So now that we've learned how to use nouns, how to make them plural, and how to link them together in relationships, it's time to start learning how to form short phrases. Unlike Quenya, Sindarin has articles. In English, articles are the words the, a, and an.

The is considered a definite article. This is because the indicates a specific person or object. The apple, the house, the car . . . it implies a definite, specific noun.

A and an, however, are indefinite articles. An apple, a house, a car . . . these articles refer to any generic apple or house or car, and could take a variety of forms. "Get me the apple in the refrigerator" means that there is a specific apple in a specific refrigerator that you want. But if you say "Get me an apple from a refrigerator," you just want some generic apple from some generic refrigerator, without a specific one in mind.

In English, there is no separate article for plural nouns- "the house" works the same as "the houses." This is where a background in any Romance language will do. In Spanish you have el and la, which are masculine and feminine singular articles, and los and las, which are their plural equivalents. El libro means "the book," and los libros means "the books." La culebra means "the snake" and las culebras means "the snakes." If you really have a hard time with this concept, think of the Sindarin word i as meaning "the" and in as meaning "thes." The article needs to match the noun, so a plural article goes with a plural noun.

But the articles are not so unfamiliar. We've seen these before, in Lesson Four. If you glance back at the chart there, you will see that nana means "mummy," or "mom" for you Yanks out there, but i nana means "the mummy." However, don't forget that articles trigger lenition. That's where that chart comes into play- I will provide the lenited forms of as many words as I can in these lessons, but the rules for lenition are provided for you in case you need to change a word for yourself. So, when we add the article, parf "book" or "a book" becomes i barf, which means "the book." (*And not "I vomit.")

So now on to the Sindarin indefinite article:

Before we all have kittens, realize that this is the case in many languages, and the honest truth is that English could still function just as well without the words a and an. For example, Russian has no indefinite article. If you want a specific book, you would say in Russian "give me that book," but if you just wanted any old book, you would simply say "give me book." We even do this in English occasionally, most often when the indefinite article applies to plurals, such as "let's get tacos" or "I love dogs." You don't have to say "let's get a tacos" or "I love a dogs," because our language doesn't have that plural indefinite article. Sometimes this works in English singular nouns, such as in "I want steak," which could mean either "I want a steak" or "I want something made of steak." Either way, the meaning is conveyed without using the word a. The same principle operates in Sindarin, just both in singular and plural forms.

To end, as your general rule on indefinite articles, in English you say "I want a candy bar" or "I want candy bars," but in Sindarin you just say "I want candy bar" or "I want candy bars."

Let's take a look at a chart of common nouns to see how articles operate and change the meanings of singular and plural nouns. Lenition has been provided where necessary, so watch how the words change and go back and refer to the rules to help reinforce your lenition skills.

Root Word	Indefinite, Singular	Indefinite, Plural	Definite, Singular	Definite, Plural
ant ("gift")	ant ("a gift")	ent ("some gifts")	i ant ("the gift")	in ant ("the gifts")
basgorn ("loaf")	basgorn ("a loaf")	besgyrn ("some loaves")	i vasgorn ("the loaf")	in vesgyrn ("the loaves")
brithla ("pearl")	brithla ("a pearl")	brithla ("some pearls")	i vrithla ("the pearl")	in vrithla ("the pearls")
cram ("cake")	cram	craim	i gram	in graim
daedelu ("canopy")	daedelu	daedilu	i dhaedelu	in dhaedilu
eirien ("daisy")	eirien	eirin	i eirien	in eirin
esgal ("veil")	esgal	esgail	i esgal	in esgail
ganne ("harp")	ganne	genne	i 'anne	in 'enne
gwaloth ("blossom")	gwaloth	gwelith	i 'waloth	in 'welith
half ("seashell")	half	helf	i chalf	in chelf
ivor ("crystal")	ivor	ivyr	ir ivor	in ivyr
mîr ("jewel")	mîr	mîr	i vîr	in vîr
nedhu ("cushion")	nedhu	nedhu	i nedhu	in nedhu
nîf ("face")	nîf	nîf	i nîf	in nîf
rî ("crown")	rî	rî	i rî	in rî
rom ("trumpet")	rom	rym	i rom	in rym
sant ("garden")	sant	sent	i hant	in hent
sigil ("necklace")	sigil	sigil	i higil	in higil
sûl ("goblet")	sûl	sŷl	i hûl	in hŷl
talagan ("harper")	talagan	telegain	i dalagan	in delegain
ylf ("cup)	ylf	ylf	i ylf	in ylf

So, as it turns out, our exercise in articles is really just another practice session for lenition. But this is important, as it gives you an opportunity to see how fine shades of meaning are lent to Sindarin words as they are affected by articles. As we will soon begin stringing phrases together, a solid knowledge of how words lenit and mutate is very important.