by Liz Walter
Many learners of English have problems with articles (the words a, an and the), especially when they don’t exist in their own language. This blog looks at some of the basic rules.
The number one rule is this: if a word is countable (e.g. one book, two books), you must always use an article (or my, his, etc.):
I read a book. √
I read book.
This is true even if there are adjectives before the noun:
He drives an old car. √
He drives old car.
Never use a or an with a word that is plural (e.g. books, trees) or uncountable (e.g. water, advice):
I asked her for advice. √
I asked her for an advice.
Note that we use a in front of words that start with a consonant sound (a horse, a carrot) and an in front of words with a vowel sound (an apple, an elephant).
The next most important thing to understand is the difference between a/an and the. Basically, we use a/an when we don’t need to say which thing we are talking about. We use the to talk about a specific thing:
I caught a train to London. (it doesn’t matter which train)
The train was late. (that particular train was late)
We often use a when we mention something for the first time, and then change to the when it is clear which thing we are talking about:
He was talking to a man. The man was laughing.
She gave him a present. The present was very expensive.
We also use the when it is obvious which thing we are talking about or when there is only one of something:
Could you shut the door, please?
I cleaned the bathroom this morning.
He travelled around the world.
The sun is hot today.
If you stick to the rules above, you will be correct in almost all cases. However, there are a few exceptions, and the following are the most useful ones to learn:
We don’t use a/an before the names of meals:
We had lunch at noon.
We don’t use a/an before words like school, prison, or college when we are talking about them in a general way:
I hope to go to college.
He spent three years in prison.
With the word ‘hospital’, there is a difference between British and American English:
My brother’s in hospital (UK) / in the hospital (US).
We use the before the names of shops or places where we go for services when they are the ones we usually go to:
I need to go to the supermarket.
She went to the doctor’s.
exellent and very nice of u
hi, I just wondering can any help me with my question, is give me an advice is correct or give me advice
It’s give me advice. Advice is an uncountable noun in English. If you aren’t sure, use the dictionary on this site – nouns with [U] are uncountable and nouns with [C] are countable.
Give me advice is correct
Give me “the advice “as well as Give me “advice” is correct because “the advice “means to denots the idea of specific or clear advice about which speaker is already familiar with that “advice ” is already implied to the doer or speaker before time and the speaker is wanting that advice one more . Thanks .. I hop you got it.
Both are incorrect, when we use certain uncountable words like advice, we use the phrase -‘a piece of’. Hence it would be “Give me a piece of advice”. I hope that helps.
Cheers, Nipun
P.S. sorry for being too late.
Give me advice
Actually it would be better to say “Advice Me”.
Sachin Bedi, I’m afraid your comment isn’t correct. You can say ‘advise me’ but ‘advice’ is always a noun.
give me advice would be the correct one.
What do you need to know?
You can use a piece of advice or some advice.
as it was said not to use articles for uncountable words or things like you said advice there are lot’s of advice’s right.
Give an advice is a correct one
Advice is uncountable so, the correcta One is give me advice
give me advice, is right
as advice is uncountable i.e one advice, two advice (are incorrect), a piece of advice , a pair of advice (are correct)
Thanks for the help. I am up and running again..
Give me advice is correct I guess
I want to ask u sth too ..is
I love all kinds of dogs or I love all the kinds of dogs is correct?
(Or none of them xD)
Android Games: it’s; I love all kinds of dogs
You can say I want your advice, Give me some advice, I don’t need any advice or thanks for the advice.
ADVISE is a verb. ADVICE is an uncountable noun. The only time that you would use ‘the’ is with a superlative; i.e. That is the best advice I’ve ever gotten. Good luck
Give me an advice is incorrect. Give me advice is correct.
Advice is uncountable so we cannot use a/an before that, but it can be used with “some” or ” a piece of”, for example, one can say, Please give me some advice or I gave him a piece of advice.
it’s Give me an advice.
Since advice is uncountable we never use a/an but for the sentence to sound clear you can add ‘some advice’ or ‘a piece of advice’
Give me a piece of advice.
it is
give me advice
advice can not be counted
It’s better to say, “Please, I need some advice”.
As what mentioned, uncountable nouns such as advice should be without an article, on the other hand, you can put an article if you mean to say ” a piece of advice” or a couple of advice”, make sense?
hi
It’s “Hi”
hellow if their is that the ramkrishna is the author of harry potter or it will be an author
It is good and clear rules.
