BiteSize 5-minute English Grammar: Using Articles

In short, articles are small words that come before nouns to show whether we are talking about something specific or general. There are two types of articles - the indefinite article and the definite article. Although they are such small words, it is important to know how to use them as they help you to accurately express yourself!

The Indefinite Article: A/An

We use the indefinite article to talk about something in general or to talk about a non-specific thing. The indefinite article is typically used before single countable nouns. Look at the examples below:

• I’ve been trying to find a job for 2 months (we are not focused on a particular job)
• lan bought an expensive car (we are not focused on a particular car)

NB: Use 'a' before words that begin with a consonant sound and 'an' before words that begin with a vowel sound (not only words that begin with a vowel letter!) For example: “He is an honest man,” where ‘honest’ starts with a vowel sound ("o").

The Definite Article: The

We use the definite article to talk about something specific in different contexts.

1. When we refer to any type of specific noun (countable or uncountable, singular or plural nouns)

• The students in my afternoon class are really good at English (specific, countable, plural noun - “students”)
• Did you find the information you wanted on the internet? (specific, uncountable noun - “information”)

2. When it is clear which person, thing, or situation we are talking about, and when we refer to something mentioned earlier

• We went out for dinner last night. The food was fantastic (the food we ate during dinner last night)
• It is cold in here. Can you turn on the heating? (the heating in that room)

3. To refer to unique people or things

• The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church
• The Sun is in the centre of our solar system

4. When using ordinal numbers

• Our apartment is on the second (2nd) floor
• This is the fourth (4th) time I have been to Paris

5. When using superlative adjectives

• I personally think Norway is the greatest country in the world
• We watched a film last night and it was the worst film I’ve ever seen

6. For certain time expressions (parts of the day, a specific date, a decade, a century)

• I always go for a run in the morning
• My parents first met when they were at university in the 1960s

7. When talking about famous buildings, monuments, works of art

• Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa
• The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the USA

8. To talk about certain geographical areas

• Rivers: The Nile, The Amazon, The Thames, The Danube, etc.
• Unique geographical areas/locations: The equator, The North Pole, The South Pole.
• Mountain Ranges: The Alps, The Himalayas, The Hindu Kush, The Andes, etc. (NB: We don’t do this for individual mountains, for example: Mount Everest.)
• Groups of Islands: The Galapagos, The Faroe Islands, The West Indies, The Aegean Islands, etc.- Oceans: The Pacific, The Atlantic, The Arctic, The Indian, etc. (NB: We don’t do this for individual islands, for example: I visited Crete last summer.)
• Seas: The Dead Sea, The Mediterranean Sea, The Red Sea, The Caspian Sea, etc.
• Deserts: The Gobi Desert, The Sahara Desert, The Atacama Desert, The Kalahari Desert, etc.
• Countries with plural names, or “republic”, “kingdom”, or “states” in their name: The United Kingdom, The People’s Republic of China, The United States of America, The Netherlands, etc.

Do you want one more "trick" to help you remember which to use? Ask yourself, "Am I talking about a specific thing? Then I need to use the!" "Am I talking about a thing in general? Then I need to use a/an!" 

And there you have it! A quick introduction to how we use articles in English. Keep studying, keeping learning, and remember - Confident English. Confident You!