In English, knowing when to use 'a' or 'the' can be difficult. Fortunately, there are rules to help you, but you need to know what type of noun you are using.
Grammar rule 1
When you have a single, countable English noun, you must always have an article before it. We cannot say "please pass me pen", we must say "please pass me the pen" or "please pass me a pen" or "please pass me your pen".
Nouns in English can also be uncountable. Uncountable nouns can be concepts, such as 'life', 'happiness' and so on, or materials and substances, such as 'coffee', or 'wood'.
Grammar rule 2
Uncountable nouns don't use 'a' or 'an'. This is because you can't count them. For example, advice is an uncountable noun. You can't say "he gave me an advice", but you can say "he gave me some advice", or "he gave me a piece of advice".
Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable. For example, we say "coffee" meaning the product, but we say "a coffee" when asking for one cup of coffee.
Grammar rule 3
You can use 'the' to make general things specific. You can use 'the' with any type of noun – plural or singular, countable or uncountable.
"Please pass me a pen" – any pen.
"Please pass me the pen" – the one that we can both see.
"Children grow up quickly" – children in general.
"The children I know grow up quickly" – not all children, just the ones I know.
"Poetry can be beautiful"- poetry in general.
"The poetry of Hopkins is beautiful" – I'm only talking about the poetry Hopkins wrote.
More uses of articles in English
Rivers, mountain ranges, seas, oceans and geographic areas all use 'the'.
For example, "The Thames", "The Alps", "The Atlantic Ocean", "The Middle East".
Unique things have 'the'.
For example, "the sun", "the moon".
Some institutional buildings don't have an article if you visit them for the reason these buildings exist. But if you go to the building for another reason, you must use 'the'.
"Her husband is in prison." (He's a prisoner.)
"She goes to the prison to see him once a month."
"My son is in school." (He's a student.)
"I'm going to the school to see the head master."
"She's in hospital at the moment." (She's ill.)
"Her husband goes to the hospital to see her every afternoon."
Musical instruments use 'the'.
"She plays the piano."
Sports don't have an article.
"He plays football."
Illnesses don't have an article.
"He's got appendicitis."
But we say "a cold" and "a headache".
Jobs use 'a'.
"I'm a teacher."
Countries
We don't use 'a' if the country is singular. "He lives in England." But if the country's name has a "plural" meaning, we use 'the'. "The People's Republic of China", "The Netherlands", "The United States of America".
Continents, towns and streets don't have an article.
"Africa", "New York", "Church Street".
Theatres, cinemas and hotels have 'the'.
"The Odeon", "The Almeira", "The Hilton".
Abbreviations use 'the'.
"the UN", "the USA", "the IMF".
We use 'the' before classes of people.
"the rich", "the poor", "the British".
74 comments on “English Articles”
Tell me when not to use the articles (a/an, the) at all.
Secondly. In your website under "Grammar and Tenses" category and under "Articles" sub category.
In Grammar rule 2, you have mentioned:
We can't say "he gave me an advice"
But I have seen some people saying "I have an idea".
Is this also wrong?
The rule is that you don't use a / an with uncountable nouns. "Advice" is an uncountable noun.
But "idea" is a countable noun, so you can use "an" with it.
Musical instruments use 'the'.
"She plays the piano."
If the sentence is "She plays piano", it means she can play piano. Is it correct?
Thanks
The sentence "She plays piano" should be "She plays the piano" as musical instruments use "the". You might hear "she plays piano" in American English, but it would be considered incorrect in British English.
This site is quiet beneficial to anyone interested in learning or enhancing their English skill. I'm just new on this site and I've discovered that the explanations are in a simplified fashion not making it hard for anyone to understand. Thanks!
What about island? Does it use "the".
"Island" is a countable noun, so it needs an article: for example, "I live on an island".
while mentioning my hobbies can i say 'playing the key board or playing key board- which is correct?
Both are fine, although I'd probably say "playing the key board".
(Should we use an article before a nationality…say…) Which is correct: Are you a Korean? or Are you Korean?
Thanx :)
Why do people sometimes use "make a noise" and another time they use "make noise" ?
If you make a lot of noise: you make lots of noises continually. But if you make a noise, you make only one noise.
