1 Articles

1 a/an (the indefinite article)

The form a is used before a word beginning with a consonant, or a vowel with a consonant
sound:
a man a university a European a one-way street
The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or words beginning
with a mute h:
an apple an island an uncle
an egg an onion an hour
or individual letters spoken with a vowel sound:
an L-plate an MP an SOS an ‘x’
a/an is the same for all genders:
a man a woman an actor an actress a table
2 Use of a/an
a/an is used:
Before a singular noun which is countable (i.e. of which there is more than one)
when it is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or thing:
I need a visa. They live in a flat. He bought an ice-cream.
Before a singular countable noun which is used as an example of a class of things:
A car must be insured
All cars/Any car must be insured.
A child needs love
All children need/Any child needs love.
With a noun complement. This includes names of professions:
It was an earthquake. She’ll be a dancer. He is an actor.
In certain expressions of quantity:
a lot of a couple a great many
a dozen (but one dozen is also possible) a great deal of
With certain numbers:
a hundred a thousand
Before half when half follows a whole number;
1 ½ kilos = one and a half kilos or a kilo and a half
But ½ kg = half a kilo (no a before half), though a + half + noun is sometimes possible:
a half-holiday a half-portion a half-share
With 1/3, ¼, 1/5 etc. a is usual: a third, a quarter etc., but one is also possible.
In expressions of price, speed, ratio, etc.:
5p a kilo £1 a metre sixty kilometres an hour
10 p a dozen four times a day
(Here a/an = per)
In exclamations before singular, countable nouns:
Such a long queue! What a pretty girl! But
Such long queues! What pretty girls!
(Plural nouns, so no article. See 3.)
a can be placed before Mr/Mrs/Miss + surname:
a Mr Smith a Mrs Smith a Miss Smith
a Mr Smith means 'a man called Smith' and implies that he is a stranger to the speaker. Mr Smith,
without a, implies that the speaker knows Mr Smith or knows of his existence.
3 Omission of a/an
a/an is omitted;
A Before plural nouns.
a/an has no plural form. So the plural of a dog is dogs, and of an egg is eggs.
B Before uncountable nouns.
C Before names of meals, except when these are preceded by an adjective:
We have breakfast at eight.
He gave us a good breakfast.
The article is also used when it is a special meal given to celebrate something or in
someone's honour:
I was invited to dinner (at their house, in the ordinary way) but
I was invited to a dinner given to welcome the new ambassador.
4 the (the definite article)
A Form
the is the same for singular and plural and for all genders:
the boy the girl the day
the boys the girls the days
B Use
The definite article is used:
1 When the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be unique:
the earth the sea the sky the equator the stars
2 Before a noun which has become definite as a result of being mentioned a second time:
His car struck a tree; you can still see the mark on the tree.
3 Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause:
the girl in blue the man with the banner
the boy that I met the place where I met him
4 Before a noun which by reason of locality can represent only one particular thing:
Ann is in the garden, (the garden of this house)
Please pass the wine, (the wine on the table)
Similarly: the postman (the one who comes to us), the car (our car), the newspaper
(the one we read).
5 Before superlatives and first, second etc. used as adjectives or pronouns, and only:
the first (week) the best day the only way
C the + singular noun can represent a class of animals or things:
The whale is in danger of becoming extinct.
The deep-freeze has made life easier for housewives.
But man, used to represent the human race, has no article:
If oil supplies run out, man may have to fall back on the horse.
the can be used before a member of a certain group of people:
The small shopkeeper is finding life increasingly difficult.
the + singular noun as used above takes a singular verb. The pronoun is he, she or it:
The first-class traveller pays more so he expects some comfort.
D the + adjective represents a class of persons:
the old = old people in general
E the is used before certain proper names of seas, rivers, groups of islands, chains of
mountains, plural names of countries, deserts, regions:
the Atlantic the Netherlands
the Thames the Sahara
the Azores the Crimea
 the Alps the Riviera
and before certain other names:
the City the Mall the Sudan
the Hague the Strand the Yemen
the is also used before names consisting of noun + of + noun:
the Bay of Biscay the Gulf of Mexico
the Cape of Good Hope the United States of America
the is used before names consisting of adjective + noun (provided the adjective is
not east, west etc.):
the Arabian Gulf the New Forest the High Street
the is used before the adjectives east/west etc. + noun in certain names:
the East/West End the East/West Indies
the North/South Pole
but is normally omitted:
South Africa North America West Germany
