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What is an Article? 
In grammar, an article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech.
Articles combine with nouns to form noun phrases, and typically specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun phrase.
In English, the and a (rendered as an when followed by a vowel sound) are the definite and indefinite articles respectively. Articles in many other languages also carry additional grammatical information such as gender, number, and case. Articles are part of a broader category called determiners, which also includes demonstratives, possessive determiners, and quantifiers. In linguistic interlinear glossing, articles are abbreviated as ART.
Types of Article Here's the lowdown on different kinds of articles:
| Type | Description | Example (English) |
|---|---|---|
| Definite Article | Marks a definite noun phrase, referring to a particular member of a group. | the book |
| Indefinite Article | Marks an indefinite noun phrase, not referring to a specific identifiable entity. | a book, an apple |
| Proper Article | Indicates that its noun is proper and refers to a unique entity. | The Amazon, the Hebrides |
| Partitive Article | Indicates a non-specific quantity of a mass noun. | (some) coffee (French: du café) |
| Negative Article | Specifies none of its noun. | No man |
| Zero Article | The absence of an article, often indicating indefiniteness. | Visitors end up walking in mud. |
Cross-Linguistic Variation! Articles aren't the same everywhere! Check out this chart:
| Language | Definite | Indefinite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | the | a, an | Standard articles. |
| Arabic | al- / ـل (prefix) | -n (suffix) | Prefixed definite, suffixed indefinite. |
| Bulgarian | -та, -то, -ът, -ят, -те (suffixes) | няколко (some) | Suffixed definite articles! Radical! |
| French | le, la, l', les | un, une, des | Also has a partitive article (du, de la, des). Très chic! |
| German | der, die, das | ein, eine | Articles change based on case! Wie cool! |
| Greek | ο, η, το | ένας, μια, ένα | Ancient and modern greatness! |
| Hebrew | ה- (prefix) | — | Only definite article is a prefix. |
| Icelandic | -(i)nn, -(i)n, -(i)ð, -(i)na (suffixes) | — | More suffixes! |
| Macedonian | -от, -ов, -он, -та, -ва, -на, -то, -во, -но, -те, -ве, -не (suffixes) | еден, една, едно, едни | Tripartite distinction based on distance! |
| Spanish | el, la, lo, los, las | un, una, unos, unas | ¡Muy bien! |
| Swedish | -(e)n, -(e)t, -a (suffixes) | en, ett | More suffixes! |
Some languages like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Hindi don't even have articles! Weird, huh?
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