Grammar - Articles

THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE - A

The indefinite article is the a is the same for all genders.
a boy, a girl, a cat
The indefinite article has no plural form.
a boy - boys
We use an if the following word starts with a vowel.

the following word starts with a consonant the following word starts with a vowel

a boy an aunt

a school an old school

a girl an American girl

Mind the pronunciation of the following word.

a unit an uncle

This u sounds like a consonant, so we use a. This u sounds like a vowel, so we use an.

USE OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE A/AN

- before phrases of time and measurements (per week/weekly)

We have English 4 times a week.

I go on holiday twice a year.

Our car can do 220 kilometres an hour.

Tomatoes are $2 a kilo.

- before phrases of jobs

My father is a car mechanic.

- with a noun complement

He is a good boy.

- before phrases of nationality

Bruce Springsteen is an American.

- half/quite

We need half a pound of sugar.

This is quite a good story.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE - THE

The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in plural.
the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers
If the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [ ], if the following word begins with a consonant, we
speak [ ].

[ ] [ ]

the following word starts with a spoken consonant the following word starts with a spoken vowel
the girl the English girl

the book the blue book

the school the old school

the unit the uncle
Here a [ ] is pronounced at the beginning of the Here a [ ] is pronounced at the beginning of the
word. word.
We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definite article and
when we don't.

without the definite article with the definite article

general words (indefinite) general words (definite)

Life is too short. I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.
I like flowers. I like the flowers in your garden.

names of persons on the singular, relatives family names in the plural

Peter and John live in London.

The Smiths live in Chicago.
Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles.

public buildings, institutions, means of transport public buildings, institutions, means of transport
(indefinite) (definite)

Mandy doesn't like school. The school that Mandy goes to is old.
We go to school by bus. The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.
Some people go to church on Sundays. The round church in Klingenthal is famous.

names of countries in the singular; summits of names of countries in the plural; mountain ranges;
mountains; continents; towns regions

Germany, France;
the United States of America, the Netherlands; the
Mount Whitney, Mount McKinley;
Highlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps; the Middle
Africa, Europe;
East, the west of Australia
Cairo, New York

single islands groups of islands

Corfu, Bermuda, Sicily the Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canaries

parks; lakes; streets name with of-phrase; oceans; seas; rivers

the Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London), the Isle of

Central Park, Hyde Park; Wight;
Lake Michigan, Loch Ness; the Atlantic (Ocean);
42nd Street, Oxford Street the Mediterranean (Sea);
the Nile, the Rhine, the Suez Canal

months, days of the week (indefinite) months, days of the week (definite)

The weekend is over on Monday morning. I always remember the Monday when I had an accident.
July and August are the most popular months for holidays. The August of 2001 was hot and dry.
We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.
in summer or in the summer
The American English word for autumn >fall< is always used with the definite article.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watch the following
example:
The student goes to school.
The mother goes to the school.
In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes to school for its
primary purpose, so we do not use the article.
The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for a different reason. That's why we use
the definite article in the second sentence.