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
Hello Veruha,
I'd suggest you have a look at our Future continuous and future perfect page, where the grammar you need to know to complete this exercise is explained. Could you also please copy your question into a comment there so that it's on a relevant page? Please also tell us what you think the answers are -- we'll be happy to help you understand any that you complete incorrectly.
Thanks in advance,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Weirdblast,
When we talk about musical instruments we always use 'the' in this context:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Maria19,
The key is the word 'sound'. A vowel in English is one of five letters: a, e, i, o, u. However, a word can begin with a vowel (letter) but not with a vowel sound (pronunciation).
University is an example of this. The first sound is not /u:/ but /j/, the same sound we have in yellow and yes.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Loc Duc,
'Something that is part of a group of type' refers to words like teacher in this sentence: She's a teacher. It means she is a member of a group (a group of people who have the same job - they are all teachers).
About Do you want ___ sandwich?, this needs 'a' because sandwich is a singular countable noun, and it seems like this is the first mention of the sandwich in the conversation.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team