English Articles in English Grammar (A – An – The)

 English Articles in English Grammar

(A – An – The)

Articles are small but very important words in English. They come before nouns and help us understand whether we are talking about something general or something specific.

There are three articles in English:

• A

• An

• The

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1️⃣ Indefinite Articles: A and An

We use A and An when we talk about something for the first time or something that is not specific.

🔹 When to use A

Use A before words that start with a consonant sound.

✅ Examples:

• a book

• a car

• a teacher

• a university ("you" sound)

• a European country ("you" sound)

📌 Important note:
It depends on the sound, not the spelling.

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🔹 When to use An

Use An before words that start with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).

✅ Examples:

• an apple

• an hour (silent "h")

• an engineer

• an umbrella

• an honest man (silent "h")

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🔹 Uses of A / An

We use A / An when:

1️⃣ Talking about something for the first time

• I saw a dog in the street.

2️⃣ Talking about any one of a group

• She wants to buy a phone.

3️⃣ Talking about jobs

• He is a doctor.

• She works as an engineer.

4️⃣ With singular countable nouns

• a pen ❌ (correct)

• a water ❌ (incorrect – uncountable)

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2️⃣ Definite Article: The

We use The when we talk about something specific or something already known.

🔹 Uses of The

1️⃣ When we talk about something mentioned before

• I saw a movie yesterday. The movie was interesting.

2️⃣ When there is only one

• The sun

• The moon

• The president

3️⃣ With specific places

• The bank (specific bank)

• The hospital

4️⃣ With superlatives

• She is the best student.

• This is the most expensive phone.

5️⃣ With oceans, seas, rivers, deserts, and mountain ranges

• The Nile

• The Red Sea

• The Sahara Desert

• The Alps

6️⃣ With countries that include words like (kingdom, states, emirates)

• The United States

• The United Kingdom

• The United Arab Emirates

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3️⃣ When NOT to use an article (Ø)

Sometimes we do not use any article.

🔹 No article is used with:

1️⃣ General plural nouns

• Dogs are friendly.

• Cars are expensive.

2️⃣ Uncountable nouns (general meaning)

• Water is important.

• Information is useful.

3️⃣ Names of people and most countries

• Mohamed is my friend.

• Egypt is beautiful.

• Canada is a large country.

4️⃣ Meals, languages, and subjects

• I eat breakfast at 8.

• She speaks English.

• He studies accounting.

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4️⃣ Common Mistakes 🚫

❌ She is an university.
✅ She is a university.

❌ I need a advice.
✅ I need advice.

❌ He is the doctor. (general job)
✅ He is a doctor.

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5️⃣ Practice Examples ✍️

Choose the correct article:

1️⃣ I bought ___ umbrella.
2️⃣ She is ___ honest person.
3️⃣ We visited ___ Eiffel Tower.
4️⃣ He wants to be ___ engineer.
5️⃣ ___ water in this bottle is cold.

✅ Answers:

1️⃣ an
2️⃣ an
3️⃣ the
4️⃣ an
5️⃣ the

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🎯 Final Tip

👉 Always listen to the sound, not the spelling.
👉 Ask yourself: Is it general or specific?

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