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Articles 1
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
Language level
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I have a question why we doesn't use the before countries?
Hello Nivonshi,
We do use articles before some countries:
Other countries are treated as proper names and so have no article.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you for this clear and easy-to-follow explanation!
Good lesson
I still don't understand that to say something about all the things referred to by a noun. Could you explain me more or with other words:").
(I saw snakes in a zoo.)
In the above sentences why we omitted the article 'the'.Are they not particular snakes in that zoo.Please explain me Sir.
Hello JameK,
I'd suggest you have a look at more examples. You can find some on The definite article: 'the', for example. The situation makes a big difference when we decide to use an article or not.
In the example you ask about, it's probably not so much that they are speaking about particular snakes, but rather that it's the first time they are talking about snakes. If the speaker said 'I saw the snakes in the zoo', it means that those two people have already talked about some specific snakes in a specific zoo.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you Sir.
useful, light and interesting
Hello there.
I read everywhere that "the" is used to specify a particular thing or a person.
Yesterday I heard two persons were talking at the time,one of the persons has told the other that "you should get the right person".
Here what is confusing me is that,how the person has told like this," you should get "the" right person",because both don't know , which person they are talking about,then how did he use the definite article "the" there?
Please explain it.
Thanks.
Hi rizzurapture,
Although both of them don't know exactly who the person is, it is still specific in the sense that they do not mean "any person". They mean a particular person - the person who is right for the job or whatever thing they are talking about. Here, "the right person" gives the idea of "the perfect person" or "the person who is better than anyone else" - i.e., there is only one such person existing (although their identity is unknown). It is more specific and defined than saying, e.g., "You should get a good person for the job", using the indefinite rather than definite article, because there are assumed to be many "good" people - but there is only one "right person".
I hope that helps to understand it.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team