ARTICLES

A/AN
1. We use a/an only with singular count nouns. They mean one and usually
used when we introduce the subject for the first time:

I saw a girl in the street. (we don’t know which girl)

or when we talk about something in general:

A baseball is round. (general – all baseballs are round.)

THE
- We use The to indicate something that we already
know:

The girl in the street is my friend. (The speaker and the

listener know which girl)

- When we talk about something that is common

knowledge

The earth is round. (there is only one earth)

- With non-count nouns if we speak about something in

specific

The sugar on the table is from Cuba

- If we want to specify the person we know

The Tom Bradley that I know lives in Boston.

 use THE with don’t use THE with
- oceans, rivers, seas, gulfs, plural - singular lakes
lakes

the Red Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Lake Geneva, Lake Sinevyr
Persian Gulf, the Great Lakes

- mountains - mounts

The Rocky Mountains, the Andes Mount Vesuvius, Mount McKinley

- schools, colleges, universities - schools, colleges, universities

when the phrase begins with when the phrase begins with a
school, etc. proper noun

the University of Florida, the College of Santa Fe Community College, Stetson

Arts University

- ordinal numbers before nouns - cardinal numbers after nouns

the First World War, the third chapter World War One, chapter three

- wars (except world wars) - sports

the Crimean war, the Korean War baseball, basketball

- countries with more than one - countries with one word,

word (except Great Britain) continents and states

the United States, the Central African China, Europe, Florida

Republic

- ethnic groups - abstract nouns

the Indians, the Aztecs freedom, happiness

- school subjects, holidays, with

- historical documents words such as breakfast, lunch,
dinner, school, school, church,
the Constitution, the Magna carta home, college
Thanksgiving, mathematics, etc.
Exercise
1. Jason’s father bought him ___bike that he had wanted for his birthday.
2. ___Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from ___France to ___United
States.
3. Rita is studying ___English and ___math this semester.
4. ___judge asked ___witness to tell ___truth.
5. Please give me ___cup of ___coffee with ___cream and ___sugar.
6. ___big books on ___table are for my history class.
7. No one in ___Spanish class knew ___correct answer to ___Mrs. Perez’s
question.
8. My ___car is four years old and it still runs well.
9. When you go to ___store, please buy ___bottle of ___chocolate milk and
___dozen oranges.
10. There are only ___few seats left for ___tonight’s musical at
___university.
11. John and Marcy went to ___school esterday and then studied in
___library before returning home.
12. ___Lake Erie is one of ___five Great Lakes in ___North America.
13. On our trip to ___Spain, we crossed ___Atlantic Ocean.
14. ___Mount Rushmore is the site of ___magnificient tribute to ___four
great American presidents.
15. What did you eat for ___breakfast this morning?
16. Louie played ___basketball and ___baseball at ___Boys’ Club this year.
17. Rita plays ___violin and her sister plays ___guitar.
18. While we were in ___Alaska, we saw ___Eskimo village.
19. Phil can’t go to ___movies tonight because he has to write ___essay.
20. David attended ___Princeton University.
21. Harry has been admitted to ___School of Medicine at ___midwestern
university.
22. Mel’s grandmother is in ___hospital, so we went to visit her ___last
night.
23. ___political science class is taking ___trip to ___Soviet Union in
___spring.
24. ___Declaration of Independence was drawn up in 1776.
25. Last night there was ___bird singing in my house.
26. ___chair you are sitting on is broken.
27. ___Florida State University is smaller than ___University of Florida.
KEY:
1. The
2. The, --, the
3. --, --.
4. The, the, the
5. A, --, --, --
6. The, the
7. The or --, the, --
8. –
9. The, a, --, a
10. A, --, the
11. --, the
12. --, the, --
13. --, the
14. --, a or the, --
15. –
16. --, --, the
17. The or --, the or –
18. --, an
19. The, an
20. –
21. The, a
22. The, --
23. The or a, a, the, the
24. The
25. A
26. The
27. --, the