Level: beginner
We use the indefinite article, a/an, with singular nouns when the listener/reader does not know exactly which one we are referring to:
Police are searching for a 14-year-old girl.
We also use it to show that the person or thing is one of a group:
She is a pupil at London Road School.
Police have been looking for a 14-year-old girl who has been missing since Friday.
Jenny Brown is a pupil at London Road School. She is 1.6 metres tall, with short, blonde hair. When she left home, she was wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse, dark blue jeans and blue shoes.
Anyone who has information should contact the local police on 0800 349 781.
We do not use an indefinite article with plural nouns or uncount nouns:
She was wearing blue shoes. (plural noun)
She has short, blonde hair. (uncount noun)
- The indefinite article 1
- The indefinite article 2
- The indefinite article 3
We use a before a consonant sound:
| a banana (starts with /b/) | a university (starts with /j/) |
and an before a vowel sound:
| an orange (starts with /o/) | an hour (starts with /au/) |
Note that the choice of a or an depends on sound, not spelling.
- The indefinite article 4
Hello Dipak Gandhi,
Yes, that's correct. Well done!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Angie,
Interesting question! Options 1 and 2 are both correct and common. There's a slight difference, though.
In most situations, this difference won't be important and both options would work.
Option 3 isn't correct. An article is needed before horse.
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello amrita_enakshi,
If you are writing this for publication somewhere, then probably the style guide used by the publisher will prefer one over the other, but in most situations, both of these sentences are correct and mean the same thing. In my own writing, I'd choose 2 over 1.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sheikh Salauddin
Yes, you can say that, though in some cases it can be better to say, for example, 'a cat and a dog'. It depends on the situation and what you mean.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Navreet Bhardwaj,
Terrible has a negative meaning (very bad) in both of your examples.
The most common positive use of the word is as an adverb modifying a positive adjective: terribly good, terribly nice etc. This is similar to the way we use awfully.
If you have an example of terrible used in a positive sense as an adjective then please post it and we'll be happy to comment.
The reason the is used in your other example is presumably that a specific table is being referred to and both the speaker and the listener know which table it is: the table in front of them, or the main dining table in the house or room where they are.
In a more general context, there is a phrase sit at the table which does not refer to any particular table, but is rather a fixed expression used in contrast to eating standing up, eating on the go (as you walk or drive) or sitting with a plate on your knees:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi learning_always,
The first thing to remember is that these are not examples of contemporary English, and so they use formulations which are no longer normal today.
The first sentence is about possession. The phrase in possession of means the same as who has or who owns. Just as we would say who owns a car or who has a house, we say in possession of a car or in possession of a house, or, as in this example, in possession of a large fortune. In this context, a large fortune means a lot of money.
The second sentence is not about possession, but rather about personal characteristics. We can say a man of good character or a man of bad luck, and the phrase a man of good forune has a similar meaning. In this context good fortune means good luck.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Oliver T1,
We can use 'the' before 'lack of' and 'many', but not before 'lots of' or 'plenty of', and not before 'much'. It's a very confusing area, I'm afraid!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
The second 'an' is correct in both sentences.
These are examples of the use of articles for general reference and it is possible to use all three article options (indefinite, definite and no article). However, there are differences in meaning, and the differences are quite subtle.
a + singular countable noun
We can use this with general meaning when we are talking about something which defines the group. For example:
In other words, being an impressive sight is one of the characteristics of an elephant; if we saw an animal and it was not impressive then we could be fairly sure that it was not an elephant. We are talking about any elephant here - it is true of them all.
the + singular noun
We can use this with general meaning when we are talking about our image or concept of the noun. For example:
Here we are not talking about a real elephant, but rather the concept of 'elephant' in our heads.
no article + plural countable noun or uncountable noun
we use this to talk about what is normal or typical of a type. It may or may not be true of all individuals but it is typical of most. For example:
Here we are talking about the average height of Swedes, not any particular person or concept.
The distinctions are subtle but sometimes can be important. For example, we can say with general meaning:
However, we cannot say:
This is because being in danger of becoming extinct may be true but it does not define the whale.
I hope that helps to clarify it for you. It is a complex area.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
In your example, I would say that 'the' is the best choice. We would not, I think, use 'a' here because being a member of the cat family does not express the character of all tigers.
It's not our place to comment on your choices as a teacher, I'm afraid, and it wouldn't be appropriate since we do not know your students and what they have learned to date.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Arun Sharma,
The use of 'a' or 'an' is determined by the first sound of the next word, not the first letter.
