25/2/2016 A, An, The or nothing? Articles in English by Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com) Articles are words which may or may not be used before a noun to demonstrate if the noun is new to the listener or reader (the indefinite article) or if the listener or reader already knows exactly what we are talking about (the definite article). Articles are part of a group of words called 'determiners' The Indefinite Article (A or An) We use A/An with singular, countable nouns when mentioning them for the first time They have two children, a boy and a girl There's a new hospital in the city centre. (See notes 24, 28 &29 below) We use 'A' before a noun or adjective which begins with a consonant sound I'd like a cup of tea. She's got a blue bag We use 'An' before a noun or adjective which begins with a vowel sound I'd like an orange juice. She's got an exceptional memory Sometimes a word begins with a consonant, but the word has a vowel sound. In this case use 'An' (see note 4 below) I'll see you in an hour. (pronounced /AU UH/) She's doing an MBA. (pron. /EM BEE AY/) Sometimes a word begins with a vowel, but the word has a consonant sound. In this case use 'A' He's got a European car. (pron. /YOOR UH PEE UN/) Is there a university in Campos? (pron /YOO NI VER SI TEE/) NOTE! In some countries, the word for A/An is the same as the word for the number 1. In English we only use '1' when we want to specify that there are not two, three or four of something She's got a new car Has she got two cars? No, she hasn't. She's only got one car There are certain specific cases when we must normally use an article, and other situations where an article is not usually necessary. You should try to learn these special cases Use 'A' or 'An' with: 1. Professions I'm a teacher. She's an architect 2. Some expressions of quantity A lot of A couple of sth A little A thousand A few Three times a day A pair of shoes. Forty miles an hour 3. Exclamations with What + countable noun What a lovely day! What a terrible hat! http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/articles.html 1/3 25/2/2016 A, An, The or nothing? 4. Use 'An' with silent consonants (see introduction above) An honour An honest person Don't use A or An with: 5. Plural nouns 7. Meals X Children usually go to school. I had X breakfast at 8.30 6. Uncountable nouns 8. Abstract nouns (see 27 below) Buy X bread and X milk, please. X Heavy industry causes X pollution The Definite Article (The) We use 'The' before all nouns which are mentioned for a second (or third, fourth etc.) time, or which both speaker and listener already know about They have two children, a boy and a girl. The girl is six and the boy is 10 I'm just going to the supermarket. Do we need anything? Where are the kids? In the garden The definite article (the) can be pronounced in two ways: /DHUH/ before a consonant sound e.g. the cat = /DZUH KAT/ and /DZEE/ before a vowel sound e.g. the eggs = /DZEE EGZ/ Use 'The' with: 9. Nouns where there is only one The President The sun 10. Ordinal numbers The first The fifth time 11. Superlatives The best The most beautiful place in the world 12. Geographical areas The Middle East The Midwest 13. Nationality and geopolitical adjectives when followed by a noun or defining the people The Federal University The International Airport (see 39 below) 14. Seas & oceans The Atlantic The Mediterranean 15. Rivers & deserts The Nile The Sahara 16. Most hotels The Hilton The Copacabana Palace Hotel 17. Pubs The Red Lion The Queen's Legs 18. Theatres and cinemas The Odeon The Municipal Theatre 19. Museums The Museum of Modern Art The Carmen Miranda Museum 20. Newspapers The New York Times The Guardian 21. Mountain ranges (see 35 below) The Himalayas The Alps 22. Groups of countries, islands or states The Bahamas The EEC 23. Musical instruments http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/articles.html 2/3 25/2/2016 A, An, The or nothing? Play the piano Good on the violin 24. Public buildings (see 28&29 below) When I was in Oxford I saw the university. She works at the hospital on Fridays 25. Radio and computer (see 38 below) I heard it on the radio. It's on the computer at work Don't use 'The' or 'A/An' with: 26. When talking about people and things in general. Cat's like milk 27. Uncountable and abstract nouns (see 8 above) X Heavy industry causes X pollution unless defined The pollution in the city centre is worse today 28. Places where the focus is on the activity which I went to X university to take an exam takes place there. (See 24 above) The kids were at X school all day 29. Prison & hospital if a prisoner or patient She spent three months in X prison (See 24 above) We took her to X hospital after the accident 30. Continents He travelled across X Asia. Monaco is in X Europe 31. Countries X Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. X Russia is the biggest 32. Towns X London is the capital of the UK. X Rio de Janeiro isn't the capital of Brazil 33. Streets I live in X Oxford street. X Park Lane is in the centre of London 34. Lakes X Lake Titicaca is between Bolivia and Peru. X Lake Victoria is in Africa 35. Mountains (see 21 above) I wanted to climb X Mount Everest. X Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK 36. Possessive 's' It's X John's book. X Brazil's economic situation 37. All + time expression I've been waiting all X day. We spent all X week there 38. TV and most recording media (see 25 above) I saw it on X TV. I've saved it on X cdrom 39. Airports (see 13 above) I arrived at X JFK at 6am. What time do you get in to X Heathrow? 40. With most countable clothes and parts of the body we use a possessive adjective, not 'the' He put on his coat and shoes. I hurt my arm playing rugby (after prepositions we often use 'the')'' He patted me on the back Note! For every grammatical rule, there is usually at least one exception!!! Upperintermediate/advanced practice exercises Back to vocabulary worksheets Home http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/articles.html 3/3