SAT Prep - Writing

Articles are used to clarify nouns or pronouns.  They give us more information, about whether we are talking about a specific noun or a non-specific noun. 

There are 2 different kinds of articles:

1. Definite articles: Used to describe a specific noun
   1. The cat describes a specific cat, we only want that one special cat. 
2. Indefinite articles: Used to describe non-specific nouns
   1. A cat- we don't care which cat, its just any cat

A or An are indefinite articles

• A is used when the word begins with a consonant, or a silent h (hour)
• An is used when the word begins with a vowel, (a, e, i, o, u) a "u" that sounds like a "y" (a union), or an "o" that sounds like a "w" (a one-horned)

The, these, those, this, that are definite articles.

• These and this are used for things you can touch, point to, or see, or things that have already been mentioned in the sentence/paragraph/essay
• Those and that are used for things that are far away.