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.