Articles: A, An & The
Every time you use a noun, you must decide if you need to put an article in front of it or not. These tiny words —a, an and the — don't even exist in many other languages, so they can cause plenty of trouble for non-native students. In addition, some nouns don't need articles while other similar nouns need articles. The Chart below shows you some of these similarities and differences.
Two articles — a and an — are called indefinite because each refers to non-specific, singular nouns. If you decide a particular word needs an indefinite article, use a before a word that begins with a consonant. Use an before a word that begins with a vowel sound. The word honor, for example, begins with the consonant h, which is silent. Honor, therefore, sounds as if it begins with a short o sound -- a vowel sound -- so it takes an instead of a.
Examples:
I saw a good movie last night.
I fried an egg this morning.
I have an hour to study.
I want a home in the country.
The other article—the—is called definite because it refers to something specific, which can be either singular or plural: the sun, the stars, the student center, etc.
Example:
I hope the stars appear in the sky tonight.
Sometimes, a singular noun doesn't need an article at all if it can't be confused or mistaken with anything else: gravity, America. Sometimes it's okay to use the word some as an article: some news, some surprise, some medicine. Sometimes, nouns can use articles or not and yet have the same meaning.
Example:
In the winter, the weeds still grow.
In winter, weeds still grow.
Finally, the following sample shows the different meanings a sentence can have depending on which article is used.
Example:
I am invited to:
a party. (This means you probably don't know about this party.)
the party. (This means you probably know about this party.)
parties. (This means I often get invited to various parties.)
The following chart gives categories and examples of where to use or not to use articles.
| Don't Use An Article | Use An Article |
| Personal names: Jean Smith | A family as a group: the Smiths |
| Title and name: Prince Charles, Archbishop Rigali, President Bush | Title without the name: the Prince of Wales, the archbishop of St. Louis, the president of the United States |
| Cities, states, countries, continents or individual islands: St. Louis, Missouri, Vietnam, South America, Jamaica | Collectives, plural place name or groups of islands: the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the Bahamas |
| Individual mountains: Mount Ranier, Mount Everest | Mountain ranges: the cascade Mountains, the Himalayas |
| Individual lakes: Lake Michigan | Collectives or group of lakes: the Great Lakes |
| Beaches: Daytona Beach | Rivers, oceans, seas, and canals: the Mississippi River, the Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal |
| Parks: Forest Park | Unique geographic areas: the Arctic Circle, the South Pole |
| Spacecraft: Challenger, Sputnik | Ships, Trains and Aircraft: the Titanic, the Orient Express, the Spirit of St. Louis |
| Place or geographic names that follow the pattern "the ___ of ___": the Gulf of Mexico | |
| Streets, roads and avenues: Olive Street, Manchester Road, Highway 70. | Major rods with descriptive names: the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Northwest Tollway, the Innerbelt |
| Directions: north, northwest, northeast, south, southwest, southeast, east, west | REgions or areas: the Pacific Northwest, the South Pacific, the East Coast, the Middle East. |
| Name of College or University: St. Louis Community College | the University of College or university: the University of Missouri |
| School subjects: history or Math | School departments: the History Department, the Math Department |
| Languages: German, English | the ______ language: the German language |
| Games and Sports: chess, soccer | Musical instruments: the saxophone, the piano |
| Places showing an activity happens there: class, work, bed, home, college | Exceptions: the university, the hospital (British English does not use an article with these two words.) |
| Holidays: Labor Day, Memorial Day | Holiday exceptions: the Fourth of July |
| Months and Days: August, Tuesday | Months and days (spelled out): the month of August, the first Tuesday of the month. |
| Magazines: Newsweek, People | Newspapers: the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Riverfront Times |
| Diseases (chronic or long-term illnesses): kidney failure, AIDS, cancer | Temporary illness: a cold, the flue, a sprain ankle |
| Meals in a general sense: Everyone should eat breakfast. What's for lunch? | Specific meals: I ate a big breakfast. He cooked a good dinner. |
| A group of people with a common characteristic in which the adjective describes the group: the French, the poor. |
Adapted from: Elbaum, Sandra. Grammar in Context, Book 3. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 1996.