Use of A/An/The

Articles

A / An / The

Singular

Plural

a / an	the
the	---

Articles are used in front of Nouns. 

have glasses. (plural - a /an )	Or....I have a pair of glasses
You have a hat. (singular count noun)	But....the second time you describe the hat, you say: The hat is blue.
He has some strawberries. (plural count noun)	The strawberries are in his mouth (second mention).
She has a popsicle. (singular count noun)	The popsicle tastes good! or.... Popsicles taste good.
The cat has some water. (Water is a non-count noun) a / an )	The water is in a bowl. The bowl is purple.
We have time to learn English. (time and English are noncount nouns. Sometimes the is used; sometimes it isn't.)	I + you = we
They have a good relationship. (relationship is a singular count noun)
All three children have popsicles. The popsicles taste good. (Popsicle is a plural count noun)

There are a lot of rules for articles: 1. Don't put an article in front of the name of a place. Correct: Minneapolis is a great city. Not correct: The Minneapolis is a great city. But it's correct to use the name of a place as an adjective: The Minneapolis skyline is beautiful at night. 2. Indefinite amounts or general qualities don't take an article. Pennies are made of copper. The copper in this penny is turning brown. (this is a specific amount) Water is good for you. The water in this glass tastes bad. (this is a specific amount) 3. Don't use an article with possessive nouns or pronouns. This is the Paul's website.

"A" or "An" are always singular.
"The" is singular or plural.
Some plural nouns don't use an article. 

Count and Noncount Nouns

Count Nouns		Noncount Nouns
a car (singular)	cars (plural)	traffic
a chair	chairs	furniture
an apple	apples	fruit
a camera	four cameras	video equipment

count nouns use singular and plural verbs and pronouns:	noncount nouns use only singular verbs and pronouns:
There is an apple. (singular) There are some apples. (plural)	There is some fruit. (singular verb)
I like that chair. ("that" is singular).  She likes those chairs. ("those" is plural)	I like that furniture. I like those furniture. (no!)
A car is an expensive thing to own. Cars are an expensive form of transportation.	Traffic was heavy today. (singular verb)
Apples taste good	Fruit tastes good.
Digital cameras make photography easy. They are fun to use.	TV stations have a lot of video equipment. It is expensive.
The camera is very nice.	The equipment are nice. (no!)

Asking questions for an amount or a number:

Count Nouns		Noncount Nouns
How many chairs are there?	How many chairs are there?	How much furniture is there?
There is one chair	There are two chairs	There is a lot of furniture
How many cameras are there?	How many cameras are there?	How much equipment is there?
There's one camera	There are four cameras	There's a lot of video equipment

Only count nouns can take a number: There is one camera. There are four cameras. Noncount nouns don't use numbers: There is some equipment. There is a lot of equipment. Knowing the difference between count and noncount nouns will make your English sound much better. Below are words and phrases that can be used with count and noncount nouns. As you continue through the next levels, you will probably need to come back to this page.

count nouns	noncount nouns
a (singular)	-- (no article)
the (singular and plural)	the
some	some
a lot of	a lot of
many (large numbers)	much (large numbers)
a few (3 to 4)	a little (small number)
few (a very small number)	little (a very small number)
fewer (comparative)	less (comparative)
fewest (superlative)	least (superlative)
not many (a small number)	not much (a small number)
not any (zero)	not any (zero)