Article usage depends on whether a noun is one of the following:
- singular or plural
- indefinite or definite
- countable or uncountable
A. The indefinite articles a and an are used with indefinite nouns. An indefinite noun refers to a thing that is not specifically identified. An indefinite noun is unknown either to you, the reader, or to the writer of the text. A and an mean one. Use a/an only with singular countable nouns. Never use a/an with plural nouns. Never use a/an with uncountable nouns.
Singular countable nouns:
- A student can book a consultation with a Peer Educator.
Nouns that represent a whole class or type of things:
- The chill of an ice storm can be felt inside as well as outside.
- An ophthalmologist is a doctor who specializes in the structure and diseases of the eye.
A or An? Use a before a consonant sound. Use an before a vowel sound:
a hurricane | an American | an oil derrick |
a wild animal | an invention | an uprising |
a year ago | an economics professor | an unusual request |
Some words are spelled with a vowel but are pronounced with a consonant sound:
a European | a university | a useful example |
a eulogy | a uniform | a utility vehicle |
B. The definite article, the, is used with definite nouns. A definite noun refers to a thing that is known to you, the reader. A definite noun can be made known by being mentioned in the sentence. A definite noun is specific rather than general. Use the with a singular and plural countable nouns and with uncountable nouns:
Singular countable nouns:
-
The gearbox of a gasoline engine lies between the clutch and the differential.
Plural countable nouns:
-
The crankshaft always turns faster than the wheels.
Uncountable Nouns:
-
The police discovered the information about the suspect on Facebook.
-
Good teachers care about the progress of their students.
Use the with other nouns and structure
Specific species of animals and plants:
-
The humpback whale migrates between its summer feeding ground in Alaska and its winter breeding and calving ground in California, Mexico.
-
The dogwood is the provincial flower of British Columbia.
Inventions, instruments, models, and types of buildings:
-
The elevated floors of the AQ contain academic departments, offices and classrooms.
-
The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in Switzerland in 1989.
-
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family.
Superlatives and one of:
-
The oldest playable musical instrument is a 9,000 year old flute discovered in China.
-
SFU is one of Canada’s best comprehensive universities.
The only one of something:
-
The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system.
Body parts:
-
Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lungs.
-
The human brain contains 10 billion neurons, mostly in the outer layer of the brain cortex.
Names of large bodies of water, regions, groups of mountains, islands, and lakes:
the Pacific Ocean | the Panama Canal | the Ural Mountains | the Fraser River |
the West | the Pacific Rim | the Great Lakes | the Caribbean |
C. No article is used with some nouns:
Plural countable nouns that are indefinite:
-
Stanley Park is an urban park containing many beaches, trees, and trails.
Generalizations about uncountable nouns:
-
Land, labor, and capital are essential for the production of goods.
-
Human Kinetics is the study of the human body and its relationship to exercise, sport, and health.
Gerund (verb + ing):
Gerunds are usually uncountable and indefinite, as in:
-
Myanmar ruby mining is done by a mixture of all tribes and ethnic groups of Myanmar.
Exception: A gerund + of structure is made specific and therefore takes the definite article the:
-
The mining of rubies is Myanmar's third largest export, netting close to US $300 million