2. A, AN, THE
ARTICLE MODIFIES NOUN – ADJECTIVES
The main things to consider when choosing an article are whether or
not the noun is countable, and whether it is definite. “Countable”
means that the noun can be made plural, e.g. book/books.
4. A, AN
If the noun is singular and countable, and this is the first time you
have mentioned it, then you will usually need the indefinite article:
I bought a book – we do not know which book.
There is a bird outside – we do not know anything about the bird.
Measurements and rates also take the indefinite article: Three times a
week
If the noun starts with a vowel sound, then the article an is used: an
ear, an uncle, an hour
If the noun starts with a consonant sound, then the article a is used: a
school, a university
5. THE
If your reader or listener understands what you are referring to, then
you will usually need the definite article:
I bought a book last week. The book is about trees.
(You have just mentioned the book, so you both know which one.)
We went to a wedding yesterday. The bride wore a lovely dress.
(You have not mentioned the bride before, but you both know she is
connected to the wedding.)
6. THE (CONTD.)
Some things are taken to be common knowledge in English and
therefore take the definite article:
Decades – He was born in the 1920s.
Currencies –The dollar is getting stronger against the pound.
Superlatives and ordinals – The second book in the series is the
best.
Oceans, seas and many rivers –The Nile flows into the
Mediterranean.
Plural or ‘united’ countries – The Maldives are much smaller than the
United States of America.
7. THE (CONTD.)
Adjectives used as nouns – The poor will always be a challenge for
the rich in any country.
Many organizations –The World Health Organization has a detailed
definition of health.
A scientific categorization – The zebra is native to Africa.
A symbol – The Merlion is a symbol of Singapore.
Unique people, places or things – The prime minister said she would
call a conference on changes affecting the Earth’s climate.
Unique adjectives – The same people always take the only parking
spaces available.
8. THE (CONTD.)
Specific nouns modified by a relative clause – The paintings (which are) in
the gallery
Specific nouns followed by ‘of’. This is a very common pattern - The use of
this procedure
Plural nouns preceded by ‘of’ – e.g. Some of the paintings were interesting.
Common error:
You cannot write most of paintings or none of paintings.
It is either most of the paintings (definite) or most paintings (general).
Most of the paintings in the exhibition were landscapes.
(definite – we know which specific paintings – they are in the exhibition)
Most paintings nowadays (general – not specific paintings)
9. NO ARTICLE
We do not need an article if a noun is plural or uncountable and it is not definite.
Women generally live longer than men.
Articles are difficult to use.
Paint is hard to remove.
Some special points
Compare the pairs of sentences given below:
I have a black and white cow. (Only one cow)
I have a black and a white cow. (Two cows)
The secretary and accountant is present. (Here the nouns secretary and
accountant refer to the same person.)
The secretary and the accountant were present. (Here the repetition of the
articles implies that the secretary and the accountant are different persons.)
10. EXAMPLES - NO ARTICLES
1. Before proper, material and abstract nouns used in a general sense:
London, France, Tom, gold, rice, honesty, virtue
Paris is the capital of France. (NOT The Paris is …)
Gold is a precious metal. (NOT The gold is a …)
Honesty is the best policy.
But we say, the United States, the United Arab Emirates etc.
2. Before a common noun used in its commonest sense:
Man is mortal.
Iron is a useful metal.
3. In certain phrases made up of a preposition + noun:
Examples are: on foot, at school, from top to bottom, at home, in bed, by train, by car,
in debt, in hand, on earth, at noon, on board, in jest, at best, at worst etc.
He is in debt. (NOT He is in the debt.)
He is at school. (NOT He is at the school.)
He spent the whole day in bed.
11. EXAMPLES - NO ARTICLES
4. In certain phrases consisting of a transitive verb and its object:
Give ear, set sail, take heart, send word, catch fire, take offence, leave office,
leave home, leave office etc.
He took offence at my words. (BUT NOT He took the offence at my words.)
She left home in the morning. (BUT NOT She left the home in the morning.)
5. Before the names of continents, countries, capes, cities, towns, days, months,
arts, languages, sciences, some diseases etc.
January, March, Physics, English, Tokyo, Beijing, Delhi, Tuesday, Friday,
Asia, America etc.
December is a cold month.
English is spoken all over the world.
6. Before common nouns when they go in pairs:
Both husband and wife had serious injuries.
12. EXAMPLES - NO ARTICLES
7. Before plural nouns used to denote a class:
Apples are red.
Camels are useful animals.
Warm clothes are necessary in cold climates.
8. Before the nouns following kind of:
What kind of flower is it? (NOT What kind of a flower is it?)
9. Before meal-time that doesn’t denote any specific incident
He was at dinner.
