Articles 'A', 'An', 'The'

Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the' | LearnEnglish https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2...
Grammar (/grammar) > A1-A2 grammar (/grammar/a1-a2-grammar) > Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the'
Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the'
Do you know how to use a, an and the? Test what you know with interactive
exercises and read the explanation to help you.
Look at these examples to see how articles are used.
She's a doctor.
I need an umbrella.
Have you heard the news?
I don't like spiders.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
1 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
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.
2 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
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.)
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
3 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
Grammar test 2
Try another grammar lesson(/grammar/a1-a2-grammar)
Language level
A1 - Elementary (/taxonomy/term/1510)
A2 - Pre-intermediate (/taxonomy/term/1496)
Average: 4.1 (65 votes)
4 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
Submitted by sherry on Fri, 06/10/2023 - 12:39

Permalink (/comment/193423#comment-193423)
Hello! I noticed many grammatical errors on a facial cream I recently

bought. English being my second language, I am not entirely sure that I'm
being just in this judgement of mine. Please see below the places that I
found troublesome:
1. Formula contains ceramide (...), visibly reduces skin irritation (...), and
restore skin barrier. Eventually to help the skin stay hydrated (...)
2. Apply the cream to the clean and dry face.
My corrections would be:

1. Formula (...) and RESTORES (THE?) skin barrier, eventually helping
the skin stay hydrated (...)
2. Apply the cream to clean and dry face.
Please let me know what you think.
Many many thanks.
Sherry
Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/articles-a-an-the%23comment-form) or register

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Submitted by Peter M. on Sat, 07/10/2023 - 06:13

Hello Sherry,
Instructions of this kind are often full of errors as they are generally
translated automatically.
Your first correction is fine - well done!
For the second one we'd say 'to a clean and dry face' or 'clean and dry
your face before applying'.

Peter
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comments
5 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
The LearnEnglish Team
Submitted by Biskwit on Mon, 02/10/2023 - 12:18

From singular nouns above
"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."
Ive used [] as my copy and paste won't allow me to do italic or bold. I

have a feeling the 'explanation' is incorrect, the examples are correct... or
am I missing something.

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Mon, 02/10/2023 - 17:03

Hello Biskwit,
Both the explanation and the examples are correct as far as I can tell.
The word 'university' begins with the 'y' sound (/iu/), which is considered
a consonant in this case in English. Is that what seems wrong to you?
All the best,

Kirk
LearnEnglish team
comments

Submitted by CarlosMK on Mon, 02/10/2023 - 00:38
6 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
"Hi, thank you for this educational website. I have a question: In the
example 'Children need a lot of sleep' under the category 'Things in
general,' there isn't an article. However, in Grammar Test 1, point six, the
sentence 'I can take the children to school today' includes an article. Can
you explain this difference?"
Submitted by Peter M. on Mon, 02/10/2023 - 06:12

Hello CarlosMK,
In the first sentence there is no article because the sentence is about

children in general. In the second sentence the sentence refers to a
specific group of children (the speaker's children) and so uses 'the'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team

comments
Submitted by _taratiara on Sat, 30/09/2023 - 08:36

Excusme, would you explain to me what the difference between "Do you
want a drink?" and "Do you want to drink?"

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sat, 30/09/2023 - 14:19

comments
7 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
Hello _taratiara,
In terms of the grammar, of course in 1, 'a drink' is the direct object of

the verb 'want' and in 2, 'to drink' is an infinitive object of 'want'.
In terms of use, in most social situations, we use 1 and not 2. If you're

walking around town and think your companion might be thirsty or you
want to have a rest somewhere, you could say 1 or 'Do you want to get
something to drink?' but 2 would sound unnatural. If you have a guest in
your home and want to offer them something to drink, again, you could
use 1, but 2 would sound unnatural. There may be some social
situations when 2 could be appropriate, but off the top of my head I
can't think of one.
In general, 2 could be appropriate when asking if someone wants to

drink alcohol, or in a medical setting when asking if someone wants to
drink something not so much for pleasure but for a medical/physical
need.
As you can see, this is really a question of usage more than grammar,
so it depends a lot on the situation. But I hope this gives you some
general ideas, at least.
All the best,

Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Submitted by oyo on Thu, 21/09/2023 - 13:34

what is the diffrence beetwen she want to be an ambulance driver an

sh wants to be a ambulance driver

commentsSubmitted by Kirk Moore on Thu, 21/09/2023 - 13:43
8 / 13 23/10/14, 14:02
Hello oyo,
'a ambulance driver' is not correct. When the word after 'a' begins with a
vowel ('a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' or the sounds these letters make), we change 'a'
to 'an'. This is a change in spelling and we also pronounce the word
differently (with the 'n' sound).
This is why we say 'an ambulance drive' -- because the word

'ambulance' begins with the 'a' sound.
All the best,

Kirk
LearnEnglish team
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Articles 'A', 'An', 'The'

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Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the' | LearnEnglish https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2...

Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the'

Look at these examples to see how articles are used.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Read the explanation to learn more.

I saw a good film yesterday.

She has a university degree.

I'm going to take the dog for a walk.

Birds eat worms.

Particular groups of things

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Try another grammar lesson(/grammar/a1-a2-grammar)

Average: 4.1 (65 votes)

Submitted by sherry on Fri, 06/10/2023 - 12:39

Hello! I noticed many grammatical errors on a facial cream I recently

My corrections would be:

Please let me know what you think.

Many many thanks.

Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/articles-a-an-the%23comment-form) or register

Submitted by Peter M. on Sat, 07/10/2023 - 06:13

Your first correction is fine - well done!

Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/articles-a-an-the%23comment-form) or register

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Biskwit on Mon, 02/10/2023 - 12:18

From singular nouns above

She has a university degree.

Ive used [] as my copy and paste won't allow me to do italic or bold. I

Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/articles-a-an-the%23comment-form) or register

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Mon, 02/10/2023 - 17:03

All the best,

Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/articles-a-an-the%23comment-form) or register

Submitted by Peter M. on Mon, 02/10/2023 - 06:12

In the first sentence there is no article because the sentence is about

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by _taratiara on Sat, 30/09/2023 - 08:36

Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/articles-a-an-the%23comment-form) or register

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sat, 30/09/2023 - 14:19

In terms of the grammar, of course in 1, 'a drink' is the direct object of

In terms of use, in most social situations, we use 1 and not 2. If you're

In general, 2 could be appropriate when asking if someone wants to

All the best,

Submitted by oyo on Thu, 21/09/2023 - 13:34

what is the diffrence beetwen she want to be an ambulance driver an

Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/articles-a-an-the%23comment-form) or register

This is why we say 'an ambulance drive' -- because the word

All the best,

Do you need to improve your

LearnEnglish Teens for children aged 13 to 17

TeachingEnglish for teachers and teacher educators

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