Articles are the most common type of determiners.
There are three articles in English: a, an, and the.
1) 'A' and 'an' are called indefinite articles because they can refer to a group or any member in a group, for example:
a book, an apple [use 'an' before a vowel sound])
'The' is known as the definite article because it refers to a specific individual, unit, or member in a group that the writer and the reader has shared knowledge of , for example,
the book, the apple; the one and only Shy Baldwin (from The Marvelous Ms. Maisel);
'The' is also used before the superlative form of adjectives and adverbs (e.g., the smartest; the fastest)
Lastly, the + and adjective = a noun, for example:
2) In many cases, such as in idioms and proverbs, the choice of articles is conventional, which does not always conform to the prescriptive rules. For example:
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
3) In fiction writing, writers often begin the story with the definite article 'the' to create the illusion that the readers are insiders. For example:
"The grandmother didn't want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey's mind."
-- Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find
After Rain
(Nigel McLoughlin, 2009)
the blue arch of the wind
makes the catkins ripple.
Now over to you!
Which articles should we put into the blanks in the idioms?
___ bird in ___ hand is worth two in ___ bush.
___ pen is mightier than ___ sword.
Laughter is ___ best medicine.
Barking ___ dogs don't bite.
Answer key in section 4.3.1.4.