Grammar — Articles: The indefinite article – a/an
- We use a/an with a singular countable noun when the listener doesn’t know which particular thing is being referred to, or it doesn’t matter which one. This is because:
- it is one of many of the same class, e.g. a job, an apple.
- we mention a person or thing for the first time:
- I’m reading a really good article.
Grammar — Articles: The definite article – the
- We use the (with any noun) when it is known which particular item is being referred to. This is because the thing/person:
- was mentioned before:
- I’m reading a really good article. The article talks about …
- is unique: Half of the population live in the capital.
- is defined specifically by the words that follow:
- My grandmother is still the head of the family.
- We also use the with:
- superlatives: The largest city in Jordan is …
- comparatives (when identifying one of a pair): I have two sisters. The older sister lives in Egypt.
- ordinal numbers: The first time I went there was in 2018.
- decades, centuries: in the 1950s; in the 18th century.
Grammar — Articles: Zero article
- We use no article with plural and uncountable nouns when we make general statements:
- Life was very hard and over one million people emigrated.
- We use no article with words like prison, hospital, school, college, etc. when we are talking about their purpose as an institution, e.g. I go to school every day. He’s been in hospital for two weeks now.
- We also use zero article with most place names. (exceptions: the USA, the UK, the UAE, the Hague)