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 Larissari09,
As is explained above, it's the sound that starts the word that matters, not the letter:
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sameer Mankoo,
Those are all grammatically correct, but remember that the use of articles, especially the definite article, is highly dependent on context. The definite article expresses shared knowledge between the speaker and the listener, so their relationship to each other, to the world in general and to the specific context in which they are speaking are all important.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sameer Mankoo,
The idea is that when we say this, we are sitting at the table with other people and the salt is on the table. It's something we can all see and I can assume that the person I say this to knows what I am referring to.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Wasim Mamunn Sirajee,
Yes, the sentence is grammatically correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Mike210801,
The article used there is 'the' and there is no reason why you cannot use 'the' with plural nouns.
We do not use 'a' with plural nouns, but 'the' can be used with singular or plural.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello M Sha,
There's an explanation of when to use and not to use 'the' before words like 'school' on the Articles 2 page. I imagine that you should use 'the' here, but I'd need to know more about the situation you are talking about to say this with confidence.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish
Hi Marie-Ann_2021,
Good question! Actually, an is related to employee and employer, not to responsibilities. The rephrased sentence below shows this more clearly:
In your sentence, the whole phrase an employee's and employer's is the determiner, not just an. Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Veruha,
I'd suggest you have a look at our Future continuous and future perfect page, where the grammar you need to know to complete this exercise is explained. Could you also please copy your question into a comment there so that it's on a relevant page? Please also tell us what you think the answers are -- we'll be happy to help you understand any that you complete incorrectly.
Thanks in advance,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Weirdblast,
When we talk about musical instruments we always use 'the' in this context:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Maria19,
The key is the word 'sound'. A vowel in English is one of five letters: a, e, i, o, u. However, a word can begin with a vowel (letter) but not with a vowel sound (pronunciation).
University is an example of this. The first sound is not /u:/ but /j/, the same sound we have in yellow and yes.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Loc Duc,
'Something that is part of a group of type' refers to words like teacher in this sentence: She's a teacher. It means she is a member of a group (a group of people who have the same job - they are all teachers).
About Do you want ___ sandwich?, this needs 'a' because sandwich is a singular countable noun, and it seems like this is the first mention of the sandwich in the conversation.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello shahidanshaari,
The most accurate thing to say here would be 'the', which clearly indicates that there is only one speaker. People might sometimes say 'a', but this could be cause confusion if there's only one speaker.
We use 'a' before professions especially after the verb 'be' (e.g. 'I am a teacher', 'She's an engineer'), but this rule doesn't apply in all circumstances.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi javibuendi,
Good question! It's because choosing a or an actually depends on the first sound of the word, not the first letter. In the word university, the first letter is 'u' but the first sound is a consonant: a 'y' sound (or /j/, in the phonetic alphabet). That's why a is used instead of an.
Yes, there are more words like this. Here are some examples: a universe, a union, a uniform, a ukelele, a unique (person), a useful (book).
For the same reason, some words begin with an 'h' but it is silent, so the first sound is a vowel sound. They need an. Here are some examples: an hour, an honour, an honest person.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi mhdkadas,
Thanks for letting us know about the problem. I've just tested it, and it is working OK for me and it marks the as correct for test 2 question 3. So, it might have been a temporary error.
Is it working for you now? If not, also check that the answer is exactly the (without capital letters).
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Zizo,
In general, it is 'the United Kingdom', but there can be some exceptions to this. I'm not sure what the complete context is for the sentence you've found, but in general when we write an address on a letter, we don't put 'the United Kingdom', we just put 'United Kingdom' (or even just 'UK').
Since the sentence you found is kind of like an address, I expect that is why 'the' was left out.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Avianna,
Bermuda is actually a shortened version of the full name, which is the Islands of Bermuda. When the full name is used we use 'the'; only the abbreviated form is without. I guess we treat Bermuda as a name in itself, just as we do with Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other Carribbean states.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello DaniWeebKage,
Yes, that's fine. You would only use 'the' if the person you are talking to already knows which trip you are talking about.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello SHAILESH TIPNIS,
We use a before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds. However, you need to remember that some words begin with a vowel (letter) but are pronounced with a consonant sound first. University is like this. The first sound is /j/, which is the same sound as at the beginning of words like you, year and yellow. That is why we say a university not an.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Celso Jaya Cabrera,
We moderate all comments before they are published. We normally do this at least a couple of times each day, but this means that some hours can pass before everyone can see your published comments on the site.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello nel,
Certainly. Here are some examples: a union, a united group, a unique painting, a universal truth.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team