Look at these examples to see how articles are used.
She's a doctor.
I need an umbrella.
Have you heard the news?
I don't like spiders.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Here are some of the most important things to know about using articles.
Jobs
When we say what people's jobs are, we usually use a/an.
He's an architect.
She's a scientist.
My grandmother was a teacher.
Singular nouns
Singular, countable nouns always have an article – a/an or the (or another determiner – my, your, this, that, etc.).
We use a/an – the indefinite article – when we talk about something for the first time, or something that is part of a group or type.
I saw a good film yesterday.
Do you want a drink?
We use a when the word that follows it begins with a consonant sound. We use an when it's followed by a vowel sound. This makes pronunciation easier.
She has a university degree.
It took me an hour to get home.
We use the – the definite article – when the listener already knows which thing we are talking about because it was mentioned before or because there's only one of them.
I'm going to take the dog for a walk.
Have you seen the car key?
They go to the school next to the bridge.
Things in general
When we talk about things in general, we normally use a plural or uncountable noun with no article.
Birds eat worms.
Water freezes at 0°C.
Children need a lot of sleep.
Particular groups of things
When we talk about a particular group of things, we use the.
We went to the zoo and saw the kangaroos. (These are the particular kangaroos in that zoo – not kangaroos in general.)
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello _taratiara,
In terms of the grammar, of course in 1, 'a drink' is the direct object of the verb 'want' and in 2, 'to drink' is an infinitive object of 'want'.
In terms of use, in most social situations, we use 1 and not 2. If you're walking around town and think your companion might be thirsty or you want to have a rest somewhere, you could say 1 or 'Do you want to get something to drink?' but 2 would sound unnatural. If you have a guest in your home and want to offer them something to drink, again, you could use 1, but 2 would sound unnatural. There may be some social situations when 2 could be appropriate, but off the top of my head I can't think of one.
In general, 2 could be appropriate when asking if someone wants to drink alcohol, or in a medical setting when asking if someone wants to drink something not so much for pleasure but for a medical/physical need.
As you can see, this is really a question of usage more than grammar, so it depends a lot on the situation. But I hope this gives you some general ideas, at least.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
what is the diffrence beetwen she want to be an ambulance driver an
sh wants to be a ambulance driver
Hello oyo,
'a ambulance driver' is not correct. When the word after 'a' begins with a vowel ('a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' or the sounds these letters make), we change 'a' to 'an'. This is a change in spelling and we also pronounce the word differently (with the 'n' sound).
This is why we say 'an ambulance drive' -- because the word 'ambulance' begins with the 'a' sound.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
thanks!
"They go to the school next to the bridge." I think we see the school in this sentence. So we know the school. But if we want to say " I will go to school tomorrow." I think we shouldn't use any article. Am I right?
Hello Tuba.ba,
Yes, that's right! Well done!
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Sir,
My apologies if I am posting my question in a wrong section!
This is what I saw written on a compound wall of a school:
'We don't make future for you but, make you for future.'
Are they write in putting comma after 'but'?
Normally it is comma before the conjunction of a dependent clause - which happens to be 'but' in this case.
Will you please clarify it for me?
Regards
Dipak R Gandhi
Hi Dipak,
Right, the comma should not be after "but". You can put the comma before "but". However, "make you for (the) future" is not a complete clause and the comma can also be left out. It's often left out when "but" joins two phrases.
One more thing, it should be "the future".
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
I have a question
We use a when the word that follows it begins with a consonant sound. We use an when it's followed by a vowel sound. This makes pronunciation easier.
She has a university degree.
It took me an hour to get home.
Hello Statick,
I guess your question is why these examples do not follow the rule, but the fact is they do follow the rule! The key word in 'sound' as in 'vowel sound'.
The word university begins with a consonant sound: it is not /u:n.../ but /ju:n.../. In other words, the first sound is the same as the first sound in 'yellow' or 'yes'. That is why we use 'a' and not 'an'.
The word hour begins with a vowel sound. The pronunciation is the same as 'our'; the 'h' is silent.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team