Grammar & ESL: Using Articles (a, an, the)

Study Notes

Used to indicate a single item
"a" is used before a consonant sound
- Examples: a book, a hospital, a leg, a one-inch pipe, a youth
"an" is used before a vowel sound
- Examples: an apple, an opera, an eagle, an idea, an SOS

Use "a" or "an" for general nouns
- Examples: Take a pencil, I won a hundred dollars
Do not use "a" or "an" with plural nouns
- Incorrect: "They talked about a good restaurants"
- Correct: "They talked about a good restaurant to visit"
Use "a" or "an" for unspecific references
- Examples: He likes to read a book, That was a funny story

Used to indicate a specific noun or something that is one of a kind
Use "the" for specific references to common nouns
- Examples: Give me the book on the table, The sun rose at seven o'clock
Use "a" or "an" to introduce a noun, and then "the" is used afterwards
- Examples: I bought a sandwich for lunch. I shared the sandwich with my friend

Most proper nouns do not use an article
- Examples: New York City, Walt Disney, The United States of America
Exceptions: proper nouns with "of" as part of the name
- Examples: the Fourth of July, the University of Virginia, the United States of America
Plural proper nouns use "the"
- Examples: the Chicago Bulls, the Johnsons, the Blue Ridge Mountains
Proper nouns that name a group (a collective noun) also use "the"
- Examples: the Commonwealth of Virginia, the United Arab Emirates, the Society of Friends
Some geographical features use "the"
- Examples: the Gobi Desert, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyramids, the Amazon
Some geographical features do not use "the"
- Examples: Lake Superior, Albemarle County, Route 29, Mount Vesuvius