Grammar explanation

Here are some of the most important things to know about using articles.

Jobs
When we say what people's jobs are, we usually use a/an.
He's an architect.
She's a scientist.
My grandmother was a teacher.

Singular nouns
Singular, countable nouns always have an article – a/an or the (or
another determiner – my, your, this, that, etc.).
We use a/an – the indefinite article – when we talk about something for
the first time, or something that is part of a group or type.
I saw a good film yesterday.
Do you want a drink?
We use a when the word that follows it begins with a consonant sound.
We use an when it's followed by a vowel sound. This makes
pronunciation easier.
She has a university degree.
It took me an hour to get home.
We use the – the definite article – when the listener already knows
which thing we are talking about because it was mentioned before or
because there's only one of them.
 I'm going to take the dog for a walk.
Have you seen the car key?
They go to the school next to the bridge.

Things in general
When we talk about things in general, we normally use a plural or
uncountable noun with no article.
Birds eat worms.
Water freezes at 0°C.
Children need a lot of sleep.

Particular groups of things

When we talk about a particular group of things, we use the.
We went to the zoo and saw the kangaroos. (These are the particular
kangaroos in that zoo – not kangaroos in general.)

 The indefinite article – a

The indefinite article 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 spoken vowel.

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

a boy an aunt
a school an old school
a girl an American girl

Mind the pronunciation of the following word.

The first sound we speak is [j], so The first sound we speak is [ʌ], so
we use a → a unit we use an → an uncle

2. Use of the indefinite article a/an

2.1. 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.

2.2. before phrases of jobs

 My father is a car mechanic.

2.3. with a noun complement

 He is a good boy.
 2.4. before phrases of nationality

 Bruce Springsteen is an American.

2.5. 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 consonant, we speak [ðə], if the
following word begins with a vowel, we speak [ði:].

[ðə] [ði:]

the following word starts with a

the following word starts with a spoken vowel
spoken consonant
the English girl
the girl
the orange book
the book
the old school
 [ðə] [ði:]

the school

Compare the following words:

Here [ʌ] is pronounced at the
Here [j] is pronounced at the
beginning of the word
beginning of the word → the unit
→ the uncle

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

with the definite article – the
article

general words (definite)

general words (indefinite)
I've read a book on the life of Bill
Life is too short. 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, public buildings, institutions, means of

institutions, means of transport (definite)
 without the definite
with the definite article – the
article

transport (indefinite)

Mandy doesn't like The school that Mandy goes to is

school.
We go to school by
bus.
Some people go to
church on Sundays.
old.
The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.
The round church in Klingenthal is
famous.

names of countries in the

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

Germany the United States of America

France the Netherlands
Mount Whitney the Highlands
Mount McKinley the Rocky Mountains
Africa the Alps
Europe the Middle East
Cairo the west of Australia
New York

single islands groups of islands

Corfu the Bahamas
 without the definite
with the definite article – the
article

Bermuda the British Isles

Sicily the Canaries

names with of-phrase, names in plural,

well-known buildings, oceans, seas, rivers,
musical instruments, newspapers

the Statue of Liberty
parks, lakes, streets the Tower (of London)

Central Park the Great Lakes

Hyde Park the Empire State Building

Lake Michigan the Isle of Wight

Loch Ness the Atlantic (Ocean)

42nd Street the Mediterranean (Sea)

Oxford Street the Nile

the Rhine
the Suez Canal
the piano
the Times

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

(indefinite)
I always remember the Monday
The weekend is over when I had an accident.
on Monday morning. The August of 2001 was hot and dry.
 without the definite
with the definite article – the
article

July and August are

the most popular months for
holidays.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or

without the definite article.

 in summer
 in the summer

The American English word fall is always used with the definite

article the.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends

on the context. Watch the following example:

1. The student goes to school.

2. The mother is going 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 the in the
second sentence.