Thanks
awesome it helps me alot thnks all of u
A nice primer on article usage, admittedly.
The only thing that caught my eye (conspicuous by its absence, actually), was the common exception of utilizing an article with a meal, ESPECIALLY when there’s an adjective in front of it….
“I ate A quick lunch today, since I was running behind schedule. ”
“Working overtime usually means A late dinner for me and my co-workers. “
Thanks for this lesson
Reblogged this on StatsLife.
Dear Liz,
Thank you for your useful information.
I have a question: what is difference between “a” and “one”, for example: “There is a cat” and “There is one cat”.
Pls help to explain this situation.
I think all of them are similar.
That is only a
choice of words (both sentences are correct)
What’s the colour of your cat?
What is the colour of you’re cat
Dear Liz
Thank you for your information.
Please help to explain following question: What is difference between “a” and “one” in these example:
– There is a cat.
– There is one cat.
Both sentences are the same meaning or not?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Smiley: ‘One’ is a number. So you would only say ‘one cat’ if the number of cats was important.
Dear Liz
Thank you for your explanation.
the two sentences are correct. but the difference is this. when u say There is one cat, U want to emphasize on the number of cat.But in the other sentence,there is not any emphasis
“There is a cat” means to me that there is an undefined cat around and “there is one cat” means that there is only one cat around.
thanks it’s very
useful
Thanks for good explanation
What is the rule for plural forms? When should I use “The” before a plural noun?
You use the before a plural when you have mentioned the things before or if it is clear which ones you are referring to, exactly the same as for singular nouns. For instance: She gave me some apples. The apples were juicy.
Dear Liz Walter, thank you very for your answer, it made it clear.
I miss him can i see him
Thank you very much for this post. I have a question regarding more difficult examples (from scientific literature) where abstract terms are frequently used. A few quotes:
“A fourth implicit prediction of the amyloid hypothesis
(which we did not make at first) is that (1) tangle formation is a
closer biological event to (2) neuronal cell death. This has been
demonstrated by the (3) identification of (4) MAPT mutations in
FTDP17-T (Hutton et al. 1998; Poorkaj et al. 1998) and the
modeling of tangle-associated cell death in transgenic mice
(Lewis et al. 2000). Thus the finding of MAPT mutations in
(5) tangle-only disease is completely consistent with the amyloid
hypothesis (Hardy et al. 1998).”
I put a few numbers in brackets, which indicate points of my doubts. So, tangle formation is a very specific process, why there is no THE article in front of it (1), the same holds true for (2) and (4). And yet in (3) identification gets THE. While tangle-only disease (5) is not really specified (there are multiple) but here it did not get A.
I will be very grateful if someone helps me to solve this puzzle.
Thank you.
1, 2 and 5 have no articles because they are uncountable and don’t refer to a specific instance. In this context, the author is talking about the phenomenon of tangle formation, not one specific instance of it. 4 has no article because it is plural. 3 is something I didn’t talk about in my blog, but is a common structure with nouns connected with actions followed by ‘of’: the x of something. It is demonstrated again in your text: the modeling of of …
hello Liz Walter…… kindly expound to me on the uses of articles…
a,an,the
The disease is cell distruction collaborates with with each other
Addition to the previous comment.
“Thus the (6) finding of MAPT mutations in
tangle-only disease is completely consistent with the amyloid
hypothesis (Hardy et al. 1998).
Of course, the most important prediction of the amyloid/
Ab hypothesis is that (7) reducing Ab and plaques would
ameliorate Alzheimer symptoms.”
How to distinguish when the ing-nouns get THE and when they do not. Please, see examples (6) and (7).
Thank you very much.
Dear Liz,
Thank you very much for your explanation. I will try my best to implement these new to me rules into my writing.
Dear as you said in th above rules that we uses” the” when we going usually to place or shop.
he is going to the shop.
then why you told the we don’t use the before college.
as you given the example
I hope to go to college.
But we usally goes to college
Thanks ! After many years of self study in English , it’s noted that grammar and compositions knowledge is a must in order to feel exactly what the presenter means .
Thnx fr d info.
Dear liz
i want to learn voice. Plz share a blog of voice wid us.
