Articles

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Teacher:

Chris

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Articles a/an and the

There are three forms of article used in the English language: Definite article (the), indefinite article (a/an) and zero article (Ø). The choice of article depends on the noun or noun forms that are described by the article.

Indefinite article: a/an

Use	Example	Explanation
Before singular nouns	This is a chair That's an octopus	The indefinite article describes one of many things
With jobs	I'm a teacher He's a taxi driver	A very strong rule in that it is almost used in this way
The first time something is mentioned	A woman walked into a room… There was a mouse in the kitchen	Because the noun is unknown, we use the simpler form of the article to describe

Warning!

Remember that an is used with words starting with vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u)

This is an egg

NOT

This is a egg

Definite article: the

Use	Example	Explanation
When there is only one of something	The moon The Eiffel tower	The definite article is used for unique items
When something has been mentioned before	A woman walked into a room. The woman asked for a drink	One of the main uses of definite article is when we want to refer to something
With seas, oceans, rivers and most country names that use extra words	The Black sea The river Thames The United Kingdom	These are rules that need to be noted and remembered
Before the names of areas	The North of Europe
With superlative adjectives	The biggest and the best
With some defining expressions	It's the only place to go
In some phrases with prepositions	In the morning At the end
With dates in spoken English	My birthday is on the fifteenth of November

Warning!

It's easy to become confused and misuse articles. For example, countries with more than one word have an article but countries do not:

The United states of America NOT The Sweden

Also easily confused can be geographical features: Seas, Oceans and Rivers do use the definite article but lakes do not

The Neva, The Indian Ocean NOT The Lake Baikal

Zero article

Use	Example	Explanation
With the names of most towns, cities and countries	Welcome to Ø Rhyl This is Ø Brugge I've never been to Ø China	These are rules that need to be noted and remembered
Before plural nouns	Where are my Ø shoes
In some phrases with prepositions	I'll see you on Ø Monday I eat Pizza for Ø lunch
With sports	Like Ø football but not Ø golf

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Articles

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Articles a/an and the

Indefinite article: a/an

Definite article: the

Zero article