Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the'
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
Hour has a silent H. You pronounce it starting "our"
AN + VOWEL SOUNDS
It's because a/an sometimes means 'one'. so we say things like 'I went away for a week' [=one week]; he took a day off [=one day]; she slept for a hundred years [= one hundred years].
Hi, it's not dumb at all. It's actually a little silly to me, but the reason is that when you pronounce it, "h" is a silent letter, so it basically starts with "o" which is a vowel.
Becouse when you say hour, h is silent.so the first letter that comes out of your mouth is [a]. You say that word like our.
Good day!
For question 8 in Grammar test 1,
why is the answer "Is there a university where you live?" Instead of "Is there the university where you live in?"
Thank you in advance :)
Hello EngClub_KS,
We use 'a' here because we are not talking about a specific university but asking a general question. If the other person answers 'yes' then the speaker can switch to 'the university' as from that point on it is a discussion about a specific university.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
That is because "university" is a singular countable noun.
also, using the word "the" would imply that the listener already knows the type of university you are talking about and that would imply you are talking about one type of university
Hello and i wish you a happy evening to each one of you. I was reading an example, and I did not understand something. I would like someone to help me to clarify my doubt. Here is the paragraph below:
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.
The word that follows "a" is "university". Does the work university has a consonant sound?
The word that follows "an" is "hour". Does hour has a vowel sound?
Thaks
Hello EMG,
The word 'hour' is pronounced the same was as the word 'our', so it begins with a vowel sound. You can check this in any dictionary:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/our
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
The vowel sound means when you speak, the flows form you mouth did not blocked by your lips or teeth, like the words: ant and hour etc.. Consonants are pronounced by stopping the air from flowing easily through the mouth, especially by closing the lips or touching the teeth with the tongue, like the cat and dog. Renmember mind the first pronounce of a words.