However, ESL students should try and learn the correct use of articles if possible.

Speakers of western European languages

The article systems of most Western European languages are very similar to that of English. So a student who can speak a language like French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Greek does not have to try hard to learn the correct usage of articles; he or she should already know. That said, the rules given in this lesson should be useful to both western and non-western learners of English.

A singular common noun is almost always used with an article. For example, we say a dog or the dog, but not usually dog.

When we are talking about people or things in general we do not usually use the with uncountable or plural nouns.

Spiders have eight legs. (NOT The spiders have eight legs.)

Life is complicated. (NOT The life is complicated.)

We do not use articles with proper nouns.

Paris is the capital of France. (NOT The Paris is the capital of the France.)

1.       He asked me to go to ……………….. post office. (a / an/ the)

2.       He ate ………………….. whole pudding. (a / an / the)

3.       I should buy ………………….. pair of stockings and ……………….. couple of shirts. (a / an / the)

4.       ……………………. cobra never bites unless it is disturbed. (a / an / the)

5.       This man is …………………….. Newton of our times. (a / an / the)

6.       …………………. British conquered …………………. country. (a /an / the)

7.       The Americans helped ………………….. French in the Great War. (a / an / the)

8.       …………………… banyan is ………………… kind of fig tree. (a / an / the)

9.       There is …………………….. bridge over …………………… Ganges at Benares. (a / an / the)

10.   That cat of yours has drank all …………………… milk. (a / an / the)

11.   How small …………………….. needle do you want? (a / an / the)

12.   Many ………………….. flower is born to blush unseen. (a / an / the)

Answers

1.       the

2.       the

3.       a, a

4.       The

5.       the

6.       The, the

7.       the

8.       The, a

9.       a, the

10.   the

11.   a

12.   a

We need to buy eggs. OR We need to buy some eggs.
I couldn’t buy any cheese. OR I couldn’t buy cheese.

The difference

Uncountable and plural nouns are used with some/any when we are thinking about limited but rather indefinite numbers or quantities. We use no articles with uncountable and plural nouns when we are not thinking about quantities or numbers at all.

Compare:

There is some water in the bottle. (Here the speaker is talking about a limited quantity of water.)
Is there water on the moon? (Here the interest is in the presence of water, not the amount.)
We bought some apples yesterday. (Limited but indefinite number)
I like apples. (General statement; no idea of number)

Notes

We do not use some/any when it is clear exactly how much or many is meant.

Compare:

She has written some good books. (We don’t know exactly how many.)
She has got pretty eyes. (A definite number – 2) (NOT She has got some pretty eyes.)

Difference between some and any

Some is usually used in affirmative sentences. Any is used in questions and negatives.

Have they got any children?
Yes, they have some. (NOT Yes, they have any.)
No, they don’t have any. (NOT No, they don’t have some.)

1. While there is life there is hope.

2. How blue sky looks!

3. She lives in small town.

4. Sun rises in east and sets in west.

5. Brave soldier lost arm in battle.

6. He likes to think of himself as original thinker.

7. Neil Armstrong was first man to walk on moon.

8. We started early in morning.

9. Scheme failed for want of support.

10. Only best quality rice is sold by us.

11. It was happiest moment of my life.

12. What kind of fruit is that?

13. Tiger is native of Asia.

14. Umbrella is useless in thunderstorm.

15. There was bridge across river.

Answers

1. While there is life there is hope. (No article is necessary in this sentence.)

2. How blue the sky looks!

3. She lives in a small town.

4. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

5. The brave soldier lost an arm in the battle. OR The brave soldier lost his arm in the battle.

6. He likes to think of himself as an original thinker.

7. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.

8. We started early in the morning.

9. The scheme failed for want of support.

10. Only the best quality rice is sold by us.

11. It was the happiest moment of my life.

12. What kind of fruit is that? (The structure kind / sort / type + of + article +  noun is considered incorrect.)

13. The tiger is a native of Asia.

14. An umbrella is useless in a thunderstorm.

15. There was a bridge across the river.

Incorrect: She works in pub.
Correct: She works in a pub. OR She works in the pub.

A singular common noun (e.g. boy, girl, tree, country, teacher, village etc.) must have an article. A plural common noun can be used with or without an article.

Incorrect: He is best player in the team.
Correct: He is the best player in the team.

Incorrect: She is fastest runner.
Correct: She is the fastest runner.

The definite article the must be used with superlative adjectives.

Incorrect: The Paris is big city.
Correct: Paris is a big city.

Incorrect: I live in the Mumbai.
Correct: I live in Mumbai.

If the noun is proper it will take no article. Note that a proper noun is the name of a particular person, place or thing. Examples are: Sam, Mary, India, Paris, London etc.

Incorrect: The iron is a useful metal.
Correct: Iron is a useful metal.

Incorrect: The gold is yellow.
Correct: Gold is yellow.

Articles are not used with material nouns. Examples are: gold, silver, iron, wheat, rice etc.

Incorrect: We should not make noise.
Correct: We should not make a noise.

Incorrect: I have an urgent business.
Correct: I have urgent business. OR I have some urgent business.

Note these fixed expressions.

Incorrect: Do you sell eggs by kilo or by dozen?
Correct: Do you sell eggs by the kilo or by the dozen?

