What is the difference between a definite and an indefinite article?
'The' is the definate article and it is used when there is only one of something (the President) or when a reader or listener already knows what person or thing is being talked about (e.g. I saw a dog in the yard yesterday...the dog was brown). It can also be used for specific groupings of things (e.g. the great white shark, the human race, the wall street occupation, etc.) These are all general groupings but specific in the sense that they are grouped together.
"A' and 'an' are the indefinite articles and are used in more general cases (e.g. A person was injured.) They can also be used for grouping things (e.g. A good restaurant is hard to find in that city.), or people (e.g. A good lawyer does not exist.)
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