'Euro' begins with a vowel ('e') but is pronounced with the same first sound as 'yellow' or 'yes':
'MBA' begins with a consonant but is pronounced with the same first sound as 'elephant' or 'elf':
'US' begins with a vowel but is pronounced with the same first sound as 'you' or 'yes':
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Karen111
It depends on the context this statement was made in, but in any case the choice of article depends on the mention of the idea of an area in the Atlantic.
Imagine you open up an encyclopedia and you read out loud what you first see, and it is an entry about the Bermuda Triangle that begins with this sentence (though please note there should be commas after 'Triangle' and 'Triangle'). In that case, where it is being mentioned for the first time, 'an' would be the correct choice.
On the other hand, if you were talking about different kinds of maritime zones and comparing their locations or characteristics, then 'the' would be the correct choice, since it's already been mentioned in the context you're speaking in.
Hope this helps.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam
It really depends on what you mean and what the context is, but in general I'd probably use 'a' here, assuming that the idea 'life of crime' hasn't yet been mentioned.
I'm sorry if our answers are not quick enough for you. We are very busy creating new content these days, which is one of our highest priorities.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Sam61
Ultimately, the meaning of words and sentences is dependent on their context, but in general, yes, those three sentences about lions mean the same thing, though, as I suspect you've already noticed, the use of 'the' here is not very common. In the other set of examples, you are right, 'the' implies that the person reading or hearing the sentence has already heard about the infected computers.
The definite article 'the' before 'lions' is used to speak about an entire class of living things or objects. In this case, it's lions, but it could be a species of plants, musical instruments, a make of automobile or even personal computers, but note that it wouldn't be appropriate to speak about infected computers, as that is not a class of computers but rather a smaller set of all computers. You would need to be speaking about all computers (e.g. 'The computer revolutionised communications in the early 21st century') for the use of 'the' to be appropriate, and even then, it would be more common to just say 'Computers' instead of 'The computer'.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
Yes, I think that sounds fine. There are several other ways to say this as well:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Akong,
'An' is correct here, but you also need an article before 'degree:
Get an education and not a degree.
As an aside, it is of course possible to get both an education and a degree...
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ali shah,
There is a choice here. It is possible to use an article or not.
When no article is used the terms Superintendent of Police, City and Assistant Director, Reseach Wing are titles (and shoudl be capitalised), just as we would say elected President or crowned King.
When an article is used the terms are used in a descriptive sense rather than as titles. If you say a superintendent then we understand that there are several superintendents of police, and John is one of them. If you say the superintendent of police then we understand that there is only one such position (but it is a descriptive term, not a title) and John now holds it.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi again omarmohamed99,
Generally, the grammar covered in 'Beginner grammar' is lower level than the grammar covered in 'Intermediate grammar'. The 'English Grammar' section isn't classified by level and is a bit more systematic. If there is a specific point you need help on, please ask us and we will help direct you to the appropriate pages.
There is some advice on how to get the most out of our site and how to use it for various purposes (such as improving your grammar and/or speaking) on our Frequently asked questions page.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello omarmohamed99,
I would suggest you read our Articles 1 and Articles 2 pages. The Cambridge Dictionary also has a long entry on articles that could also be useful.
If you have any specific questions about a specific sentence, please don't hesitate to ask us.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Floyd,
It's helpful to consider the difference between a few and few first of all.
We use few when we want to emphasise that there are not enough. For example, if I say I have few friends then I am suggesting that I am rather lonely.
We use a few when we want to emphasise that there is a satisfactory number. For example, if I say I have a few friends then I am suggesting that I am happy with what I have.
Given this, very works well with few, showing a lack of something. However, it does not conceptually fit with a few in the same way that we don't say very enough. It's not that it is impossible to say a very few for rhetorical effect, but it is unusual.
I hope that helps to clarify it for you.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Or Yahalom,
Do you mean the 'a' in 'a few notable differences'? In this case, 'a few' is a determiner that goes before plural nouns. In this case, it's as if 'few' means something like 'group of several'; even though it looks singular, it has a plural meaning and is only used before plural nouns, which then take plural verbs.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Crokong,
The phrase 'What a...!' is a fixed expression showing amazement at the scale of something or how extreme something is. We don't break up phrases like this an assign concrete meaning to each individual part, but rather understand the phrase as a whole as a unit.
The meaning can be understood as something like 'What an amazing example of .... that is!'
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Crokong,
Yes, that's correct. The construction can be used for both positive (What a performance!) and negative (What an idiot!) reactions.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team