Articles

Articles are short words that precede nouns and define them as specific or unspecific. There are two kinds of articles in English grammar: indefinite articles a and an, and the definite article the. There are also nouns that we use without articles at all.

Indefinite Articles

Rule 1: We use the indefinite article to talk about something unspecified.

Rule 2: We use the indefinite article to mention something for the first time in the text.

Rule 3: We use the indefinite article to talk about job titles.

Note: We use an instead of a before words that begin with a vowel or vowel sound (such as silent h).

Definite Article

Rule 4: We use the definite article to talk about something specified.

Rule 5: We use the definite article to talk about something we have already mentioned or assume it to be already known.

No Article

Rule 6: We don't use any articles for plural nouns that refer to general people or things. However, they are still used for specific people or things.

Rule 7: We don't use any articles for the names of continents, countries, towns, streets, squares, parks, lakes.

Note: There are exceptions to this rule, which include countries like the Netherlands and those containing words Kingdom, Republic, State, Union in the name.

Rule 8: We don't use any articles for the names of months, days of the week, and meals, unless they're specified.

Rule 9: We don't use any articles for institutions such as school, university, hospital, etc. when they're not specified.

Rule 10: We don't use any articles for materials (wood, paper, metal, etc.) and abstract nouns that name things we cannot touch (hope, life, love, etc.).

Rule 11: We don't use any articles for parts of the body or personal objects. Instead, we use possessive adjectives (my, your, his, our, etc.).

Rule 12: We don't use any articles for certain expressions.