NOTE:

People learning English as a second language often have trouble knowing when and when not to use articles. Often, this is because the learner does not know whether the noun was countable (and whether the countable known is plural or singular) or uncountable. It is important to know count versus non-count nouns.

The following table summarize nicely when, and which, articles to use with countable nouns:

In each of the following sentences, the highlighted words are countable nouns (do note the article preceding each countable noun):

• • We painted the table red and the chairs blue.

  • Since he inherited his aunt's library, Jerome spends every weekend indexing his books.

  • Miriam found six silver dollars in the toe of a sock.

  • The oak tree lost three branches in the hurricane.

  • Over the course of twenty-seven years, Martha Ballad delivered just over eight hundred babies.