ESL/Articles practice and pronunciation

Articles

a, an, the
articles indicate if something is general or "indefinite" (a/an) or specific or "definite" (the)

indefinite article

= a, an

indicates something in general, a category, or makes a non-specific reference to something

i.e. "a tree" indicates that the "tree" is one of any trees, or refers to a tree in general
- similar to "any tree" or "some tree"

a versus an

a precedes a consonant or a hard sound
- a car
- a house (hard "h")
- a truck
- may include the vowel "U" if the "U-sound" of the word is pronounced like a "Y"
  - a university
  - a unit
    - = a yoo-nit
    - the reason is that to make the "an" + "yoo" sound ("an unit") requires making two distinct sounds with the mouth and tongue
      - a yoo-nit
      - whereas it is easier to say the "a" + "yoo" sound as it can be spoken as a single sound, "ayoo" ----
an precedes a vowel or a soft consonant sound for "H" or "U"
- an hour (soft "h")
- an umbrella

indicates a particular or specific thing

i.e., "the tree" indicates a certain, or particular tree
- similar to "that tree"