Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the'

Articles: 'a', 'an', 'the'

Do you know how to use a, an and the? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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

Grammar test 1: Articles 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

Grammar test 2: Articles 1

Average: 4 (191 votes)

Submitted by OlefirO on Wed, 02/10/2024 - 10:43

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8. Incorrect

The teachers at my son's school are great.

Why? This is a particular group of teachers, isn't it?

Hello OlefirO,

'The teachers at my son's school are great' is correct because, as you say, the sentence refers to a particular group of teachers.

In the exercise, this answer is marked as correct.

Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team

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Submitted by lamaxal on Sat, 21/09/2024 - 06:22

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we use the article ''an'' to words that start with vowel, and we use the article ''a'' for words or thigs that start with consonant.

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Submitted by redpanda88 on Thu, 06/06/2024 - 12:58

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" She has a university degree"

here "university" is used as which part of speech?

Hi redpanda88,

It is a noun. Inside the phrase "a university degree", it functions as an adjective, describing "degree".

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

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Submitted by Ivyxoxo on Wed, 10/04/2024 - 15:12

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Hi, I wanted to ask, should I use a for school or university?

Hi Ivyxoxo,

Generally, use "a", e.g. I live next to a school. I graduated from a university.

But, "a" is omitted in some common phrases: go to school / at school / in school (and the same for university).

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

"University" is a singular countable noun. Although it begins with a vowel, the first sound of the word is /j/ or “y.” Thus, "a" instead of "an" is used

so yes you should