Breakfast was served at night. (BUT NOT The breakfast was served at night.)
13. USAGE (CONTD.)
A single, countable noun must have an article if there is no other
number, determiner or possessive (e.g. two, our, this). If the noun is
plural, an article may not be necessary.
our house – you do not need an article, because you already have
the possessive our.
this year – you do not need an article, because you already have the
determiner this.
car – you need an article, because this is a singular countable noun
with no determiner already.
trees – you may need an article, depending on whether the noun is
definite or not.
14. USAGE (CONTD.)
For example:
Trees are usually green – no article is needed, because you are
talking generally and the noun is not definite, i.e. you are not talking
about specific trees.
The trees in the park are green – the article is needed because you
have specified which trees you are talking about.
15. USAGE (CONTD.)
I bought a book – book is a singular, countable noun; therefore it has
to have an article. Your reader does not know which book you are
referring to, therefore it is ‘indefinite’.
The book I bought is interesting - book is again a singular, countable
noun; therefore it has to have an article. In this case, we know which
book you are referring to (the book you bought), so it takes a definite
article. (More details on the definite article are given below.)
I like the books you gave me – books is a plural noun. It is used in a
definite sense (we know which books – the books you gave me), so it
takes a definite article.
16. USAGE (CONTD.)
I like books – books is a plural noun. It is used about books generally,
not specific books, so it takes no article.
Blood is thicker than water – blood and water are singular,
uncountable nouns. They are used in a general sense, therefore they
do not need an article.
I bought two books – you do not need an article, because you already
have the word two.
I bought some books – you do not need an article, because you
already have the word some.
18. CIRCLE THE ARTICLE AND UNDERLINE THE NOUN
IT REFERS TO
1. I live in the state of Texas.
2. Can you tell a story?
3. We will go to the fair tomorrow.
4. I saw an octopus at the zoo.
5. Will you watch a movie with me.
6. I am going to the store after school.
7. We saw an awful accident.
8. I saw a squirrel in my backyard.
9. I want to go to the farm.
10. What is a good excuse?
19. CIRCLE THE ARTICLE AND UNDERLINE THE NOUN
IT REFERS TO
11. We will go to the park today.
12. I saw an alligator in the swamp.
13. It is one of the most popular drinks out right now.
14. I want to thank you for the gift.
15. We went swimming at the pool during the summer.
20. ANSWERS
1. the- state of Texas
2. a- story
3. the- fair
4. an- octopus
5. a- movie
6. the- store
7. an- accident
8. a- squirrel
9. the-farm
10. a- good excuse
11. the- park
12. an- alligator
13. The – drinks
14. The – gift
15. The – swimming pool
21. INSERT A, AN, THE OR NOTHING INTO THE
BLANKS.
Beginner
My mother is ___ English teacher. I am ___ student. When I get home from school, I watch
___ programs on TV. That's ___ best part of my day. ___ programs I watch are for ___
children. I am ___ child, so I think they are funny.
I'm ___ little excited because it's ___ Friday today. There are ___ lot of good shows on TV
today. ___ one I usually watch at 3:30 is about ___ animals. Also, I'm excited because my
mom is making ___ rice for dinner tonight.
Later, after eating dinner and doing my homework, I go to my room and read ___ book for 30
minutes. Then I turn off ___ light and go to ___ bed.
22. INSERT A, AN, THE OR NOTHING INTO THE
BLANKS.
Intermediate
Moving to ___ United States was ___ most exciting thing I have ever done. I moved last year to
___ New York. New York is ___ exciting city, full of ___ adventure. In fact, I met ___ famous actor
on ___ bus yesterday!
Today, I have ___ job interview at ___ financial company. ___ company has ___ offices all over
___ world. I'm not sure that I have ___ skills to get hired. I hope so. ___ company's office is on ___
Main Street. That's ___ same street my friend works on. If I get hired, I could meet him after ___
work for drinks. That would be great. He's from ___ Scotland. He works 8 hours ___ day, 5 days
___ week.
I have two brothers. One, Greg, is still in ___ college, and ___ other, Mike, has already graduated.
Mike is ___ kind of guy that is very serious. I don't remember ___ last time I saw him. It may have
been in ___ August. He was wearing ___ red sweater. It matched his ___ red hair.
After ___ dinner, I usually wash ___ dishes. My wife hates doing it. I waste a lot of ___ water when
I do it. That's bad for ___ environment, I think.
We live near ___ sea. ___ most houses in this area are expensive.
23. INSERT A, AN, THE OR NOTHING INTO THE
BLANKS.
Advanced
I have ___ uncle who lives in ___ home for ___ elderly. He is ___ honest man. He used to be ___ FBI
agent. He once saved ___ one-year-old boy from ___ fire. He has many interesting stories.
