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
Please refer to this sentence "Thank you for being a remarkable leader and a role model.". Can I use repeatedly the determiner "a" in a sentence like the "a" before a remarkable and "a" before the word role? Will the sentence be grammatically incorrect if I do not write "a" before the word role? Will it be redundant to write "a" before the word role?
Hello Vince43,
You can include the second 'a' or not; it's purely a question of style. Personally, I think omitting it makes the sentence read better unless you want to emphasise 'role model'. Putting in the second 'a' makes it more emphatic in the same way the repeating the whole phrase does:
Phrasing it like this raises the level of the second item. Rather than saying 'thank you for x, where x has two parts' you are saying 'thank you for x and also thank you for y'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello LearnEnglish Team,
Which one of the following sentences would be considered correct?:
The plural of nucleus is nuclei, I think.
Thank you.
Yogme Shetu.
Hello ShetuYogme,
Yes, nuclei is the plural of nucleus.
All of the setnences are grammatically possible. I've described how each of a/the/zero article can be use for general meaning in answers before, so you can find the differences there.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Peter,
While all the sentences seem to be grammatically possible, we need a sentence that can describe the fact to be true for all electrons and nuclei with no exception.
"An elephant is an impressive sight", you described, means it is almost impossible to imagine an elephant that is not impressive. Being impressive is part of any elephant, anywhere in the world. Similarly, no electron can exist inside (a/the) nucleus. There is no exception. So, using "an electron" is the most preferred choice here. In the same way, it is impossible to find any nucleus having electrons inside it. It is fact that nucleus does not have electons inside it. Applying the logic you have described, I would say "a nucleus". So my sentence would be "An electron cannot exist inside a nucleus". Am I right?
When do we think something as a concept or an idea in our head and use "the"? "The electron can not exist inside the nucleus" -- is this sentence possible? Or one of the following is possible?:
I am sure that zero article+singular noun is not possible.
Thank you.
Hello ShetuYogme,
I think all of the options are possible here:
An electron cannot exist inside the nucleus.
The electron cannot exist inside a nucleus.
Electrons cannot exist inside nuclei.
In my explanation I said that zero article describes something that is normal or typical and may or may not be true in all examples. In the case of electrons, it is clearly true in all examples.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again sir,
When do we consider something as a concept or idea in our head, not real thing? This is what I wanted to know. You says that in that situation we use the definite article. I am confused as to when to treat something as a real object and when a concept! Could you explain it a bit?
Hello again ShetuYogme,
Thinking of something as a concept means thinking in abstract terms. You're not thinking about a real example but rather the idealised picture of something you have in your head. For example, when I think of the concept of 'elephant' it includes all the things that I consider part of being an elephant: grey colour, big ears, a trunk, tusks and so on. In real life elephants may not have all of these. Perhaps a particular elephant has lost its tusks or is an albino, for example. However in my head 'elephant' as a concept exists as a perfect/typical elephant. Another way to think of it is this: the concept of elephant is what you use when you want to draw an elephant without using any photos to help you.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
4
Helpful lesson