176. Articles are either definite or indefinite.

The is the definite article, since it points out a particular
individual, or group, or class.

An or a is the indefinite article, because it refers to any one of
a group or class of things.

An and a are different forms of the same word, the older _ān_.



USES OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE.


[Sidenote: _Reference to a known object._]

177. The most common use of the definite article is to refer to an
object that the listener or reader is already acquainted with; as in
the sentence,--

Don't you remember how, when _the_ dragon was infesting _the_
neighborhood of Babylon, _the_ citizens used to walk dismally out
of evenings, and look at _the_ valleys round about strewed with
_the_ bones?--THACKERAY.

NOTE.--This use is noticed when, on opening a story, a person is
introduced by _a_, and afterwards referred to by _the_:--