As mentioned above that every job is attached with an ariticle "a".My doubt is its used for all types of job or in particular, what am I supposed to say when someone is engineer.
He is an engineer. or He is a engineer.
It should be "He is an engineer".
which of the statements is correct.
1:my hair is long.
2:my hair are long.
Statement 1 is correct.
I've read the comments and one comment caught my attention bout the musical instruments..so it's ok to say "I play guitar." without the "the"
Really, when not to use the articles..
I would like to comment on the second comment @Himmel Sihombing…
'She plays piano' may also be used when she plays the piano as a part of her hobby or as a part of her job…
Comment on Iza's question: "Are you a Korean?" or "Are you Korean?"…a Korean is a person, Korean is nationality…both are correct….
nihao?clare
I got a problem
In MORE USES OF ARTICLES you said visit buildings which are exist are no need articles right?!
The below ways THEATRES and and …
But in this sentence " I'm going to visit Sydney Opera" or "I'm going to visit THE Sydney Opera"
Which is correct?
TKS
Nihao!
Theatres take an article, so it should be "I'm going to (visit) the Sydney Opera". We normally refer to the building though, so you can say "I'm going to the Sydney Opera House."
We also "go to the opera".
can we say a good advice
No. We can say either "good advice" or "a good piece of advice".
please i have a confiusion about the nationality? if i say are you turkish? and are you a turkish ? both of twi sentences have the same meaning?thanx
With some nationalities, you can also use the article.
For example, "He is Italian" and "He is an Italian". (You can often do this with nationalities ending in -n, such as American, Korean, German, Brazilian etc). But you can't use the article with all nationalities, such as with "Turkish". You can say "I am Turkish" or "Are you Turkish?" (not "are you a…")
does historical occasion need a or an?
It needs "a".
'information' is not countable noune, so the following sentence is correct?
"It had a lot of information"
Yes, the sentence is correct. Perhaps you meant to write "I had a lot of information"?
Do we use 'the' before 'home'?
e.g. She walks from the home to the school.
Thanks.
Thanks Clare for your reply. Yes it was typo ('I' is correct :-( ).
Could you please explain the rule to use 'a' article for uncountable noun 'information'?
You can't use an indefinite article (a / an) before an uncountable noun.
I'd like information about…. (not "an information")
No. You can say:
She walks from home to school
She walks from her home to school
She walks from her home to the school
Hello,
Q1. Please describe how u can say advise is 'uncountable' and idea is 'countable'. Also diffrentiate between countable and uncountable nouns.
Q2. 'The' used before 'class of people'?. Please give more examples because u say 'The British' where british is also used in nationality so it should be 'A british', 'An American'. Please describe it.
Q3. Article used in 'Some institutional buildings'. I can't understand it. Please give some more detailed about it.
1. It should be "advice" (not "advise"). Some nouns are uncountable, and some aren't. Often, concept nouns are uncountable. For more information, see the top of the page.
2. We can use "the" before nationality to talk about a class / a group of people – not a singular person. So "the British" but "a British person". (not "a British")
3. If you go to an institution for the purpose with which that institution was built (so you go to a school to learn, a hospital because you are ill etc) then no article. If you go to the institution for another reason (maybe to visit someone there), there is an article.
can the be used before air
Yes: "The air we breathe is becoming more polluted".
My question is with regards to the promunciation of the articles. I know that article "the" change its pronunciation if the word begins in vowel and consonant, but how about article "A and An" do their pronunciation change whenthey are used in some words? Does spelling matter aside from its sound?
Thank you. Just need an answer as part of my research.
Generally we don't stress grammatical words like articles. So often "a" is pronounced as a schwa (the "a" sound in the first syllable of "banana", for example.) If we want to stress the word (for example, if we're correcting a misunderstanding) we might use a long a sound (as in the "a" of "plate".)
it very nice and beneficial
thank you so much
This is a very good site!! I was very bad at articles…I hope this will help a lot.
Hi Claire, I always get confused while saying the below mentioned sentences:
I going to the office ('I am going to the office' is correct or 'I am going to office' is correct).
I have reached to the office.
I am not coming to the office.
I have reached to his place.
Please clarify.
