Articles: a/an, the and no article?
- a vs an We use before consonant sounds, and an before vowel sounds:
VOWEL SOUNDS: an appraisal, an hour, an interview, an office, an MBA.
CONSONANT SOUNDS: a director, a code, a unit, a question
- Uses of a, an: We use a or an before unspecified singular countable nouns:
“ Could you let me have an envelope?”
We use a or an to talk about job, (but not areas of business):
Janet’s a Personal Manager , and her husband is in martketing.
We use a or an to talk about frequency:
We have to submit VAT returns four times a year.
- Uses of the
ð With a specific noun we have mentioned before:
We have bought a Mac and a PC. The Mac cost $2500 and the PC cost $2100
Where is the file that I gave you this morning?
ð We use the when it is clear what we are referring to because there is only one.
The chairman wants to see you now
ð With suparlatives:
She is the most beautiful girl in my class.
ð With adjectives to refer to a group:
The rich do not do enough to help the poor.
We use the to refer to rivers, mountains, seas, and names of countries that include a noun like republic, kingdom, union...
The Aral Sea in the former Soviet Union is very polluted.
- No article
We use no article to generalize about uncountable or plural nouns:
Money is the root of all evil
We do not use an article to refer to companies, cities, roads, single islands, or lakes:
