When you hear the word article, you may think of many different things. Perhaps you read an interesting article from your local newspaper yesterday. Maybe you shared the article with a friend. If you are a scholar, maybe you publish articles regularly. This means that you are an expert in your field, and you write articles about your research. These articles are like essays, but they reach a bigger audience.
In English grammar, the word article has a very different meaning. An article is the word (a/an/the)) that comes before a noun. In English, the articles help to give more information or describe the noun.
Don't worry if you find the rules about articles difficult! You are not alone. Articles in English grammar are problematic for many learners. This makes sense because most Asian and Slavic languages and many African languages have no articles. Even if your first language does use articles, chances are the rules are very different than in English (for example, French and Spanish).
Basic Rules for Articles in English
Articles (a/an/the) precede (come before) nouns and some other words in a noun phrase. The article is usually the first word in a noun phrase, but note:
- all/both/half + the: All the information, Both the twins
- quite/rather/such/what/half + a/an : quite a different person
We use the indefinite article (a/an) with singular countable nouns: a garage, an opinion.
We use the definite article (the) with singular countable nouns (the garage), with plural nouns (the latest computers) and uncountable nouns (the purest water). However, we can omit the with uncountable and plural nouns (It’s important to drink water).
Naming, describing, and clarifying
We use “a/an” when we name or describe something:
That’s a little insect. ‘What’s that?’ ‘It’s an enormous anthill.
We use “the” when we refer to one example of a class or a species:
The African elephant has larger ears than the Indian elephant.
However, it is more common to refer to the whole class with the plural:
African elephants have larger ears than Indian elephants.
We do not use “a/an” to refer to a whole class rather than individual examples:
Incorrect: Ruthless poachers hunt an elephant for the valuable ivory of its tusks.
Correct: Ruthless poachers hunt the elephant for the valuable ivory of its tusks.
Correct: Ruthless poachers hunt elephants for the valuable ivory of their tusks.
We can also use “the” with an adjective to refer to a class of people:
The homeless need shelter during the bitter Canadian winter.
Known or unknown topics
We use “a/an” when the topic (noun) is not known to our listener/reader; we use “the” when it is known. Therefore, we usually use “a/an” for the first reference to a topic in a text, but then use the subsequent references:
A new travel guide has advised would-be tourists to Morecambe that it is a place to avoid…The guide paints a bleak – if not third-world – picture.
However, we do not always have to mention something for it to be known to the listener. We consider that it is known in the following situations:
Situation | Example |
Something is unique | We are in danger of permanently damaging the earth. |
Superlatives | Canadiana English has the best teachers! |
The context makes in known | Has Edward arrived yet? Yes, he's in the dining room. (= the dining room of the house we are in) |
A defining phrase makes it known | Oasis is the English band that become super famous in the early nineties. |
A prepositional phrase makes it known | 'Meet me in the cafe next to the subway station near my house. |
General and specific:
With plural nouns we use either “the” or no article. We don’t use an article when we want to refer to a group or class in general. Compare:
Tourists are often blamed for changing the character of a place. (=all tourists)
Did you notice what the tourists in the cathedral were doing? (=specific tourists)
It is commonly accepted today that whole wheat bread is good for you.
Did you remember to get the bread out of the freezer?
We only use an article before an abstract noun if we wish to make an abstract noun more specific, e.g. to talk about a particular type of hope:
Incorrect: It is impossible to live in a world without the hope.
Correct: It is impossible to live in a world without hope. (hope in general)
The hope of finding a cure for Covid-19 drives a lot of medical research.
Nouns such as church, hospital, school do not take an article if we think of their purpose, i.e. church as a place of worship, or school as a place of learning:
Fewer people attend church regularly now than twenty years ago.
Can children leave school at fourteen in your country?
If we think of the physical place or building, we use an article:
The collection for restoring the church has almost reached its target.
Is there a school in the village or do the children have to go to the town?
Other common uses of articles
a/an
jobs, nationalities and beliefs: I’m a structural engineer. Helmut’s an Austrian. She became a Buddhist.
numbers: a hundred thousand
prices, speeds, etc: a pound, 20km an hour
the
some geographical names: plurals (the United States, the US), areas (the West), mountain ranges (the Pyrenees), oceans or seas (the Atlantic Ocean, the Black Sea), rivers (the St.Lawrence)
musical instruments: She plays the flute.
the media: All our family work in the theatre
in some comparative phrases: the more the merrier, all the better
in front of superlatives and first, last, next, only, some, right, wrong: the most dangerous profession, the last time, the only one
in measurements: You can buy saffron by the gram.
physical environments: I prefer the town to the country.
newspapers: the Times, the Globe and Mail, the Record
dates when spoken: the tenth of May
It's time to practice!
Grab a piece of paper or copy and paste this activity into an email to hello@canadianaenglish.ca.
Complete these short sentences with an appropriate article: a/an, the or – (no article).
Can you explain your answer? What's the rule?
Send us your work, and we'll give you feedback (or just check your answers below!)
Please remember: Articles can be very difficult, so don't worry if you have trouble. Keep practicing!
1. He’s got ________ asthma.
Answer: He's got - asthma.
2. The wedding ring is a band of __________ gold.
3. It prints seven pages ________ minute.
4. Let’s have a weekend in ___________ mountains near Montreal.
5. She’s at ______ work.
6. It’s near _________ Lake Ontario.
7. Sorry – it’s __________ wrong answer.
8. It appeared in ___________Globe and Mail.
9. What’s for ____________ dinner?
10. We’re going on a day trip by _________ coach.
11. They’re flying to ____________rocky mountains in Alberta.
12. It’s ___________ best solution.
13. Can you ski on ______________ Mont Blanc?
14. It’s quite warm there in _________ winter.
15. We all need __________ oxygen.
16. We’ve had over ___ dozen applicants.
17. He was crowned ________ king.
18. Ms. Lin speaks _______ Chinese and English.
19. Our neighbours have ____ cat and ____ dog.
20. I want ____ apple from the basket.
Answers:
no article
no article
a
the
no article
no article
the
the
no article
no article
the
the
no article
the
no article
no article
no article
no article
a, a
an
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