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English grammar articles: Oh the troubles they make!

The words ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’, known as articles, present problems for those who speak English as a second language. This is not surprising, since there is no equivalent construction in many languages, and those languages that do have articles do not necessarily use them in the same way as English

It is often difficult to decide whether an English noun needs an article before it, and, if so, which article (a/an/the) to use. The main things to consider when choosing an article are whether or not the noun is countable, and whether it is definite. Countability means that the noun can be made plural, e.g. book/books. 

1. Indefinite articles - A and An

A and an are indefinite articles. They are used when talk about something that is not specifically known to the person you are talking to with. A and an are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before.

  • Paul : Hi Peter, I saw an accident this morning outside my house.
  • You are speaking about the “accident” for the first time to Peter. He did not know about it before.

A and an are also used when talking about your profession.

  • I am an English teacher.
  • I am a builder.

You use A when the noun you are referring to begins with a consonant: a house, a building, a car.

You use An when the noun you are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).

Pronunciation changes this rule. It’s the sound that matters, not the spelling.

If the next word begins with a consonant sound when we say it, for example, "university" then we use a. If the next word begins with a vowel sound when we say it, for example, "hour" then we use an.

We say "university" with a "y" sound at the beginning as though it were spelled " you university". - So, "a university" IS correct.

We say "hour" with a silent h as though it were spelled "our". - So, "an hour" IS correct.

2. Definite article - the

You use The when you know that the listener knows or can understand what particular person/thing you are talking about.

You should also use The when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.

  • Paul: Hi Peter, I saw an accident this morning outside my house.
  • (you are speaking about the “accident” for the first time to Peter. He did not know about it before)
  • Peter: Hi Paul, do you know how the accident happened?
  • (Peter now knows about the accident)

We use The to talk about geographical points on the globe.

  • the North Pole
  • the equator

We use The to talk about rivers oceans and seas.

  • the Nile
  • the Pacific
  • the English channel

We also use The before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

  • the Rain
  • the sun
  • the wind
  • the world
  • the earth
  • the White House

However, if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.

  • I could hear the wind.
  • There’s a cold wind blowing.

This also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. In this use, ’the’ is usually given strong pronunciation:

  • Harry’s Bar is the place to go.

Note - This doesn't mean all.

  • The books are expensive.
  • Not all books are expensive, just the ones I’m talking about.
  • Books are expensive.
  • All books are expensive.

3. When not to use an article

We usually use no article to talk about things in general.

  • People are worried about rising crime.
  • People generally, so no article.

You do not use an article when talking about sports.

  • My son plays football.
  • Tennis is expensive.

You do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally.

  • Information is important to any organization.
  • Coffee is bad for you.

You do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas or contain the words (state(s), kingdom, republic, union). Kingdom, state, republic, and union are nouns, so they need an article.

  • Without an article
  • Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, England
  • The
  • the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the Irish Republic
  • Multiple areas
  • the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles

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