Thanx
Thank k you for making English so simple to understand
It’s quite a clear and useful explanation. Thank you!
I’m in love with your classification attitude in explanation an issue.
Nice one there. I love it.
Thank you. Very helpful.
Hello
” Pleasure” is an uncountable noun so it is not preceded by ‘a’ but when it is modified by an adjective then ”a/n” is used before it.Why?
With the word pleasure, it depends on the way it is being used. Some uses of pleasure are in fact countable. (you can check on the Cambridge online dictionary). In a sentence like ‘It was a great pleasure to meet her’, it is countable – you are referring to the single event of that meeting. However, there is a wider and rather advanced point here, which is that many uncountable nouns can be used in a countable way in a somewhat literary or formal style if they are preceded by an adjective, e.g.: Her face showed a terrible sadness./They displayed an ugly racism.
yes i partly agree with this statements
Thanks. I am an English teacher and I´m learning new information very interesting. Thanks
Reblogged this on afnan1991.
It`s so wonderful.
Which article is correct in the sentence:He goes to—University every morning.
You don’t need any article there, just: He goes to university every morning.
oh,it’s so useful for me. I’m not confused at all
Dear Liz
Really useful.
♥
Please guide me which one is correct:
1-an MBA degree holder or a MBA degree holder
2-an HTML document or a HTML document
I would use ‘an’ for both of these.
While I agree the first one should be an, because M is pronounced em, I think the second could depend on whether you pronounce H as aych or haych. Students often think that letters follow the same a, e, i, o, u rules, but it actually depends on the sound of the letter. an A, a B, a C, a D, an E, an F, a G…an L, an N, and so on.
I like this lesson very much…
Dear Liz
you are an English lessons.
hi i does 9an5 make sense? i wanted to register 9and5.com but it was taken. 9 and 5 are characters i created. so instead i got 9an5. does that work? thank you!
It doesn’t make any sense to me, I’m afraid, no. What do you intend it to mean?
Thank u! for your useful information.
Dear Liz,
Thanks for your useful tips. My question is on when to use “on” and “at”.
e.g, when someone calls to speak to your colleague and you want to say the person has gone for lunch, do you say:
HE IS AT LUNCH OR HE IS ON LUNCH?
In British English, we say that someone is ‘at lunch’ or ‘on their lunch break’.
Thanks Liz
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If you say, she is a European and who says she is an European. Who is collect and why.
I’d say ‘a European’ because the sound is like a consonant (sounds like ‘y’) even though the letter is a vowel.
In many books since my childhood I have been reading that “The cow” Is that imply any specific cow or in general “All cows”.
Mostly people write “The” in beginning of a sentence, may I know why?
And one thing more, Should I write “in the beginning or in beginning.”
Yes, you can use ‘the’ to talk about a group of things in general, e.g The cow is a farm animal. However, this is a rather formal use. And you should say ‘In the beginning’ if you are telling a story, or ‘At the beginning’ if you want to talk about something that happened at the start of something, e.g. He comes on at the beginning of the play.
Thank you very much lizy for this blog please my question is :the use of at and in like can one say , I live at Lagos or I live in Lagos also when talking about street is it I live in GRA or I live at GRA thanks
Hi Maryn. I think this post from 2015 might be helpful for you: https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2015/09/02/in-london-but-at-the-station-prepositions-for-talking-about-travel/
Thank you. What about the letter’u’?
Is it a uniform or an uniform?
It’s a uniform because ‘u’ is pronounced /ju:/, but it’s an umbrella.
hello mam
how can i improve in english???
Hi
Thank you I have learned a lot please keep on posting I would like to join the class it is excellent.
Regards
What would be correct “A Pashupatinath” or “The Pashupatinath”?
If you are talking about one temple and only one exists, ‘the’
Hi, can you please help me with this sentence.
She wants the answer to all her questions or she wants an answer to all her questions.
Hi Dorine, Both are fine.
hi my name ‘s noorsan i from libya
Thank you very much dear Liz, really you made me understand many grammaratical points.
Very nice lesson. It was most helpful for me to get better understanding about article.
Thnx lot.
Use the before superlative degree
he is the best boy in class.
Yes, good tip.
So useful
so useful !!! truly helped me a lot . examples worked a lot to clear few confusions !!! thanks a lot Liz !!