I'm going to the office. (correct)
I've reached the office. (correct)
I am not coming to the office. (correct)
Thanks a ton Clare! I always wanted to have a teacher or a friend.. who can correct me, teach me and help me …whenever I need any help. Finally I ve got someone and you are the one.. Clare.
Thank you Clare for every thing,
Clare my teacher asked me to search in the internet if we can use
( a+my ) (my) after (a) directly, could you help me please?
Best regards..
1)Are these sentences corect?
I am going to hospital.( I am ill)
I am going to the hospital.( for visit)
"poor people are better than the rich people " if yes why poor doesn't have "the"
I can't think of any examples, as this construction would be incorrect. We only use one determiner before a noun – a determiner being an article such as a / the, or a possessive such as my / your.
The first two are correct. In the third, omit the article "the" before "rich people".
Suppose I am talking about a particular interview …"I am ready for the interview" is it correct or it should be "I am ready for an interview".
If I am talking about the "Future""……..it should be " a future" or "the future".
Sometimes people say "in a near future" is it a right sentence.
"I am ready for the interview" is correct because you are talking about a particular interview – one that I already know about because you have mentioned it before.
We talk about "the future" and "in the near future".
Thanks for helping Claire.
But instructor says put "the" befor classes of people and you are saying me to omit "the" before "poor" why?
What about the name of the weekdays and months…like "I am booking the table for saturday"…It would be "saturday" or "the saturday". And " I am going to London in January". Please advice.
"these days Lots of IT People are on the bench."
"Its not a time to do the experiments."
Could you please tell me here "the bench" (when bench is not visible) and "a time" are correct
You're correct in both "for Saturday" and "in January".
… are on the bench = an expression meaning that people are waiting for a job.
"It's not a time to… " is OK. You could also say "the" instead of "a".
We listen to Music or We listen to the music.
Claire …I think you can make out now that how bad I am at articles :-).
If you're talking about music in general, no "the": "We listen to music in the mornings."
If you're talking about some music that I know about (perhaps I can hear it to), so the music is specific, then use an article:
"We're listening to the music coming from that car."
1. The durian fruit have strong smell or The durian fruit have a strong smell
2. Both plants are flowering plants or Both plants are flowering plant.
Durian frut have a strong smell / Durian fruit are strong-smelling.
Both are flowering plants.
ur articles r gret
Is this sentence correct…"I ve mentioned the details of open requests for Mondeo project in this letter".
… for the Mondeo project…
he is talking on the phone ….or he is talking on phone. Some people says "he is on phone" is it correct or it should be "he is on the phone".
if somebody calls me in the middle of the meeting …can I tell him that I am in the meeting right now or it is ….I am in a meeting right now.
I am going for a meeting ..is correct or …I am going for the meeting.
He's on the phone.
I'm in a meeting right now.
what article will we use with the word year?
You can use a or the, depending on what you want to say.
'the email" is correct …if we are talking about the specific email. for example…He has sent you the email.
Do we use "the" in front of the names of bridges? As a rule we don't, but how come that we say The Tower of London?
Interesting question! I'd say we use "the" before towers:
The Tower of London
The Eiffel Tower
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
the basic hints given above are very informative for students and helps them to accomplish their lack in articles they are just like a nut in a shell……………….
can we use article before "united kingdom"
i think we can use definite article before noun+of+noun structure so we can use "the" before tower of london…………
There's only one Tower of London/ only one Eiffel tower and only one Towere of Pisa so we follow the rule for articles and put 'THE' before them.
With London Bridge/Firth Bridge etc.. it's obvious that the bridge belongs to the city whose name is placed before the noun.
It's a bvit like saying LOndon's Bridge(possessive case) but today no-one uses this.
Hope this helps
Yes – you need to. This is because there is more than one element to The United Kingdom. You also need an article before "United States" (more than one state).
What shall we use in the blank space
We saw ……giant Empire State building.
the
Should we put "the" in over next decade OR over the next decade. Thanks in advance.
It's my first visit to this place. I fin it very useful. Can u say "He's a Turk? I have a problem using indefinite articles.
I read that He's an Italian is OK
Can u help me?
thanks in advance.
Use "the".
You can say either "He's a Turk" or "He's Turkish".