Question 1

What is the difference between a, an, the and no article?

Accepted Answer

They ask the reader to do different things. A and an bring in one countable thing without asking the reader to work out which one. The asks the reader to find a particular one, from earlier words, a shared situation or a description that fits only one. No article is used with plurals and uncountable nouns to mean a kind in general.

Question 2

Is it a hour or an hour?

Accepted Answer

An hour. The choice is decided by the sound the next word begins with, not by its first letter. The h in hour is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound. The same rule gives a university, because university begins with a yoo sound, and an MBA, because the letter M is said em.

Question 3

When do you use the?

Accepted Answer

Use the when your reader can tell which one you mean. That can come from earlier words (a dog... the dog), the shared situation (shut the door), shared knowledge (the sun, the bus we both take), the scene (the bill, in a restaurant) or a description that fits only one (the tallest girl in the class). Earlier mention is only one route.

Question 4

When should you not use an article?

Accepted Answer

Use no article with plural and uncountable nouns meant in general (dogs bark, rice is cheap), with most names of people, cities and days, with meals, games, subjects and languages in general (we had lunch, she studies physics), and with some institutions used for their purpose (go to school). A single countable noun on its own normally needs something in front.

Question 5

Do proper nouns take articles?

Accepted Answer

Most do not: names of people, cities, days and months take no article, because the name already identifies which one is meant. But the rule that proper nouns never take articles is wrong: the Ganga, the Himalayas, the Netherlands, the United Nations and the Taj Mahal all carry the as part of what they are called. These are naming conventions.

Question 6

Why do some rivers and countries take the?

Accepted Answer

Because that is how those names are conventionally written, not because a rule forces it. Rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges, island groups and deserts usually take the: the Ganga, the Pacific, the Himalayas, the Maldives, the Thar. So do country names with a common noun or a plural: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands. Lakes, single peaks and most countries do not.

Question 7

Why can you say a coffee but not a rice?

Accepted Answer

Because countability is about what a word means in that sentence, not about the word itself. In a cafe, coffee means a serving, and servings are counted: two coffees. Rice is not conventionally counted in servings that way, so English borrows a container or a measure: a bag of rice, two kilos of rice.

Question 8

Do you use the before plural nouns in general statements?

Accepted Answer

Usually not. For a general statement about a kind, English normally uses the plural with no article: Tigers are good swimmers, children need sleep. The tigers means a particular group the reader can identify, such as the tigers at this zoo. The singular the tiger can name the whole species, but it sounds formal or scientific.

Question 9

What is the difference between school and the school?

Accepted Answer

Without the, school means the purpose the place exists for: she goes to school to study. With the, it means the building as a place: she walked to the school to collect him. Hospital, prison and church work the same way in British English, though American English usually says in the hospital. The pattern is conventional: not cinema or office.

Question 10

What are determiners?

Accepted Answer

Determiners are the words at the very front of a noun group that tell you which one or how much, before any describing words. They include the articles (a, an, the), pointing words (this, that, these, those), possessives (my, your, their), numbers (two, ten) and quantity words (some, any, many, much, every, no).

Question 11

What is the difference between much and many?

Accepted Answer

Many goes with plural countable nouns: many books, many children. Much goes with uncountable nouns: much water, much advice. In everyday statements English often prefers a lot of for both, keeping much mainly for questions and negatives: there isn't much time. Because countability follows meaning, one word can take either: many coffees (servings), not much coffee (the drink).

Question 12

When do you use this, that, these and those?

Accepted Answer

Choose by two things at once: near or far, and one or more than one. This and these point to things near the speaker; that and those point to things further away. This and that go with one thing or with an uncountable noun (this cup, that music); these and those go with plurals (these shoes, those cups).

Question 13

Can I say "I saw dog in the park"?

Accepted Answer

No. A single countable noun like dog needs something in front of it: a dog, the dog, my dog or that dog. Only plural and uncountable nouns can stand alone: I saw dogs, I bought rice. Which word you choose depends on whether your listener can tell which dog you mean.

Question 14

Does the second mention always take the?

Accepted Answer

Not always. The usually appears on second mention because the thing is now identifiable: I found a wallet. The wallet was empty. But a second, different wallet still takes a, and the same wallet can also continue as it or that wallet. What decides is whether the reader can tell which one, not how many times it was mentioned.

Question 15

Can a or an be used with plural nouns?

Accepted Answer

No. A and an go with one countable thing only, because a began as a way of saying one: a kite, never a kites. With plurals, use the, a pointing word like these or those, a quantity word like some, or no article at all: kites got stuck.

What does a, an, the, or nothing ask the reader to do?