Articles Articles are words that you use with nouns. An article determines the noun. The articles in the English language are the , a , an : the car down the street, the man next to you a book, an apple, a bottle An article belongs to a noun, but it can also be placed before a number or an adjective: the man, the tall man, the two men, the two tall men. As you can see, there are two different kinds of articles: § The definite article the : You use it before a singular or a plural noun when you talk about one or more specific member(s) of a group (things, places or people) that is known to you: the tall man, the big house, the man next to me; § The indefinite articles a/an : You use them before a singular noun when you talk about any general thing: a line, a house, a kitchen, a person, an apple, an airport, an idea, an umbrella. Note: You use the article a before nouns/adjectives or numbers that start with a consonant: a