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Articles The - An A - Non Article

There are three articles in English: a, an, and the. A and an are indefinite articles and refer to things not specifically known, while the is the definite article and refers to things that are known or specific. The proper use of articles can be complex and depends on whether the following word begins with a vowel or consonant sound. In general, no article is used when talking about things, sports, uncountable nouns, or most country names.

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70 views

Articles The - An A - Non Article

There are three articles in English: a, an, and the. A and an are indefinite articles and refer to things not specifically known, while the is the definite article and refers to things that are known or specific. The proper use of articles can be complex and depends on whether the following word begins with a vowel or consonant sound. In general, no article is used when talking about things, sports, uncountable nouns, or most country names.

Uploaded by

Daniel Silva Nieves
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Articles

General | A/an | The | No article

Articles

First the good news:There are only three articles in English: a, an and the.

There are two types of articles indefinite 'a' and 'an' or definite 'the'. You also need to know when
not to use an article.

The bad news is that their proper use is complex, especially when you get into the advanced use of
English. Quite often you have to work it out by what sounds right, which can be frustrating for a
learner.

Indefinite articles - a and an (determiners)

A and an are the indefinite articles. They refer to something not specifically known to the person
you are communicating with.

A and an are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned
before:-

For "I saw an elephant this morning."


example: "I ate a banana for lunch."

A and an are also used when talking about your profession:-

For "I am an English teacher."


example: "I am a builder."
Note! You use a when the noun you are referring to begins with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k,
l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y or z), for example, "a city", "a factory", and "a hotel".

You use an when the noun you are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u)

Pronunciation changes this rule. It's the sound that matters, not the spelling.

If the next word begins with a consonant sound when we say it, for example, "university"
then we use a. If the next word begins with a vowel sound when we say it, for example
"hour" then we use an.

We say "university" with a "y" sound at the beginning as though it were spelt
"youniversity".
So, "a university" IS correct.

We say "hour" with a silent h as though it were spelt "our".


So, "an hour" IS correct.

(Lots of people get this wrong - including native speakers.)

Definite Article - the (determiners)

There are two ways to pronounce "the". One "thuh" and the other "thee".

You use the when you know that the listener knows or can work out what particular person/thing
you are talking about.

For "The apple you ate was rotten."


example: "Did you lock the car?"

You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.

For
"She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen."
example:

We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.

For
the North Pole, the equator
example:

We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas

For
the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel
example:

We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

For
the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc..
example:

However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.

For "I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing."
example: "What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her."

The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous,
etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation:

For "Harry's Bar is the place to go."


example:
"You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?"

!Note - The doesn't mean all:-

"The books are expensive." = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking
For about.)
example:
"Books are expensive." = (All books are expensive.)

No article

We usually use no article to talk about things in general:-

Inflation is rising.

People are worried about rising crime. (Note! People generally, so no article)

You do not use an article when talking about sports.

For My son plays football.


example: Tennis is expensive.

You do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally.

For Information is important to any organisation.


example: Coffee is bad for you.

You do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas
or contain the words (state(s), kindom, republic, union). Kingdom, state, republic and union are
nouns, so they need an article.

No article - Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, England

For Use the - the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the Irish
example: Republic

Multiple areas! the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles

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