He told me that he once met ___ alien from ___ space. This alien didn't need ___ oxygen to live; it
didn't have ___ nose. That's ___ hard story to believe. I'm not sure he was telling me ___ truth. Maybe
he isn't so honest, after all.
___ stress can make ___ life unpleasant. In ___ day, I work at ___ office. ___ people I work with are
busy, and ___ work we do isn’t easy. When I drive to ___ work, usually ___ highways are really busy. If
there's ___ accident during ___ rush hour, it can be ___ chaos on the roads.
I don't watch ___ TV. I get ___ information and ___ news, etc., from ___ Internet. I don't often go to ___
cinema, either. I'm interested in ___ finance. I heard ___ Euro is losing value, compared to ___ US
dollar.
I like Japan. ___ crime is quite low there. When I fly to Japan, I usually fly to ___ Narita Airport. The last
time I was in Japan, I climbed ___ Mount Fuji. It was fun. I am tall. ___ Japanese are generally shorter
than I am.
24. ANSWERS
1: an, a, --, the, the, --, a
2: a, --, a, The, --, --
3: a, the, --
4: the, the, --, an, --, a, the(a)
5: a, a, The, --, the, the, The, --, the, --, --, a, a
6: --, the, the, the, --, a, --
7: --, the, --, the
8: the, --
9: an, a, the, an, an, a, a
10: an, --, --, a, a, the
11: --, --, the, an, the, the, --, the, an, --, --
12: --, --, --, the, the, --, the, the
13: --, --, --, The
25. FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH SUITABLE ARTICLE
Mr Coleman was (1) ___ very fastidious person. He lived three (2) ___
streets away from us, in (3) ___ small house with (4) ___ beautiful garden.
Having taken early retirement from his (5) ___ job as (6) ___ button
counter, he now had plenty of time to worry, and this he did very
successfully. He often spent sleepless nights trying to figure out how he
could successfully cook both sides of (7) ___ omelette without it breaking,
or how he might achieve better access to (8) ___ tins at (9) ___ back of his
cupboard. (10) ___ most of his home was exceptionally neat and tidy, but
several loose cables behind (11) ___ television set bothered him, and he
never quite knew what to do with (12) ___ empty plastic bags.
26. Then, one day, his life changed, and he began to experience some relief
from his anguish. It seemed that other people underwent similar mental
trials, for (13) ___ new catalogue appeared on his doorstep. (14) ___
catalogue contained solutions for many of his problems, and for others
which had not yet given him any cause for concern. There was (15) ___ set
of three egg timers, for example, shaped like (16) ___ chickens and
designed to emit (17) ___ clucking sound at (18) ___ end of three, four and
five minutes respectively. In this way he could cook (19) ___ eggs to suit
each of his friends individually, and then keep them warm with (20) ___
specially designed covers which went with the timer, marked ‘3’, ‘4’ and ‘5’
for identification purposes. And (21) ___ catalogue contained many other
wonderful ideas, such as (22) ___ toaster which could be adjusted to
produce different degrees of brownness on (23) ___ four slices toasted
simultaneously, and (24) ___ photo frame that rotated pictures at (25) ___
touch of (26) ___ invisible button, so that visiting relatives would never be
offended by not seeing their pictures on display, unless, of course, they all
turned up together – Mr Coleman eventually solved this problem too by
ordering four frames.
27. (1) a singular, countable noun; first mention
(2) no article plural, countable noun; a number is used instead (‘three streets’)
(3) a singular, countable noun; first mention
(4) a singular, countable noun; first mention
(5) a singular, countable noun; first mention; someone’s job
(6) a singular, countable noun; first mention
(7) an singular, countable noun; first mention
(8) the plural, countable noun; we know which tins (the tins at the back of his
cupboard), so the noun is specific
(9) the singular, countable noun; specific noun followed by ‘of’
(10) no article singular, countable noun; ‘most of his home’
ANSWERS
28. (11) the singular, countable noun; the writer is drawing you into the story,
assuming that you know which television set is talked about, and that Mr Coleman only has
one television set
(12) no article plural, countable noun; not specific
(13) a singular, countable noun; first mention
(14) the singular, countable noun; second mention. You know which catalogue,
so it is now specific
(15) a singular, countable noun; first mention
(16) no article plural, countable noun; not specific
(17) a singular, countable noun; first mention
(18) the singular, countable noun; specific noun followed by ‘of’
(19) no article plural, countable noun; not specific
(20) the singular, countable noun; we know which covers (the covers which
went with the timer), so the noun is specific
(21) the singular, countable noun; second mention. You know which catalogue,
so it is now specific