the, however, is used before east/west etc. when these are nouns:
the north of Spain the West (geographical)
the Middle East the West (political)
Compare Go north (adverb: in a northerly direction) with He lives in the north (noun:
an area in the north).
F the is used before other proper names consisting of adjective + noun or noun + of +
noun:
the National Gallery the Tower of London
It is also used before names of choirs, orchestras, pop groups etc.:
the Bach Choir the Philadelphia Orchestra the Beatles
and before names of newspapers (The Times) and ships (the Great Britain).
G the with names of people has a very limited use. the + plural surname can be used to
mean 'the . . . family':
the Smiths = Mr and Mrs Smith (and children)
the + singular name + clause/phrase can be used to distinguish one person from
another of the same name:
We have two Mr Smiths. Which do you want? ~ I want the Mr Smith who signed
this letter.
the is used before titles containing of (the Duke of York) but it is not used before
other titles or ranks (Lord Olivier, Captain Cook), though if someone is referred to by
title/rank alone the is used:
The earl expected . . . The captain ordered . . .
Letters written to two or more unmarried sisters jointly may be addressed The Misses
+ surname: The Misses Smith.
Omission of the
A The definite article is not used:
1 Before names of places except as shown above, or before names of people.
2 Before abstract nouns except when they are used in a particular sense;
Men fear death but The death a/the Prime Minister left his party without a
leader.
3 After a noun in the possessive case, or a possessive adjective:
the boy's uncle = the uncle of the boy
It is my (blue) book = The (blue) book is mine.
4 Before names of meals (but see 3 C):
 The Scots have porridge/or breakfast but The wedding breakfast was held in
her/other's house.
5 Before names of games: He plays golf.
6 Before parts of the body and articles of clothing, as these normally prefer a
possessive adjective:
Raise your right hand. fie took off his coat.
But notice that sentences of the type:
She seized the child's collar.
I patted his shoulder.
The brick hit John's face.
could be expressed:
She seized the child by the collar.
I patted him on the shoulder.
The brick hit John in the face.
Similarly in the passive:
He was hit on the head. He was cut in the hand.
B Note that in some European languages the definite article is used before indefinite plural
nouns but that in English the is never used in this way:
Women are expected to like babies, (i.e. women in general)
Big hotels all over the world are very much the same.
If we put the before women in the first example, it would mean that we were referring
to a particular group of women.
C nature, where it means the spirit creating and motivating the world of plants and animals
etc., is used without the:
If you interfere with nature you will suffer for it.
8 Omission of the before home, before church, hospital, prison, school etc. and before
work, sea and town
A home
When home is used alone, i.e. is not preceded or followed by a descriptive word or
phrase, the is omitted:
He is at home.
home used alone can be placed directly after a verb of motion, i.e. it can be treated as an
adverb:
He went home. I arrived home after dark.
But when home is preceded or followed by a descriptive word or phrase it is treated
like any other noun:
They went to their new home.
We arrived at the bride's home.
For some years this was the home of your queen.
A mud hut was the only home he had ever known.
B bed, church, court, hospital, prison, school/college/university
the is not used before the nouns listed above when these places are
visited or used for their primary purpose. We go:
to bed to sleep or as invalids to hospital as patients
to church to pray to prison as prisoners
to court as litigants etc. to school/college/university to study
Similarly we can be:
in bed, sleeping or resting in hospital as patients
at church as worshippers at school etc. as students
in court as witnesses etc.
 We can be/get back (or be/get home) from school/college/university.
We can leave school, leave hospital, be released from prison.
When these places are visited or used for other reasons the is necessary:
I went to the church to see the stained glass.
He goes to the prison sometimes to give lectures.
C sea
We go to sea as sailors. To be at sea = to be on a voyage (as passengers or crew).
But to go to or be at the sea = to go to or be at the seaside. We can also live by/near
the sea.
D work and office
work (= place of work) is used without the:
He's on his way to work. He is at work.
He isn't back from work yet.
Note that at work can also mean 'working'; hard at work = working hard:
He's hard at work on a new picture.
office (= place of work) needs the: He is at/in the office.
To be in office (without the) means to hold an official (usually political) position. To
be out of office = to be no longer in power.
E town
the can be omitted when speaking of the subject's or speaker's own town:
We go to town sometimes to buy clothes.
We were in town last Monday.
Exercise 1

