ARTICLES
INDEFINITE ARTICLE
A. FORM: The indefinite article has two forms:
1. A (=un/una) is used when the following word begins with a consonant
sound. E.g. a house, a car, a university (note: the <u> in university is a
semiconsonant sound, not a vowel sound).
2. AN (=un/una) is used when the following word begins with a vowel sound or
when the word begins with an <h> that is not pronounced. E.g. an hour, an
elephant.
B. USE. We use the indefinite article when the noun is SINGULAR (not plural!) and
COUNTABLE and also in these contexts:
1. When the noun is mentioned for the first time. E.g. They bought a new house.
The house is enormous!
2. With professions. E.g. Her brother is a doctor and her parents are Ø teachers.
(not Her father is doctor. NOTICE: No article before teachers!)
3. With exclamations with what. E.g. What a nice day!
4. Before some numeric expressions: a hundred, a thousand, a million, a third, a
quarter, a half.
5. With expressions that indicate frequency: once a week, twice a year.
6. With the meaning “un tal”. E.g. A Mr Williams phoned.
C. OMISSION OF A/AN
1. Before plural nouns. E.g. There are Ø people in the street.
2. Before uncountable nouns. E.g. I like Ø coffee.
3. Before abstract nouns. E.g. Ø Generosity is a virtue.
4. Before breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, supper except if there is an adjective in
between. E.g. I usually have Ø breakfast at nine o’clock.
I had a delicious breakfast yesterday morning.
DEFINITE ARTICLE
A. FORM
1. THE (=el, la, lo, los, las) is invariable. It is used for both singular and plural.
2. It has two different pronunciations:
/ðI/ before a vowel sound
/ðǝ/ before a consonant sound.
B. USE
1. Before nouns that refer to a specific thing or person.
E.g. The teacher is writing on the board.
2. When there is only one. E.g. the world.
3. When a noun is mentioned for the second time.
E.g. They bought a car. The car is expensive.
4. With the names of oceans, seas, rivers, deserts, groups of islands, group of
mountains and canals. E.g. The Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, the Amazon, the
Sahara, the Pyrenees, the Suez canal.
5. When the noun is followed by a subordinate clause or an adverbial phrase.
E.g. The woman in red. / The hotel where we stayed.
6. With musical instruments. E.g. He plays the guitar.
7. The + ADJECTIVE. This is used to refer to a group of people. E.g.
the unemployed the dead the elderly the disabled
the young the poor / the rich the injured the homeless
8. The + nationality. E.g. the French, the British, the Welsh, etc.
9. Before the superlative. E.g. It’s the tallest boy in the class.
10. The + comparative..., the + comparative... E.g. The more he eats, the fatter he gets.
11. Before proper nouns like theatres (The Royal Opera House), cinemas (The
Odeon), museums (The National Gallery), hotels (The Ritz), newspapers (The
Times), musical groups (The Beatles), families (the Simpsons), name followed by
a preposition (The Tower of Pisa).
C. OMISSION
We do not use the in these contexts:
1. When we refer to things or people in general. E.g. I don’t like Ø spiders.
2. Before abstract nouns used in general. E.g. Ø Love is universal.
3. Before sports. E.g. We play Ø football every afternoon.
4. Before parts of the body or pieces of clothes. We use possessive adjectives
instead. E.g. I clean my teeth after every meal. / Put on your jacket. It’s cold outside.
5. Before meals. E.g. We have Ø lunch at one o’clock.
6. Before languages. E.g. Ø German is a difficult language to learn.
7. Before names of people. E.g. Ø Ann, Ø Peter
8. Before the names of continents (Africa, Europe), countries/states/regions
(Spain, Texas, Central Europe), cities/towns/villages (New York, Barcelona,
London), mountains (Everest), streets/roads/squares/parks. (Oxford Street)
BUT we use the in the names with Republic (The Dominican Republic), state
(The United States of America), kingdom (the United Kingdom).
9. Before the words Mount (Ø Mount Everest) and lake (Ø Lake Superior).
10. Names of places named after the people who started them. E.g. Ø McDonalds,
Ø Harrods (=shop), Ø Lloyds Bank
11. Name of companies /airlines. E.g. Ø Fiat, Ø Sony
12. Before Mr/Mrs/Ms/Doctor/Captain/etc. E.g. Ø Doctor Smith, Ø Mr Jones.
13. Before bed/church/hospital/prison/school/college/university/work/home
when we are thinking of the general idea of these places and what they are
used for. However, we use the with cinema, bank, station, etc. E.g.
I always go to Ø bed before midnight.
They go to Ø church every Sunday.
We arrived Ø home earlier than we expected.
The man was taken to Ø hospital.
He was sent to Ø prison.
14. Before the time expressions last and next. E.g. Ø next week, Ø last month.
15. Before noun + number. E.g. Our train leaves from Ø Platform 3.
Have you got these shoes in Ø size 9?
16. Other cases:
Ø space (=space in universe) E.g. There are millions of stars in Ø space.
Ø television E.g. I often watch Ø television
Go to sea /be at sea (=go/be on a voyage) E.g. He’s at Ø sea.