Thanks! It looks easy but then I have problems again )
For example even in that text I see line which consist: “and *the* following are the most useful ones to learn”. Why did you use “the” in the first time? About situation like this I don’t see in that lessons.
It’s an example of what I described like this: ‘We also use the when it is obvious which thing we are talking about or when there is only one of something’ So in this case, it’s obvious what we are talking about when we say ‘the following’ – we know that we mean the things that we are just about to read. It’s useful to learn that phrase ‘the following’ because we always use those two words together – it can never be ‘a following’ because that wouldn’t make sense.
Hi Liz, but we say “a subsequent”, don´t we?
kind of like how Trump has one, haha really great post here, good explanations, can you do one for when to use good instead of well? I know many native speakers who don’t understand this
what will we use a/the in this sentence\
we are authorising Mr. XYZ as a/the Manager
If there’s only one manager, it’s ‘the’. If there are several managers, it’s ‘a’.
if there is only one manager in the play (I assume) I’d use the
Guys, hello everyone! I want to talk on english. Who else ? We may talk via skype/ My skype id: live:bodya01
Hope we`ll speak 😉
i have a question that why we use use (a) in this sentence … i have a headache
Because headache is a countable noun.
Hey liz will u be able to take lessons online using skype ??
But we don’t say two aches, right？
Thank you very much for your explanation..
Thanks for this lectures, I learned a lot. Will you please send me the 71 thoughts on A, AN and THE. How to use articles in English.
derp
What article comes before the word stick? a or an? for example ” give me a/an stick”.please explain.
a stick: Note that we use a in front of words that start with a consonant sound (a horse, a carrot) and an in front of words with a vowel sound (an apple, an elephant).
you wouldn’t use an, because stick starts with a consonant if there are several sticks you’d say a, if there’s only one you’d say the
I love that article!!
It is interesting.
Liz send me more lessons
I’m pleased you like it! Just click on my name in the right hand column and you will find lots more posts like this.
what article before SDO
did you write any books? Which book should we buy? For example, you said ‘we have a headache’ and yet we just say “she has heart disease or she has diabetes” Also, we say “there is wind” and yet we put an article when we say “there is a breeze”
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Is it the correct sentence please tell “I am standing in front of you for tell my topic child labour”
No, you need to say something like: ‘I am standing in front of you to talk about my topic: child labour’. See these blogs for more information on verbs like ‘tell, talk, and say’:
https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2015/11/11/say-and-tell-how-to-talk-about-talking-1/
https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2015/11/18/how-to-talk-about-talking-2/
Thanks for useful points.
Hi Liz
Just wanted to find out something
Do we say – Trains are a economical way to travel
or Trains are an economical way to travel
Thank you
an economical way because the next word starts with a vowel sound
Hi.. This is very useful❤
My ques is, which article comes before ‘One rupee coin’ , ‘university’ , ‘M.A Degree’ , ‘Urdu Dictonary’ , ‘horse’
I have a little bit confusion about these words coz in the rules of articles some nouns doesn’t need any article.. Right? So i just want to know here we used a , an , the, or nothing ? Plzz help me 🙁 and thankyou in advance 👌
It all depends how you are using those words. So you can say: ‘He owns a horse’ but then ‘The horse he owns is black.’ I’ve tried to explain this in the post – maybe try reading it again? Good luck!
Hi Liz
I have a problem.
An/-/The early bird catches the worm.
Which article will be used here?
Thank you 😊
Most likely ‘the’ because it’s a fixed phrase.
i have a question about “in hospital” and “in the hospital”. Does it just have difference between UK Eng. and USA Eng.? I remember that “in hos[ital” means one is ill and has to be in hospital. However, “in the hospital” means one just go to a hospital, i mean maybe just go to that place.
Yes, as I say in the post, Americans usually say ‘the hospital’ where Brits just say hospital. So Brits say things like ‘You should go to hospital’ or ‘She’s in hospital’. We’d only say ‘the hospital’ to talk about a specific hospital that we’d already mentioned ‘The hospital was close to her house’.
any ideahow the difference came to be?
