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".
75 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.
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 :)
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"?
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".)
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)
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"
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".
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.
You're correct in both "for Saturday" and "in January".
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.
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
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".
is it a magnificient pagoda or the magnificient pagoda??
It can be both. If you're talking about one in particular, use "the":
The magnificent pagoda in this town was built in…
If you're talking about one of many pagodas, use "a":
There's a magnificent pagoda in this town, built in…
Please, help me!
I have a little problem with articles, can you tell have I done it O.K.?
The law of a country is primarily ___ sum of total of all___ separate rules.
It gives sense to some of ___legal rules making up the law.
The law is as much ___living thing as___ people's language.
The law grows as the country's economy changes.
Here are the correct sentences:
The law of a country is primarily _the__ sum of total of all__the_ separate rules.
It gives sense to some of _the__legal rules making up the law.
The law is as much _a__living thing as___ people's language.
The law grows as the country's economy changes.
Can we say She is in a hospital at the moment?
Yes, if you or the person you're talking to doesn't know which hospital.
i'm still confused about the use of articles before nationalities. If we can use an article for nationalities that end with -n, how about those end with -ese (Chinese, Japanese, etc). Can we say that 'She's a Japanese.'? How about New Zealander? It sounds weird to say 'He's New Zealander.' Are they any concrete rules about using article before nationality? Thanks Clare.
You can't use an article before -ese: "He's Chinese" (not "a Chinese"). "A New Zealander" is fine. It seems to me you can use an article before nationalities that end -an: "He's an Italian / German / Korean".
Does Philippines can be considered as a plural meaning? Is it correct to say, " I live in the Philippines" and not "I live in Philippines". Also, Made in the Philippines and not made in Philippines?
Please help to sort this out.
Adz
It's considered plural, so "I live in the Phillipines" and "Made in the Philippines".
hi clare,
pls.help me these following sentences.
1.my husband looking a dvd's in the computer room or should I say "looking the dvd's"
2.I am late going to the office because of the heavy traffic.
3.The/A man in the car drives very fast and he does over speed.
4.The flowers are beautiful in the/a garden.
5.She works in a/the company.
thanks in advance
1. My husband is looking for a dvd in the computer room / … is looking for dvds in the computer room
2.I am late going to the office because of heavy traffic.
3.The/A man in the car is driving very fast. (Either the / a, depending on whether we know which man you are talking about)
4.The flowers are beautiful in the garden.
5.She works in a company.
Is this sentence correct? Paris is so very courageous a warrior. Can I use so very before an adjective?
Yes, your sentence is correct.
any body help me please?
1. "it's already 4 o'clock no." "we __________late."
a. will be
b. have been
c. are
which on is the best answer of the three options?? i am so confused. is it correct if i choose b. have been.
thank you for your help
Either a or c. Sorry!
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