This and the following three chapters deal with areas of pedagogic grammar that are greatly in need of revision. This chapter deals with the articles a and the and how they are – and should be – treated in pedagogic accounts. It rejects the traditional claim that ‘the first time you mention something use a, the second time the’ – amongst other reasons because the definite article is more common for first mention – and goes on to give a fuller and more accurate examination of these two extremely frequent words – one that is particularly useful for learners whose L1 has no equivalents. Suggestions are given for how to introduce these two very different words, and several creative exercises are offered.