Use the before superlative degree
he is the best boy in class. S
Thank you so much LİZ
Why do we use ‘the’ before some countries names while not with many others
I hear this a lot. ” Because he is the President” or “Because he is president.” Which is correct? I think both? But what is the difference? Thanks. 🙂
You’re right that they are both correct. I don’t think there is any difference. I’m not sure why you can omit the article in this case, when you couldn’t say ‘because he is teacher’.
Maybe because there can only be one president at a time (but many teachers) and language economy reflects the privilege to be so? Just wondering…
“Never” use an article with the names of meals:
You might want to explain why we would say: “I’ve had dinner.” But “The dinner was burnt” Or “We had fruit and cheese for lunch.” but “We had a lunch of fruit and cheese.”
Yes, this is correct. We can always use ‘the’ to refer to a specific thing that has been mentioned before. And yes, you can say ‘a lunch/dinner/breakfast of’. So I should have said that we ‘don’t usually’ use an article before meals. It’s a common learner error to say ‘I’m going for a lunch’.
is it an error? we often say I’m going to a lunch date or “with the girls or whatever.
Hi,Liza
How to get more knowledge from you?
You say: The number one rule is this: if a word is countable (e.g. one book, two books), you must always use an article (or my, his, etc.)
However:
Books are important.
Why is there no article?
Hi Johnathan
Thanks for your question. We say ‘Books are important’ because we’re talking about books in general, rather than specific books. We could say, for example, ‘I have read all the books in the library.’ In this case, we use the because we’re talking about those specific books.
We don’t use the article when making general statements about plural or uncountable nouns. Here are a few examples to clarify:
I like cats.
Love is more important than money.
Biscuits are delicious.
Hope this helps!
Thank you very much, that was a very useful lesson! Have an agreeable day! Regards from Hungary!
I have a question. in the sentence: “What language do you speak best?” We don’t put “a” before language. I know it’s right just because it feels right, but I cannot explain why. Can you help me?
It’s simply that we don’t use articles after wh- questions.
i have a question, when do we use of?
Have a look at the entry for ‘of’ in the dictionary on this site.
I am confused between “The number one rule is this: if a word is countable (e.g. one book, two books), you must always use an article (or my, his, etc.)” and “Never use a or an with a word that is plural (e.g. books, trees) or uncountable (e.g. water, advice):” . you said always use an article when it is countable i.e “Two books” then you said not to use an or a with plural i.e books. so my question is which article should be used with “two books”
Sorry, I can see why that was confusing! I was just trying to explain the meaning of ‘countable’. We don’t use a or an with plurals.
Nice article…..
can someone help me please.
should I say my television have a problem or my television had a problem.
If you mean now, it’s: My television has a problem. If it’s in the past: it had a problem. Never ‘have’ because that’s for plural nouns.
I agree with all but the last sentence, have is possessive i,e, I have the flu the TV has a problem, if it’s currently not working, or if all else fails, I have a new TV
thank you so much
Which one is correct – “a unique program” or “an unique program” ?
a unique program – because although ‘unique’ starts with a vowel, the sound is ‘ju:-‘ , i.e. not a vowel sound.
is it correct to say go and take bath
No. See this line from my post: The number one rule is this: if a word is countable (e.g. one book, two books), you must always use an article (or my, his, etc.):
So you have to say ‘Go and take a bath.’
Thank you.It was helpful.
U can use “an” where the word starts with A,E,I,O, & U remember these five consonant.
Thank you for your lesson
can anyone help me in this sentences
1. correct the error in sentence and rewrite the sentence
“The teacher is quite happy with the progress of all the students.”
2. Rewrite the sentence by correcting the errors related to articles
a.”A cheese is made from the milk”.
b. “She always keeps promises that she makes”.
Dear Parinitha. If you read my post carefully, you will find the answers to those questions. However, I’m not sure you’ve written them down correctly – for the first one, there is an error in the question, but no error in the sentence. There is also no error in sentence b of the second question.
an anyone help me in this sentences
1. correct the error in sentence and rewrite the sentence
“The teacher is quite happy with the progress of all the students.”
2. Rewrite the sentence by correcting the errors related to articles
a.”A cheese is made from the milk”.
b. “She always keeps promises that she makes”.
Dear Liz
My friend is trying to learn English but I don’t know how to explain the use of particles to him please could you help me
Dear Roksana – what sort of particles do you mean? I’d have to know the context.
