1. Articles in the English Language
November 14, 2017

2. A versus An In general, use A before words that begin with consonants
Ex) a doctor, a bird, a king
Also use A before U or EU when it sounds like the word “you”
Ex) a University, a European city
Use an before words that begin with vowels or words that begin with a silent h
Ex) an apple, an eagle, an hour (but a house)

3. When to use “a”, “an” and “the”
You can use “a” or “the” in front of countable nouns (cat vs music)
Ex) a screwdriver, the books
Use “a” when you are mentioning something for the first time and use “the” when referencing something that was already introduced
Ex) She has a car and a bike, but she uses the car more often.
You CAN use the with a noun you have not mentioned before, but only if it is obvious what you meant
Ex) Have you fed the fish; I met him last week at the conference

4. When to use “a”, “an” and “the” (2)
Use “a” when you are talking about one of several things or people
Use “the” when it is clear you are referencing a single thing and there is only one
Ex) The man I worked with told me about it
Ex) A man I work with told me about it
Use “a” when you wish to discuss a particular type of thing or person
Ex) I am training to be an engineer
EX) I went out to buy a magazine

5. When to use “a”, “an” and “the” (3)
Singular nouns such as world, sky, or sun require “the” because there is only one of these things
EX) I am going to travel around the world. I do not look directly at the sun.
Use “the” when referencing buildings, places, and organizations
EX) the theater, the football field, the gym

6. When to not use Articles
When there is a countable noun in the plural, when you are talking in general about something
Ex) Lions are very fierce; Prices keep going up
Common phrases to know (meals, illnesses, ways of travelling):
Ex) Will you have lunch with me?
Ex) Her month has cancer.
Ex) I go to work by bus.
Most names of places do not have “the” in front of it
Exceptions to this rule are plural names of countries
Ex) I am visiting Belgium, I live in France, I am from the United States

7. When to not use Articles (2)
Using non countable nouns
Listen to music, eat chocolate, etc.
No article with proper noun (holidays, companies, languages)
Christmas, New Year’s Day, All Saint’s Day
I use Facebook all the time
I graduated from the Technical University of Gdańsk vs I graduated from Harvard
No articles for subjects you study, sports, noun plus number (platform 10)
Acronyms pronounced as a word vs individually (NATO versus the EU)
But not before University acronyms! (MIT)