Articles
A1
Made by MOUNA MALLOUK
Part 1: Explanation
We use ‘a / an’ (for singular countable nouns) when we think the listener or
reader WON’T know which thing or person we are talking about. We use ‘the’
when we think the person listening WILL know which thing or person we
mean.
It’s not important if the person who is speaking knows which one. The important thing
is if the person who is listening knows or not. For example:
• I bought a blue sweater yesterday (the speaker knows which sweater, but the
listener doesn’t, so we use ‘a’).
• We went to a lovely café (the speaker knows which one but the listener
doesn’t, so we use ‘a’).
Sometimes the person who is speaking doesn’t know which one exactly (and
neither does the listener). Instead, the speaker is talking about any member of a
certain group – it doesn’t matter which one. We still use ‘a/an’, because the
listener doesn’t know which one. For example:
• I’d like a cup of tea (the speaker doesn’t know which one, neither does the
listener. It doesn’t matter which particular cup of tea).
• I need to see a doctor (any doctor, neither the listener nor the speaker are
thinking about a particular doctor).
• Could you pass me a pen please? (any pen, the speaker doesn’t know which
one).
On the other hand, we CAN’T use ‘a / an’ with uncountable or plural nouns. If the
listener doesn’t know which plural or uncountable noun, we use ‘no article’.
• I’d like chips.
• Get me coffee.
(In this case we often use ‘some’. See Appendix 3)
Remember:
• If the listener knows which one, we use ‘the’ (with any kind of noun).
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• If the listener doesn’t know which one:
-we use ‘a /an’ with singular countable nouns.
-we use ‘no article’ with plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns.
Known because we already talked about it
The listener might know which one we mean because we’ve already talked about the
thing in our conversation (or piece of writing).
• I bought an apple and an orange. The apple was delicious.
We use ‘an apple’ and ‘an orange’ at first because we think the person listening won’t
know which apple or which orange we are talking about.
But the second (or third or fourth…) time we talk about something, we can use ‘the’
because the listener knows which one. He or she knows because we’ve already said
which one – it’s the apple that I bought yesterday and not another apple.
Exercise 1
Put in ‘a’ or ‘the’:
1. He gave me ……. clock and…… picture as a wedding present.
clock belonged to his grandmother.
2. I took …. suitcase and …….. backpack on holiday. ……… suitcase was
much more useful.
3. John broke……. vase when he was in Marie’s house. …. vase was over 100
years old.
4. Julie read …. book and magazine. She said book was quite boring
though.
5. I washed white shirt and red top together. Now
shirt is pink.
We can’t use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with uncountable nouns or plural countable nouns (see
Appendix 2 if you need more information about countable and uncountable
nouns). In these cases, if we are introducing something for the first time that
our listener doesn’t know about, we use ‘no article’, not ‘a/an’. (We can also
use ‘some’ or another word that tells us the amount depending on the situation:
see Appendix 3)
• I bought beef, vegetables and milk. The beef was very good.
• Her house is full of DVDs and books. The books are mostly about Africa.
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Exercise 2
Choose ‘a/an’ or ‘no article’ (Ø):
(Remember, all of these are being introduced for the first time and we think the
listener doesn’t know which one(s) we mean. We use ‘a/an’ with singular uncountable
nouns, and ‘no article’ with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns)
1. She gave us bread and orange juice. The orange juice was delicious.
2. I got book and magazine from the library.
3. We watched films and TV programmes all night. The films were better.
4. She offered us piece of cake or biscuits.
5. We had broccoli and cheese for dinner.
6. I dropped glass and two bowls. They all broke.
7. We cooked spaghetti and bacon. John had bought the spaghetti in Rome.
8. She has black umbrella and I have blue one. The blue one is much
bigger.
9. We had piece of pie and potatoes for lunch. The pie was very good
indeed.
10. I took bottle of wine and box of chocolates to the party.
11. I drank cup of coffee and ate biscuits. The biscuits had been
made by my mother.
12. She returned shoes and dress to the shop because they were damaged.
13. Ruth has son and two daughters. One of the daughters is in my
class.
14. They drank water and tea.
15. At the weekend, I crashed my bike into car.
16. I moved into new flat last month. It’s really lovely.
17. Could you get milk and newspaper when you are at the shop?
18. I had pasta and glass of wine last night. The pasta was really good.
19. I spilled coffee on the sofa and I dropped jug of milk on the floor.
20. John has orange chairs and green carpet!
Click here for answers
This is also true when we introduce something and then use a different word to talk
about the same thing:
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• A female student came in. The girl… (‘The girl’ is the same person as ‘a
female student’ so we have already introduced her).
Exercice 4
Fill in the blanks using A – An:
1. ________ car.
2. ________ toy.
3. ________ engineer.
4. ________ apple.
5. ________ notebook.
6. ________ umbrella.
7. ________ girl.
8. ________ aunt.
9. ________ table.
10. ________ university.
11. ________ window.
12. ________ student.
13. ________ driver.
14. ________ orange.
15. ________ hour.
16. ________ uncle.
17. ________ watch.
18. ________ ring.
19. ________ car.
20. ________ computer.
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