Dear Liz,
Could you correct for me the sentence: “It is unable to negate the benefits of the Government policies on (the) rice self-sufficiency and (the) rice land maintenance to ensure the national food supply, disaster recovery, and other security and defense goals”.
I am very confused. Thank you very much.
It’s hard to say without the context, but I think you could omit the ‘the’s in this sentences (because ‘sufficiency’ and ‘maintenance’ are uncountable.)
hey Liz, which one is the right, “a friendly city” or “the friendly city”? it will be used as a tagline of a city branding. thankyou
As explained above – it depends on whether or not you’ve already mentioned the city. But most likley ‘a’.
Avenger is a special car. Would you say, “I drove Avenger across the finish line” or “I drove the Avenger across the finish line.
the Avenger
Which one of the below statement is correct.
1.) We have a plan.
2.) We have plan
Hi Prem: this is the number one rule from my post!:The number one rule is this: if a word is countable (e.g. one book, two books), you must always use an article (or my, his, etc.):
I read a book. √
I read book.
I hope that answers your question!
Thank you. To be frank got bit confused whether plan is countable or uncountable .
I see. If you are unsure, check the dictionary on this website. Every noun has [C] or [U] after it, which tells you that information (although some nouns are marked [C, U] because they can be used both ways.
Dear Liz Walter! Could you help me with a question? The sentence is: “I can go home on a train, a plane or a ferry”. Is it necessary to use article “a” thrice, or maybe, it is enough to use “a” before the first noon?
Good question! Once is enough. In fact, we’d probably say ‘by train, plane or ferry’, but ‘on a’ is fine too.
Really ty for the lesson but is it correct to use “the” with plural
And could u give some examples about that
The birds are singing in the trees.
thx for this lesson ..you said that the indefinite articles ” a and an ” used only with countable singular nouns .
What about these examples:
a little water
a few cars
Very much fine and good grammar it is!
Bass, I think the explanation for your Question is that here what matters is the quantity or measurement of something wherein you have to specify the amount or number therefore we give an article before the uncountable nouns
Yes, these are phrases for quantity, and always used in this form with the indefinite article.
Dear Liz,
I’m studying grammar on my own. In the following sentence, I’m trying to identify the cases of noun. “Depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds to religion.” Is “Depth” nominative case, a subject of verb “bringeth”; philosophy objective case, object of preposition “in”? Thank you for your help. I have no one to ask.
Hi Wynn, I’m afraid we can only respond to comments that directly relate to the blog posts.
Reblogged this on Philip Sanders.
Which is correct: sing a song or sing the song?
It depends if you’ve mentioned the song before or if you know which specific song it is. So: Tom’s going to sing a song. (we don’t know what song it is) He sang the song very well. (that specific song, which has already been mentioned).
Try reading this part of my post again: The next most important thing to understand is the difference between a/an and the. Basically, we use a/an when we don’t need to say which thing we are talking about. We use the to talk about a specific thing:
I caught a train to London. (it doesn’t matter which train)
The train was late. (that particular train was late)
We often use a when we mention something for the first time, and then change to the when it is clear which thing we are talking about:
He was talking to a man. The man was laughing.
She gave him a present. The present was very expensive.
Thanks, so is it correct to say…sing the song ” Ten Little Fingers”. like that….
What about swans are a swimming or times are a-changin’? I realize “a” is not an article in this case, but I can’t find any information about this peculiar particle. At first I thought it was some sort of American slang, but it’s used extensively in age-old English carols, so my first guess was obviously wrong
That’s interesting – I’m not sure, but I think it’s probably just something put into songs to make them sound jolly! Maybe another reader has more information?
thx for this lesson ,,,
this is very useful ..
i want know when i can use this words (really, very, completely, absolutely, and consequently).
take this e.g ( we were ………… upset yesterday. a- very b- absolutely c- really)
how i can know the answer.
and i thank you again for your help in the words (a/ an and the).
My student is in 3rd grade. She is being tested on A, An and The usage. The quiz only has phrases or words. I can understand this method when deciding to use A or An, but not with The. Doesn’t there need to be a sentence to tell which? “orange umbrella” could be An orange umbrella or The orange umbrella. … depending on the rest of the sentence. I want to buy an orange umbrella. or Please pick up the orange umbrella. Thanks!
You are correct. I imagine that they expect your student to write ‘a’ or ‘an’ in all cases except where the answer is always ‘the’, e.g. the sun.
Thank you … that makes sense. (except THE was given as the correct answer to “orange umbrella”. Am I missing something? ) Is there any other way to tell with THE other than it is always one (like sun) or from the rest of the sentence? Earth was another one… so that would be THE earth, since there is only one? Also, THE ocean? (though there are more than one ocean?) Thanks again.
I think that was just a bad exercise!
Good evening , I have some problems with using “a ” – I ‘ve met a sentence ” Where can I have a coffe” or ” Can I get a tea without sugar ” or ” How much is a tea without sugar ?” so ..tea or coffee is uncountable noun or may I use it as a cup of tea or coffee?
Coffee and tea are countable nouns when they refer to one cup of the substance – I’m preparing a post on precisely that, so keep reading!
You cleared all of the doubts which i have been striving for months… Mam can you please share me the link of correct usage of ‘on’ ‘at’ ‘over’. It would be appreciable.
Thanks
Regards
Nidh
I have that why we should not use “I gave her an advice “
Thank you very much for this information! It helped me a lot
This is a great teaching and is indeed impactful and educative.
It seems more difficult when it comes to not using articles, i mean omission of artcles. It would be great help if we get some info. about that.
Thank you.
Hi
Please let me know why the word ” is explained in the way shown below.
mummy noun
2 a body of a human or an animal that has been mummified
an Egyptian mummy
Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
I can’t understand the phrase ‘a body of a human’. Why isn’t it explained as ‘the body of a human ‘?
‘the’ would also be correct here, but they have used ‘a’ to indicate that it is not a specific mummy but a word denoting any mummy
compare these two sentences:
– the body of a human and the body of an animal
– a body of a human or an animal
A useful article
——————-
Thank you for the post. It is important to accentuate, that whether we use “an” in front of a noun, or an adjective of the noun does not depend that the first letter is a vowel (a, e, i, o u), but that it also sounds like a vowel. Therefore, if the first letter is “u”, read as “you”, we use”an” article… “This is a useful article”
Thanks
Hey Liz….
Please guide me how to speak english fluently……
Please explain following.
On the other hand, the school environment also offers advantages for children
why we used ‘the’ in front of ‘school environment.
In this context, it is generally refer all school environment
This is tricky to answer, especially without seeing what came before, but we do sometimes use ‘the’ for general things when we think of them as being a single thing – i.e. the general concept of the school environment. It would not be wrong to use ‘a’ in this sentence.
He’s often quoted in the media and conducts empowering workshops around the country.
In this case, why (in the media) is used, Why not (in media).
Good question! It’s because we think of all the newspapers, TV stations, magazines etc as one group, so there’s only one of them in the world. We do the same when we talk for example about ‘the police’. So just to be clear, you do need to write ‘the’ in front of ‘media’.
What will come in the blank.we will be going to-zoo tomorrow
Why use been,be and being
i really recommend this, very useful. thanks very much.
Shot on Go Pro Hero 7.
OR
Shot on the Go Pro Hero 7.
Which one is correct?
Shot on Go Pro Hero 7 is correct.
I have no idea! Is this game talk??
Thanks ever so much, Liz. 🙂
I teach English as a second language. Your explanations are simple to understand, unlike some grammar explanations that tend to be too clinical.
I ‘m a fan!
Hi,
While I am from an English school. But as I never paid attention during my school days, It made me weak in English grammar. But thank you for this comprehensive article.
Thank you very much for this very easy and interesting lesson !
For years, I never knew when I had to put an article or not, because I had noticed that English people often don’t use articles, but I didn’t knew about the rule…
Thank you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :’)
Like it
clear
thanks
Am enlightened. Thank you so much.
Hi,
I am writing a letter of interest for a university, and now I am confused using a/an with administration course, which one these is correct:
a administration course
or
an administration course
thank you
‘an’ because ‘administration’ starts with a vowel sound
Dear Liz Walter, thank you for the article!
In order to understand the articles usage, I have read the article in The Journal of Navigation (2014, 67, 311-326). I brought my particular attention to the situations when a noon is concretized with prepositions ‘of’ and ‘for’. The examples are as follows: ‘… a wave of rapid innovation … ‘; ‘… the requirements of a range of …applications … ‘; ‘… by the adoption of a standard format for recording measurement data …’, ‘… provide an ideal platform for cooperative … positioning …’; ‘… the production costs for low-performance …’. It seems like the ‘concretization rule’ by prepositions is more applicable for plural and uncountable nouns, because the extent of indeterminacy for each case is approximately the same.
