Theme: Article

Theme: Article

Introduction

Knowing what articles are and when to use them in English can be difficult for language learners to pick up. Especially considering that in some situations there is no article at all.

But don’t worry, here to help.

In English there are three articles: a, an, and the. Today we’re going to look at what these are, the differences between them and when to use them – or not, in some cases.

Let’s go!

Articles are a type of determiner. They function like adjectives, as they modify the noun in the sentence. The only articles in English are ‘the’ and ‘a/an’. Yet, the tricky part is that we use them differently – and sometimes not at all.
We call ‘the’ the definite article and ‘a/an’ the indefinite article.
What is an article?

When to use a/an, the and no article

We use ‘the’ before a noun when:

• referring to something specific
• there is only one of something (e.g. the cathedral)
• the noun has been mentioned before

We use ‘a/an’ before a noun when:

• referring to something in general
• mentioning something for the first time
• describing someone’s profession (eg. I am a teacher)

So when do we use articles in English? I am going to show you some explanations, and examles so that by the time you finish reading, you’ll be an articles pro!

Compare these two sentences:

It’s important to remember that we use ‘a’ and ‘an’ differently: ‘a’ comes before a noun beginning with a consonant sound and ‘an’ comes before a noun beginning with a vowel sound. For example:

Let’s watch the TV series that we love (a specific TV series that is familiar to us or that we know about.)

Let’s watch a TV series after dinner (we don’t have a specific TV series in mind – it could be any series.)

A	An
car	elephant
girl	orange
zoo	announcement
building	umbrella
hotel	hour

Note!
If you were observant, you may be wondering why ‘hotel’ and ‘hour’ don’t use the same indefinite article, even though they both start with ‘h’. Remember, we need to look at the starting sound, not letter, and since ‘hour’ is pronounced with a silent ‘h’, it starts with a vowel sound – which means you need ‘an’.
Here are some more examples of definite and indefinite articles:

• Somebody call a policeman!
• Did you see the film that was on Channel 4 last night?
• Would you like a glass of milk?
• I love to swim in the ocean.
• The announcement lasted for 10 minutes.

No article

• We never use a/an with uncountable nouns. However, ‘the’ is sometimes used with uncountable nouns in the same way it is used with plural countable nouns. This is when we want to refer to a specific object, group, or idea.

For example:

Electricity has become more expensive recently.

Can you pass me the sugar please?

• It’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with countable and uncountable nouns so you can make the right choice of article. See the table below for examples.

Countable: apple, suitable, coin, friend, second.

Uncountable: fruit, luggage, money, love, time.

When it comes to geographical places, such as countries or continents, we use ‘the’ in some cases, and no article in others. Unfortunately, there aren’t any rules to help you here – you just have to familiarise yourself with the ones that need ‘the’ or not.

Do NOT use ‘the’ before:

• Lakes: Lake Geneva, Lake Placids
• Mountains: Mount Fuji, Mount Everest.
• Continents: Europe, Asia.
• Most countries: England, Sweden.
• Counties/states/provinces/regions: Oxfordshire, Catalunya, California.
• Cities, towns, villages: London, Paris.
• Islands: Bali, Hawaii.
• Street names: Main Street, 5th Avenue

Use ‘the’ before:

• Rivers: The Nile, The Mississippi.
• Mountain ranges: The Andes, The Pyrenees.
• Deserts: The Sahara, The Atacama.
• Oceans and seas: The Pacific, The Mediterranean.
• Groups of islands: The Maldives, The Seychelles.
• Some countries: The USA, The Netherlands.
• Points on the globe: The Equator, The North Pole.
• Geographical areas: The Middle East, The West.

Thank you!!!