A, An, The are called Articles. USE OF ‘A’ USE OF ‘AN’ USE OF ‘THE’ While mentioning something for the first time Singular, countable noun For common or non-specific noun For collective nouns in a sentence It is placed before a consonant sound While mentioning something for the first time Singular, countable noun For common or non-specific noun For collective nouns It is placed before a vowel sound When talking about something which has already been mentioned For specific nouns For uncountable nouns Used before unique nouns
USE OF ‘A’ Examples a boat, a car, a man, a school, a story a dozen eggs, a pride of lions, a gallon of water a ball, a toothbrush, a comb, a hand
USE of ‘an’ Examples an apple, an umbrella, an orange an hour, an honest man an army of soldiers, an array of numbers
Use of ‘the’ examples Please switch on the fan. He liked the gift. the Sun, the Taj Mahal, the Himalayas, the Yamuna the Pacific ocean, the Arabian sea the Sahara desert