Thank you so much, Liz! I have learnt alot from here. Here is my question though: Are there words you can say without putting an article before them? If yes, what are those words? Thank you!
Uncountable nouns and plural nouns and a few specific nouns e.g. prison, as explained in the post.
‘I hope I can get into college next year.’
‘I hope I can get into university next year.’
It seems the 2nd sentence is not idiomatic though college and university are both educational institutes: get into a university/the university (of my choice)/ the University of Utah (the full name) are better choices.
I have the idea after reading posts online and wonder what is your take on this??
Thank you.
Both of those sentences are fine, if you just mean that you want to go to any university. It would be possible to say ‘a university’, but that would have more of an implication that you would accept any university that would have you!
I wish I can speak English just like you, please I need advice, how do I learn how to speak good English?
She has a old watch
She has an old watch
Which is correct?
‘an old’ because ‘old’ starts with a vowel sound
i think “she has an old watch” becouse “old” started with a vowel sound (O). but what about (she has old watch)
@abdelhafid: no, you must include the article ‘an’ – it is not correct without it.
If we want to talk about the vessel in general, we can say ‘The vessel is a very complex construction’, ‘The vessel is supported by floating forces’ etc. If we want to talk about the speed of the vessel in general, we will try something like ‘The vessel’s speed is measured by the log’. Does article ‘the’ in this construction belong to ‘speed’, or to ‘vessel’?
It belongs to vessel.
can I use articles before adjectives describing people for example;
He sleeps a lot . He’s a lazy person.
He sleeps a lot. He’s lazy.
He sleeps a lot. He’s a lazy.
which one of these are correct?
The first two are correct. The third one is not.
I think that this article provides incorrect information. It claims:
“The number one rule is this: if a word is countable (e.g. one book, two books), you must always use an article (or my, his, etc.):”
But what about the cases where the subject is a countable noun referring to a category?:
– “Books can consist only of drawings, engravings, or photographs, or such things as crossword puzzles or cut-out dolls.”
– “Wild tigers live in Asia”.
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The national food is what the people of………. particular country eats most often. Fill in the blanks with a, an or the.Please tell fast.
a. And it should be ‘eat’ not ‘eats’ because ‘people’ is plural.But do read the article – the difference between a/an and the is explained there!
so awesome and i love it. Thanks too much!
thank you liz for your effort
we all really appriciate that
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First in the article:
“_Never_ use a or an with a word that is plural (e.g. books, trees) …”
A few paragraphs later:
“We don’t use a/an before __the names__ of meals”
Am I right that first stated rule was violated in the same text? Or “names” is not plural form?
It’s fine to use ‘the’ before plurals, just not a/an.
I prefer the village to a town
Is. The use of articles correct
Please explain how
That could be a correct sentence, but I would need to know the full context. If it is a general statement, you would be more likely to say ‘I prefer villages to towns’ or ‘I prefer living in a village to living in a town.’
Excellent! It couldn´t had been clearer.
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Is it What do you mean by Continental System?
or, What do you mean by the Continental System?
or, What do you mean by ‘Continental System’?
The last option sounds best to me. Or if the person used the exact words ‘the Continental System’, you could also say ‘What do you mean by ‘the Continental System’?
Thank you so much, The article was useful.
I have one Question if is this senense corectly?
After he takes a shower he has breakfast.
How use “after” in senenses.
Hi, Liz
Could you tell me which sentence is correct?
She was appointed manager of the company, a job she loved so much.
She was appointed manager of the company, the job she loved so much.
‘a job’ is correct.
Yes, that sentence is perfect!
The cat look like a monkey😂😂
Find the word reluctant
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/reluctant
Nice words and thank you for your help
Thank you
nice blog
You haven’t talk about proper noun
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Thank you for these useful information, especially for people go to the UK in the future!
hi there; I have a question for you @Liz Walter; could help me please?
you said this in a previous post: “nouns with [U] are uncountable and nouns with [C] are countable”; can you explain more; I do not understand you ?