A(n), the, no article

A/an, the, no article

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Use a/an

➟ When we mention something for the first time.

• I saw an old woman with a dog.

➟ To say what kind of person or thing something/somebody is.

• That’s a chimpanzee.
• When I was a teenager, I enjoyed sleeping.
• Paula is a teacher.

➟ When we mean ‘one’.

• Can I have an orange?

➟ For frequency, rates and speeds etc.

• I work 6 hours a day, and I go to English classes three times a week.
• The rent is €500 a month.
• We were driving at 70 km an hour.

➟ In the expressions what a/such a + singular countable noun.

• What a fantastic idea!
• Yesterday was such a horrible day!
• This is such a difficult problem!
• Thanks, you are such a good friend.

❗ Note that you cannot use singular countable nouns alone (without a/the/my/etc.)

• I don’t have driving license.
• I don’t have a driving license.
• I have car.
• I have a car. 
• When I was teenager…
• When I was a teenager… 

Use the

➟ With things or people already mentioned, or when we know which things or people we are talking about.

• A man and a woman sat in front of me. The man was British, but I think the woman wasn’t.
• ‘Where are the kids?’ ‘They’re in the garden.’ (=Both speakers know which kids and which garden).

➟ When a noun is made specific by details we give after it.

• I sat on a chair (maybe one of many).
• I sat on the chair in the corner.
• I saw the man who tried to rob me.

➟ When there is only one of something: the earth, the moon, the planet, the internet, the universe, the sky, etc.

• I need to talk to the manager. (=There’s only one manager.)
• I’d like to live in this country, but not in the capital.
• The moon looks beautiful today.

➟ With places in a town where we commonly go (the park, the cinema, the doctor, etc.)

• I’m going to the bank.
• I found Peter at the station.
• I’m at the library.

➟ With superlatives

• This is the best restaurant in town.

➟ With the names of oceans, seas, rivers and canals (the Mediterranean, the Amazon, the Panama canal, etc.).

Use no article

➟ To describe something in general (with plural or uncountable nouns).

• Love and health are more important than money.
• Women drive more cautiously than men.

🆚 Compare:

• I love music. (= music in general)
• The party was great. I loved the music. (=specific music)

➟ With home, work, bed, hospital, school, university, prison when we speak in general (as the place used to live, work, sleep, be hospitalised, learn or be imprisoned.)

• David isn’t at school this morning. (=learning)
• She has been in bed all morning. (=sleeping or resting)
• Maria is in hospital. (=hospitalised, as a patient)
• They are going to send him to prison (=to be imprisoned)

❗ But we use the article if we refer to these places just as places or buildings –when they are not used for their main purpose.

• I found the keys under the bed.
• I’m going to the school to pick up my children.
• Yesterday I went to the hospital to visit my grandmother.

➟ With names of meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

• Dinner is served at 8.
• I always have breakfast with my children.

➟ With names of years, months and days of the week.

• Friday is my favourite day of the week.
• I think 2020 will be an excellent year.

➟ With noun + number.

• He is in room 15.
• Go to page 86.

➟ With TV (when used as a broadcasting service, NOT as an appliance)

• I saw it on TV.
• I don’t watch TV.

❗ But Turn off the TV. I’ve bought a new TV.

➟ With next and last + time expression (when they mean before or after NOW)

• The meeting is next Thursday.
• I saw him last week.

❗ But Last year we spent three weeks in London. The last week in London was one of the best in my life. (=It does not mean ‘the week before NOW’)

➟ With most names of places, such as continents (Europe, Africa, etc.), countries (Spain, China, etc.), cities or towns (Rome, Bangkok, etc.), mountains (mount Everest, Annapurna, etc.)

❗ But names of countries that are plural or that include words such as State, Republic, or Kingdom are used with the: the US (the United States), the UK (the United Kingdom), the Philippines, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic.