Using the articles a and an can be tricky for non-native English speakers, but it doesn’t have to be.  Think of it this way; use a or an before a countable noun preceded by an adjective.  In other words a/an + adjective + noun. Let’s look at some examples (some which contract with the use of the):

• I had a tee time for 7 am.
• If you were drinking tea, you would say “I enjoyed the 7 am tea time.”
• You say “I like the coffee break at my company.”, but you say “I take a coffee break at my company.”

The difference between a/an and the can also be summarized as not specific versus specific.

• a/an -> use when the object is not specific. The first example above indicates that you had one time out of many.
• the -> use when the object is specific. The second example above indicates that there is only one 7 am.

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