1.1
General Rules on
How to Use Articles in English
Okay, so let’s do a review
of the general rules of articles. I will not provide ALL the rules and
exceptions of articles here. Many of those you will learn specifically in the
text below.
A/An
We use a/an:
- The first time you mention or refer to a noun
- Example: I bought a new pair of shoes
yesterday! (First mention). Can you believe the shoes were 50%
off!! (Second mention – now it is clear which shoes: the shoes you bought
yesterday.)
- To name a member of a group
- Jobs (I’m a teacher.)
- Nationalities (He’s an American.)
- Religions (She’s a Buddhist.)
- When you also mean “one”
- Example: I had an ( =one) apple at
lunch.
- Expressions that quantify
- A little (bit) of
- A lot of
- A ton of
The
We use the:
- With something already mentioned (see example for
the first mention with a/an above)
- When there is just one of something*
- I took a walk in the forest. (There is only
one forest where you live.)
- When you define a specific person, object or place
- I loved the book my dad gave me for my
birthday. (Not just any book, but specifically the books your dad gave
you for your birthday.)
- With things that are unique (there is only one)*
- The sun
- The President of the U.S.
- The CEO of Apple
- With ordinal numbers and superlatives
- The first, the second, the third
- The biggest, the best, the fastest, the ugliest
- With some proper nouns:
- Rivers (The Nile)
- Mountains Ranges (The Rockies, The Alps)
- Oceans (The Pacific Ocean)
- Groups of Islands or Countries with Plural
- The Hawaiian Islands
- The Netherlands
*When there is just one of
something or when something is unique, then the information is shared
information. This means everyone already knows about the person/place/thing so
we don’t have to explain it or define it. For example, everyone around the
world knows about the sun. We don’t have to explain the sun, so we always
use the sun (not a sun).
Ø (Zero Article)
We use ø:
- Talk about things in general (all things everywhere)
- I love watching whales! (All whales everywhere, not
just one specific whale.)
- I love Italy.
- Countries
- He’s from Germany.
- Have you visited Algeria?
- Languages
- French
- Japanese
- Meals
- Breakfast
- People’s names and titles
- With possessives
- My coffee …
- Her dog …
- Uncountable nouns (unless referring to a specific
example)
- I love adding milk (uncountable)
to my coffee (uncountable + possessive).
- Specific mountains, lakes, and islands
- Mt. Fuji
- Most cities, towns, streets, and airports
- Kyiv
- New York
- Main Street
2 Rules
of Using Articles with Examples
Definite article or Indefinite article, each of the articles has
different uses in different situations.
2.1.1
Using Indefinite Article: a
& an
Rule 1:
A common
noun in
the singular number always
requires an article before it. But a plural common noun does not require an
article always. A plural common noun can have the article ‘the’ if we want to
particularise that noun.
Example:
o I
saw a snake. (Refers to a random snake)
o I saw snakes
in a zoo. (No article is required)
o I have
seen the snake again. (Refers to the snake I have already seen earlier)
o I have
seen the snakes again before leaving the zoo. (Refers to the particular snakes
of the zoo which I saw earlier.)
Rule 2:
The choice between the two
indefinite articles – a & an – is determined by sound. Words beginning with consonant
sounds precede ‘a’ and words beginning with vowel sounds precede ‘an’. There are some special
cases also. For instance,
o a
university, a union, a useful book, etc.
o a
one-dollar note, a one-man army, etc.
o an MA,
a BA, an LLB, a BSC, etc.
Rule 3:
A or an - sometimes makes a Proper
Noun a
Common Noun. Proper nouns generally do not take any articles, but when a proper
noun needs to be used as a common noun, you must bring a or an - for it.
Example:
o He
thinks he is a Shakespeare. (Here, ‘Shakespeare’ does not refer to the actual
person but someone like him.)
o He
seems to be an Australian. (‘Australia’ is a proper noun but ‘Australian’ is a
common noun because there is only one Australia but a million of Australians.)
Rule 4:
Sometimes indefinite articles are used to refer the number
‘one’/’each’/’per’.
Example:
o I
earned a thousand dollar in that job. (One thousand dollar)
o I have
a car. (One car)
o It
goes 50 miles an hour. (Per Hour)
Rule 5:
Indefinite articles often
precede descriptive adjectives.
Example:
o He is
a good boy.
o What a
nice car!
Rule 6:
‘A’ sometimes comes
before determiners, for example,
a few,
a little, a lot of, a most, etc. but in the case of many, a or an - comes after.
Example:
o I have
a few friends coming over.
o There
is a little milk in the jar.
o Many a
fan welcomed
2.1.2
Using Definite Article: the
Rule 1:
‘The’ is used to indicate a
particular person(s) or thing(s) in the case of common nouns. Proper nouns
generally do not take an article.
Example:
o The
man is running. (A particular man)
o I saw
the boy stealing.
o Where
is the pen I gave you last year?
o I gave
him a ball, but he lost the ball. (‘a ball’ became ‘the ball’ in the second
clause because that ball was not a random ball anymore.)
Rule 2:
Sometimes ‘the’ is used to generalize a
group/whole class.
Example:
o The
dog is a faithful animal. (Refers to the whole species of dog.)
o The
English are industrious. (Refers to the people of England as a nation)
o The
honest are respected. (The+adjectives = plural noun)
o The
poor are not always dishonest. (The+adjectives = plural noun)
Rule 3:
To particularise a non-count noun ‘the’ is required before it.
Example:
o The
water of the Arctic ocean is freezing.
o Please
return the money I lent you last year.
Rule 4:
‘The’ is mandatory before a thing which is only one of a kind in
the universe.
Example:
o The
moon is shining tonight.
o The
earth is moving around the sun.
Use of ‘the’ before geographical
places :
Rule 5:
Using ‘the’ with geographical
nouns generally depends on the size and plurality of the things those nouns
refer to. ‘The’ is generally used everywhere except some cases. So, it’s
better to know those exceptions first.
‘The’ must not precede:
o Names
of continents: Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, South
America, North America, Antarctica.
o Names
of countries: Australia, Bolivia, England, France, Spain,
etc.
o Names
of states, cities, or towns: Los Angeles, Alaska, Sydney,
London,
o Names
of streets: George street, Albion Street, New town street,
o Names
of singular lakes and
bays: Lake Carey, Lake Eyre, Lake Hillier, Shark
Bay,
o Names
of single mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Solitary, Mount Bindo, Mount Fuji,
etc.
o Names
of single islands: Easter Island, Bare Island, Bird Island, Fatima Island,
o Names
of languages: Spanish, Russian, English, (When ‘the’ precedes these nouns, they refer to the
population of those languages.)
o Names
of sports: cricket, football, basketball,
o Names
of discipline/subject of studies: biology, history,
computer science,mathematics,
Note:
‘The’ is a widely used
article in English. Except for the list mentioned above and proper nouns, ‘the’ is used before almost
all the nouns which mean something definite/particular. The above list has some
opposite factors also. Those factors are explained in the following
list:
‘The’ must precede:
o Names
of oceans, gulfs, seas, and rivers: the Pacific, the Atlantic, the
Coral Sea, the Timor Sea, the Persian Gulf,the Nile, the Murray River, the
Darling River, etc.
o Names
of countries with united states or islands: the
United States of America (the USA), the UK, the UAE, the Philippines, etc.
o Names
of great lakes: the Great Lakes, the African Great Lakes
o Names
of mountain ranges: the Himalayas, the Alps, the Andes, etc.
o Names
of a group of Islands: the West Indies, the Andamans,
etc.