We have two kind of articles: Indefinitea an Definite the

Indefinite article a/an We use “a” with nouns starting with a “consonant” or a consonant sound We use “an” with nouns starting with a “vowel” or a vowel sound Ex:An apple A house An opera A boy A university An honour

A / An is used: To refer to something for the first time Ex: 1. “An elephant and a mouse fell in love” 2.“I’ve finally got a good job” 3.“Would you like a drink?”

With names of jobs Ex: “She is a doctor” With nationalities Ex: “John is an Englishman” With names of days Ex: “I was born on a Thursday” Meaning “one” referring one single object or person Ex:”I’d like an orange and two apples” A / An is used:

We use a hundred, a thousand, a million Note: we use “one” to add emphasis or to contrast with other numbers Ex: “we’ve got six computers, but only one printer” A / An is used:

THE is used: To refer to something that has already been mentioned Ex: “An elephant and a mouse fell in love. The mouse loved the elephant’s long trunk and the elephant loved the mouse’s tiny nose”

When both, the speaker and the listener know what is being talked about, even if it’s not been mentioned before Ex: “Where is the bathroom?” Ex: “Could you give me the pencils?” Before superlatives and ordinal numbers Ex: “the last chapter” “the most beautiful” “the first page” THE is used:

To refer to objects we regard as unique Ex: “The sun” “the moon” “the world” With geographical areas and oceans Ex: “The Pacific ocean” “ The Sahara” “ The Caribbean” THE is used:

With decades or group of years Ex: “She grew up in the seventies” In sentences where we define or identify a particular person or object Ex: “The man who wrote this book is famous”

1. Do not use a or an with uncountable nouns –We went to the library to look for information. –Cleaning the house takes a lot of time. –I am wearing jeans. 2. Do not add articles before abstract nouns –We cannot live without love. –I am losing my patience. Exceptions to the use of the (in-)definite article

3. with names of countries Ex: “Germany is a really pretty country” (Except: The United States / The UK) 4. With languages Ex: “French is spoken in Tahiti” 5. With names of meals Ex: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” Exceptions to the use of the (in-)definite article

6. With people’s names (singular) Ex: “John is coming next Saturday” (Except: The morgans) 7. With titles Ex: “Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth’s son” 8. With professions Ex: “Engineering is a very interesting profession” Exceptions to the use of the (in-)definite article