INDEFINITE ARTICLE: a/an DEFINITE ARTICLE "the"

*used for singular nouns *if one mentions the same word for the
Ex:a suggestion,an application form,an eraser.etc. second time.
Ex: Yesterday, I bought a blouse and a skirt.
*But if a word starts in “-un” and “eu” a is used. The blouse was reasonably cheap, but the
Ex:a union,a unicorn,a European country skirt was rather expensive.
*for unique things.
*H is both a consonant and a vowel so it can take Ex:The earth is becoming hotter because of
a/an. the hole in the ozone layer.
Ex:an hour but a house *with the ordinal numbers
Ex:I was the first to get the news about their
*before jobs marriage.
Ex:I am a teacher. She was the last one to be chosen but he was
the only one who was awarded.
*before adjective complements *with the superlatives
Ex:an awful day,a big problem. Ex:It was the best option to choose but I
wasn’t the most determined person on
*a/an cannot be used with the plural and abstract Earth.
nouns. *with the words “cinema,theatre,radio”
Ex:All I need is love. Ex: Shall we go to the cinema tonight?
I get on well with kids. I haven't been to the theatre recently.
I listened to the news on the radio.
No Article(Zero Article) *with the words “sea, sky, ground,
country/countryside”
*names of most countries/territories
Ex: My son dropped his ball from the balcony
Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the
and it fell to the ground.
Netherlands,the Dominican Republic,
There are black clouds in the sky. I think it's
the Philippines, the United States(because of the
going to rain.
words –union,kingdom,states,republic…etc..)
*for inventions,musical instruments
Ex:Thanks to the telephone, the world seems
*names of cities, towns, or states
to have become smaller.
Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
He knows how to play the guitar.
*with adjectives referring to a certain
*names of streets
group.
Washington Blvd., Main St.
Ex: The old should be respected.
The poor have become poorer since the
*names of lakes and bays
recent crisis.
Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a
*before the nationalities referring to that
group of lakes like the Great Lakes
specific people.
Ex: The Japanese are very industrious people.
*names of single mountains
(Japanese people are ....)
Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with
The English are thought to be cold.
ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies
But, for the languages “the” isn’t used.
Ex: Japanese is said to be easy to learn.
*names of continents
(Japonca ...... )
Asia, Europe,Africa
English is becoming a world language.
*names of rivers, oceans and seas
*names of single islands
Ex:the Nile, the Pacific
Easter Island, Maui, Key West except with
*important points on the globe
island chains like the Caribbeans, the Seychelles, or
Ex:the Equator, the North Pole
the Canary Islands
*geographical areas and districts
Ex:the Middle East, the West
*names of sports
*deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas
football,ice hockey,water polo
ex: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black
Forest, the Iberian Peninsula
*names of academic subjects
history,chemistry,geography