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Grammar: Articles: a, an, the (or no article)
by Geoff Taylor, CALL Co-ordinator, St Clare's, Oxford, December 2002

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1. Test yourself: a, an, the, or no article?
2. Introduction: a, an and the
3. Study and practice: a or an?
4. Test yourself: a or an?

5. Study and practice: the
6. Test yourself: a, an or the?
7. Study and practice: the or no the?
8. Test yourself: a, an, the or no article?

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Study: Indefinite article (a and an)

Read this text...

Oxford is a city in southern England, only an hour and a half from London by car. Oxford has a university in the city centre, very old and very famous, with beautiful college buildings. Oxford also has a new university, in east Oxford. The university in the city centre is the oldest in England.

Notice...

We normally use a, an and the before nouns (city, car, factory):
  • Oxford is a city in southern England.
  • The original Mini was an inexpensive car.
  • The car factory is in Cowley, East Oxford.

We normally use a and an when we are talking about:

  • any one thing, animal, person or idea:

But we normally use the when we talk about:

  • one or more particular things, animals, people or ideas

We use "a"...

  1. If the next word begins with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y or z), for example, "a city" and "a factory"
  2. If the next word begins with a consonant sound (for example, "y" or "w") when we say it, for example, "a university". We say "university" with a "y" sound at the beginning, like this: yuniform.
  • So, "a university" IS correct but "an university" is NOT correct.

Practice

(Click the answer buttons to check your answer)

  • uncle
  • union
  • umbrella
  • understanding teacher
  • unit of work
  • united front
  • undershirt
  • unhappy child
  • utility room
  • uncomfortable bed
  • unpopular decision
  • useful machine
  • underground train

We use "an"...

  1. If the next word begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u...), for example: "an inexpensive car"
  2. If the next word begins with a vowel sound when we say it, for example: "an hour". We use "an" with "hour" because when we speak we DON'T say the "h" (The "h" is silent.) When we say "hour", the first sound is a vowel sound, like this "our".
  • So, "an hour" IS correct but "a hour" is NOT correct.
  • But we use "a" with "half" - "a half" - because when we speak we DO say the "h".

Practice

(Click the answer buttons to check your answer)

  • honour
  • hostage
  • habit
  • honest person
  • haircut
  • hotel
  • heavy box
  • heir
Test yourself: a or an?

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Menu

1. Test yourself: a, an, the, or no article?
2. Introduction: a, an and the
3. Study and practice: a or an?
4. Test yourself: a or an?

5. Study and practice: the
6. Test yourself: a, an or the?
7. Study and practice: the or no the?
8. Test yourself: a, an, the or no article?

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