Insert a or an if necessary.
1 My neighbour is . . . photographer; let's ask him for . . . advice about colour films.
2 We had . . . fish and . . . chips for . . . lunch. ~
That doesn't sound . . . very interesting lunch.
3 I had . . . very bad night; I didn't sleep . . . wink.
4 He is . . . vegetarian; you won't get . . . meat at his house. He'll give you . . . nut cutlet. ~Last
time I had . . . nut cutlet I had . . . indigestion.
5 . . . travel agent would give you . . . information about . . . hotels.
6 We'd better go by . . . taxi—if we can get . . . taxi at such . . . hour as 2 a.m.
7 . . . person who suffers from . . . claustrophobia has . . . dread of being confined in . . . small
space, and would always prefer . . . stairs to . . . lift.
8 Do you take . . . sugar in . . . coffee? ~
I used to, but now I'm on . . . diet. I'm trying to lose . . . weight.
9 . . . man suffering from . . . shock should not be given anything to drink.
10 You'll get . . . shock if you touch . . . live wire with that screwdriver.
Why don't you get . . . screwdriver with . . . insulated handle?
11 It costs fifty-five and . . . half pence and I've only got . . . fifty pence piece. ~
You can pay by . . . cheque here. ~
But can I write . . . cheque for . . . fifty-five and . . . half pence?
12 . . . Mr Smith is . . . old customer and . . . honest man. ~
Why do you say that? Has he been accused of . . . dishonesty?
Exercise 2

Insert the if necessary.

1 . . . youngest boy has just started going to . . . school; . . . eldest boy is at . . . college.
2 She lives on . . . top floor of an old house. When . . . wind blows, all . . . windows rattle.
3 . . . darkness doesn't worry . . . cats; . . . cats can see in . . . dark.
4 My little boys say that they want to be . . . spacemen, but most of them will probably end up
in . . . less
dramatic jobs.
5 Do you know . . . time? ~
Yes, . . . clock in . . . hall has just struck nine. ~
Then it isn't . . . time to go yet.
6 He was sent to . . . prison for . . . six months for . . . shop-lifting.
When . . . six months are over he'll be released; . . . difficulty then will be to find . . . work. ~
Do you go to . . . prison to visit him?
7 I went to . . . school to talk to . . . headmistress. I persuaded her to let Ann give up . . .
gymnastics and take . . .
ballet lessons instead.
8 . . . ballet isn't much use for . . . girls; it is much better to be able to play . . . piano.
9 I am on... night duty. When you go to . . . bed, I go to . . . work.
10 Peter's at . . . office but you could get him on . . . phone. There's a telephone box just round . . .
corner
11 He got... bronchitis and was taken to . . . hospital. I expect they'll send him home
at . . . end of . . . week. ~
Have you rung . . . hospital to ask how he is?
12 Ann's habit of riding a motorcycle up and down . . . road early in . . . morning annoyed . . .
neighbours and in . . . end they took her to . . . court