sound when you speak English, and avoid an elementary mistake that many 2nd language learners make.
Let’s take a look at a few examples to better understand how to use –the– vs -a-
– I am a teacher (correct)
– She is an engineer (correct)
– Give me a pen (correct)
Many languages do not have an indefinite article such as a\an or even both definite and indefinite articles (Russian for example), which can make things very confusing for speakers of such languages.
While some languages do indeed have one or the either or both, usage is often not obligatory as it is in English when referring to “specific” (definite) and “non-specific” (indefinite) nouns.
The closest translation to a\an is “some kind”.
The word a\an is the opposite in its meaning of the word the:
- Give me the pen – a specific pen that both of us know of, that I’m interested in.
- Give me a pen – any pen, a non-specific pen, one pen out of many – a unit of something.
We only put the article a\an before nouns in the singular, to indicate whether it is something specific or non-specific. In plural form or for non-countable nouns we do not use this article.
From now on, try to pay more attention when you talk about a noun that is specific or nonspecific – doing this will help you improve rapidly and soon you will use these articles like a pro 🙂