The is used in measuring expressions beginning with by.

The article a/an is usually left out after kind of, sort of, type of and similar expressions.

Have you got a cheaper sort of stereo? (More natural than … a cheaper sort of a stereo.)
What kind of person is she?
Scientists are developing a new variety of tomato.

After amount / number etc

We do not use the after the amount / number of.

The number of unemployed is rising. (NOT The number of the unemployed …)

Man and woman

The singular countable nouns man and woman can be used in a general sense without articles.

Man and woman are created equal. (NOT The man and the woman are created equal.)
Man is mortal.

Note that in modern English we often use the plural form men and women.

Men and women are created equal.

Exclamations

A/an is used with singular countable nouns in exclamations after What.

What a nice present! (NOT What nice present!)
What a lovely song! (NOT What lovely song!)

Note that a/an cannot be used with uncountable nouns in exclamations.

What nonsense! (NOT What a nonsense!)

Jobs and positions

The is not used in titles like Princess Diana, President Kennedy or Queen Elizabeth.

Compare:

Queen Elizabeth had talks with President Clinton. (NOT The Queen Elizabeth had talks with the President Clinton.)
The President had dinner with the Queen. (NOT President had dinner with Queen.)

Complements

The is not usually used with the complement of a sentence.

Compare:

He is the monitor. (NOT He is monitor.)
They appointed him monitor. (NOT They appointed him the monitor.)
He was elected Chairman. (NOT He was elected the Chairman.)
I want to talk to the Chairman. (NOT I want to talk to Chairman.)

Examples are:

To school / at school / in school / from school
To university / at university / from university
To / at / in / into / from church
To / in / into / out of bed / prison
To / in / into / out of hospital
To / at / from work
To / in / from town
At / from home
Leave home
By day / at night
By car / bus / bicycle / plane / train / boat

Leave / start / enter school / college / university

Notes

Similar expressions with articles often have different meanings.

I met her at university. (when we were students)
I will meet you at the university. (Here we are simply referring to the building / place.)
Susie is in hospital. (She is undergoing treatment.)
I met an old friend at the hospital when I was visiting Susie. (Here the hospital is just a meeting place.)

In American English, university and hospital are not used without articles.

Articles are often dropped in double expressions, especially when they are used with prepositions.

Husband and wife (More natural than ‘the husband and the wife)
With knife and fork (NOT with the knife and the fork)
From top to bottom (NOT from the top to the bottom)

After both and all

We often leave out the articles after both and all.

Both girls sing well. (OR Both the girls sing well.)
All three brothers were punished. (OR All the three brothers were punished.)

After kind of, sort of, type of etc

Articles are usually left out after kind of, sort of, type of and similar expressions.

What kind of person is she? (More natural than ‘What kind of a person is she?’)

I have a black and white cow.

The sentence given above means that I have a cow that is partly white and partly black. Now read the following sentence:

I have a black and a white cow. (= I have two cows, one black and the other white.)

Thus we have seen that when two or more adjectives qualify the same noun, the article is used before the first adjective only. When two or more adjectives qualify different nouns, either expressed or understood, the article is used before each adjective.

Compare:

The secretary and treasurer has given his approval to the plan.
The secretary and the treasurer have given their approval to the plan.

Here the first sentence clearly indicates that the posts of the secretary and the treasurer are held by the same person. The repetition of the article in the second sentence indicates that the posts are held by different persons.

More examples are given below:

Winston Churchill was a great orator and statesman. (Here the two nouns orator and statesman refer to the same person – Churchill)
There are on the committee among others a great lawyer and a great writer. (Here the repetition of the article indicates that the nouns lawyer and writer refer to different persons.)

In a comparison, if two nouns refer to the same person or thing, the article is used before the first noun only.

He is a better thinker than writer. (Here both nouns refer to the same person.)
He is a better poet than playwright.

But if the nouns refer to different persons or things, the article is used before each noun.

He would make a better statesman than a philosopher.

1.    Gold is —————— precious metal.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

2.    Brutus is —————— honorable man.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

3.    ——————- reindeer is a native of Norway.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

4.    Honest men always speak ——————- truth.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

5.    John is —————— young boy.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

6.    Banaras is ——————- holy city of the Hindus.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

7.    He returned home after ——————- hour.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

8.    —————— school will shortly close for the Christmas holidays.

a)    A
b)    The
c)    An

9.    ——————— sun sheds his beams on the rich and the poor alike.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

10.    He died —————- year ago.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

11.    ——————- lion is the king of beasts.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

12.    Who is ——————– girl standing at the gate.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

13.    Which is —————— longest river in the Americas?

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

14.    London is ——————– very costly place to live in.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

15.    The children found —————– egg in the nest.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

16.    She is ———————- intelligent girl.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

17.    English is —————— language of the people of England.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

18.    We discussed ——————– matter seriously.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

19.    Man, thou art ——————— wonderful animal.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

20.    India is one of ——————– most populous countries in the world.

a)    A
b)    An
c)    The

Answers

1.    A
2.    An
3.    The
4.    The
5.    A
6.    A
7.    An
8.    The
9.    The
10.    A
11.    The
12.    The
13.    The
14.    A
15.    An
16.    An
17.    The
18.    The
19.    A
20.    The