Articles in English Grammar

What is an article?

Articles are small words that come before nouns. In English, the articles are the and a/an.

Read on to learn about articles in English grammar then practise everything in the exercises.

Contents

Thomas is a dentist. He is also a volunteer in his free time.

Today, he’s at the park.

Unfortunately, the park is very dirty and there’s lots of rubbish.

Thomas collects the rubbish and puts it in a bag. Then, he takes the bag to the recycling centre.

There’s an oak tree in the park; it’s the oldest tree in the city.

Thomas is tired. He’s going to look for a bench to sit down.

When to use the indefinite article

The indefinite article in English is a/an. We use the indefinite article:

  • to talk about something unspecified
    Example:
    He is going to look for a bench to sit down.
    any bench, not a specific one
  • to mention something in a text for the first time (introductory)
    Example:
    Thomas collects the rubbish and puts it in a bag.
  • in job titles
    Example:
    Thomas is a dentist.

a vs. an

We use an instead of a before words that begin with a vowel or vowel sound or (e.g. silent h). This makes pronunciation easier.

Examples:
an oak tree
not: a oak tree
an hour
not: a hour

The vowel u at the beginning of a word is sometimes pronounced [ʌ] and sometimes [ju].

When pronounced [ʌ], we use an. When pronounced [ju], we use a:

Example:
an umbrella
but: a university

When to use the definite article

The definite article in English is the. We use the definite article:

  • to talk about something specific
    Example:
    Thomas collects the rubbish.
  • to refer back to something that we have already mentioned
    Example:
    He puts the rubbish in a bag. Then, he takes the bag to the recycling centre.
    refers back to the previous sentence
  • with superlatives
Example:
It is the oldest tree in the city.
  • places around town
Examples:
Today, he is at the park.
Then, he takes the bag to the recycling centre.

Note

Usually we pronounce the definite article [ðə].

If the following word begins with a vowel sound, however, we pronounce the definite article [ðı].

When to use no article

We generally don’t use an article for:

  • plural nouns that refer to general people/things (but: for specific people/things we use an article)
    Example:
    Volunteers help the community a lot.
    (but: The volunteers that I know help the community a lot.)
  • the names of towns, streets, squares, parks
    Example:
    Thomas lives in Liverpool. His house is on Balcarres Road near Greenbank Park.
  • the names of countries (except for the Netherlands and those containing Kingdom, Republic, State, Union)
    Example:
    Dublin is in Ireland.
    (but: Miami is in the USA. / We go to the Netherlands every summer.)
  • the names of continents and lakes
    Example:
    Ireland is a country in Europe.
    Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world.
  • the names of days and months (except when specified)
    Example:
    Thomas started volunteering in May. He volunteers on Mondays.
    (but: He went to the park on a rainy Monday.)
  • with adverbs of time such as next/last
    Example:
    He was there last Monday and is coming back next Wednesday.
  • meals
    Example:
    The cafe serves breakfast between 8 and 12 o’clock.
  • languages that a person knows
    Example:
    Thomas speaks English.
  • institutions such as school, university, hospital, prison (but not when we are talking about one particular school, university etc.)
    Example:
    The children go to school.
    (but: His son and my daughter go to the school at the end of the street.)
  • in certain expressions with bed, class, home, work
    Example:
    go to bed
    be in class
    after work
    come home
  • materials (e.g. paper, wood, water, milk, iron), but only when generalising (if we’re talking about one particular thing, we have to use an article.)
    Example:
    Paper is made of wood.
    We need to buy milk.
    (but: Where is the paper for the printer?)
  • abstract nouns i.e. things that you can’t touch, in a general context
    Example:
    Life is complicated.
    What’s on TV today?
    (but: We never eat dinner in front of the TV.)
  • expressions with play + sport (but not: play + musical instrument)
    Example:
    He plays tennis.
    (but: She plays the piano.)
  • titles and departments used with verbs like be, become, elect, appoint
    Example:
    When was Barack Obama elected president?
  • parts of the body or personal objects; instead, we use possessive determiners (my, your, …).
    Example:
    I put my hand in my pocket.