A, an, and the are special adjectives. These are called Articles.
When articles combine with nouns, they form noun phrases: There are two articles in English
| Types | Words | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| The Indefinite article | A or An | A king, an elephant |
| The Definite Article | The | Call the man |
1. ‘A’ / ‘An’ means one. So we can use ‘a’ / ‘an’ only with singular countable nouns.
2. An is not used wth plural nouns or proper nouns.
3. ‘A’ / ‘An’ cannot be used with uncountable nouns.
For example, We cannot say : a milk, a water, a tea, a sugar, a rice.
‘The’ can be used with all nouns (singular or plural).
Modal auxiliaries Vs Primary auxiliaries
Primary auxiliaries are be, do, have. They are used to form tenses and to frame short answers.
Modal auxiliaries are will, would, may, might, shall, should, can, could, must, dare, need, used, ought. They are used to express moods.