Articles

a, an, the
 Use of articles: a, an, the
• a is used before a consonant sound
– a teacher
– a student
– a happy person (h is pronounced)
– a useful car (u is pronounced)
• an is used before a vowel sound
– an egg
– an airplane
– an hour (h is NOT pronounced)
– an uncle
 When to use a/an?
– We have a cat and a dog.
(with singular and countable nouns)
– There is a supermarket on Adam Street.
(when you mention something for the first time)
– We will make our field trip on a sunny day next
week.
(when you do not specify)
*She wants to study at a university in America.
(she does not say which university)
 When to use a/an?
– I am a teacher.
(with professions –jobs in singular)

– I need a little help.

– She bought a pair of shoes
– You have a couple of / a few mistakes.
(with some expressions of quantity)
 When to use the?

- We have a cat and a dog. The cat is black and the dog is
brown.
( when you mention something for the second time)
- I am going to the gym.
(when both people know what you are talking about)
- He is not the boy who cheated in the exam yesterday.
(boy is identified)
- the cat, the cats, the milk…….etc
(with singular and plural, countable and uncountable
nouns)
 *Use the with names of:
- oceans, seas, rivers, hotels, theatres, museums,
newspapers.
the Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Yellow River,
the Times, the Hilton,
- united countries
the United States of America, the United Kingdom

*Use the if there is only one of something.

the sun, the Queen, the government, the Titanic

*Use the with superlative adjectives.

the best, the biggest, the most interesting
No Articles
• Do not use articles with names of:
– Subjects and Languages (English, history….etc)
• Mrs. Lin teaches us history. / I speak Italian.
– Meals and sports (breakfast, dinner, football….)
• I play tennis before lunch on Fridays.
– Countries, cities, towns ( Kuwait, Paris..)
• My uncle lives in London.
– Airports, stations, magazines (Heathrow, Vogue..)
• I bought Cosmopolitan from Paddington Station.
– Streets, mountains (Oman Street, Rushmore…)
• Mount Everest is the highest mountain.
• Do not use articles:
– Before some places
home university bed
school work

– Before some forms of transportation

by bus by plane by car
on foot by train
– Before plural and uncountable nouns when talking
about things in general.
I like potatoes.
Milk is good for you.
 Exercise 4: add or delete the articles
• The dogs always chase the cats.
• I’m going to supermarket. Do you want anything?
• We Chinese eat the rice everyday.
• Heineken is good beer.
• I practice the baseball every week.
• Sam does not like to go to the school.
• Can you swim across English Channel?
• The life is wonderful when sun is shining.
• I bought pair of sunglasses on the Oxford Street.
• Tokyo is capital city of the Japan.