The article system

Articles in English form a sub-class of determiners.  If you want the overview first, therefore, you should look at the guide to determiners.

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How many possible articles are there?

English does not use the full range of articles (and it is unlikely that any language does) but there are possibilities in all languages and some will use more or fewer of the possible articles to determine nouns.

Here they are, with a few comments:

1. The indefinite article:
   In English this is either a or an but some will include some as a plural indefinite article.
   Example are:
       This is an interesting book
       He came to a halt
       Give me some coins
       We have wasted an hour
       It's a(n) historic moment
   The issue for some learners is that the article an occurs slightly irregularly.
   The general rule is that we use an before a vowel sound, but we use a before a consonant sound and in both cases disregard how the word is spelled because this is a pronunciation issue.  So we get, e.g.:
       an artist
       a sculptor
       a European issue
       an honourable man
   When the /h/ sound is unstressed, many BrE speakers will also use an instead of a so we have:
       an historic moment
   etc.
   and some will choose to use an before hotel because the word is quite recently imported from French and the 'h' is not sounded in that language.
   In quite a lot of languages which have an indefinite article, it is indistinguishable from the numeral one (and if not the same, then closely related to it).  Unsurprisingly, the article a/an is derived from the word for one in English and is a reduced form of it.
2. The definite article
   In English this is solely the word the because English does not have alternatives dependent on gender or number so we have e.g.:
       The people all arrived late
       The car went off the road
       The choice is limited
   Again, there is a pronunciation issue.
   The article is pronounced /ði/ before a vowel sound and /ðə/ before a consonant sound, again, regardless of how a word is spelled.  We have, e.g.:
       the apple (/ði.ˈæp.l̩/)
       the man (/ðə.mæn/)
       the Euro (/ðə.ˈjʊə.rəʊ/)
   etc.
   And again, the unstressed /h/ sound is slightly problematic because some will choose to pronounce
       the historical facts
   as /ðə.hɪ.ˈstɒ.rɪk.l̩.fækts/
   and some will prefer /ði.hɪ.ˈstɒ.rɪk.l̩.fækts/.
   In a range of languages which do not have a definite article (or any article system at all) the equivalent of the definite article is often a demonstrative determiner roughly translatable as this or that, these or those.
   In fact, the definite article in English shares an etymology with the demonstrative determiners and can be seen as a reduced form or them in Modern English.  In other words, this, that, these and those can be conceptualised as forms of the definite article marked for spatial relationships (near or far) and number (singular or plural).
3. The proper article:
   This is somewhat rare in English but occurs frequently in other languages leading some into error.
   For example, in Greek, Portuguese and Catalan, it is conventional to use an article before people's name (the Peter, the Maria etc.).  This also happens in informal use in German, French, Italian and Spanish.
   The proper article occurs less often in English but examples are:
       The Mr Jones I spoke to was very helpful
       The Strand is a road in London
       The Kremlin is in Moscow
       The Gambia is in Africa
   etc.
   Usage varies and countries once conventional referred to with the proper article are no longer referred to that way so we have, e.g., Ukraine, not The Ukraine.
   Modified country names conventional use the proper article:
       The United States
       The Soviet Union
       The United Arab Emirates
   etc.
4. The partitive article:
   This only occurs in English with the determiner some as in, e.g.:
       Please give me some paper
       Pass me some pens
   etc.
   However, other languages use the partitive article frequently and these include French, Greek, Italian and a range of others and in many of those languages they consist of a combination of the definite article with a preposition.  For example, in French, à + le = au and de + le = du.  In Italian, the preposition di combines with the definite article to produce dello, della and other forms equivalent to some or any in English and called a partitive article.  In Greek, the proposition se combines with articles to form ston, sti and so on.
5. The negative article:
   In English, this role is taken by the word no which acts as a simple determiner.  However, other languages may reserve an article-like item for this function.  German, for example has the word kein which is inflected in the same way as the indefinite article to show gender and number.
   Fundamentally, English does not use a negative article but for those whose languages do, comparing no to the indefinite article has some validity.
6. Zero article:
   As the name implies, this is an absence of an article and is usually represented as ∅.  Because English has a definite article denoting specificity as in, e.g.:
       Give me the money
   it also employs the zero article to denote an unspecified object before a count or mass noun as in:
       Give me money
       Take books with you
   The word some can be used as an indefinite plural article or to determine a mass noun as in, e.g.:
       Give me some money
       Take some books with you
   It is unhelpful to describe the lack of an article in languages which do not have an article system or those which have a reduced system as the zero article.

Languages differ dramatically in the use of articles (and some don't use them at all).  Here's a short list but you should rely on your own research into the language(s) of your learners.  Asking them is often useful as it alerts them to differences.

Languages with no article system

These include most Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Bosnian, Czech etc.) as well as Chinese languages, Indonesian, Japanese, Hindi and Urdu.
For speakers of these languages, using the correct article in English is very challenging because they do not easily conceptualise the need to mark specificity and non-specificity or count vs. mass nouns.

Language with no indefinite article

These include most Celtic languages (Breton, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish etc.) and Turkish, Farsi and Arabic (which often encodes the definite article as a prefix).

Languages using affixation for articles

Some languages do not have a separate word class of articles but may use a similar system by adding suffixes to nouns.  These include Albanian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Bengali, Romanian and Scandinavian languages.
Other languages such as Hebrew and Maltese use prefixes to denote an article system akin to English.

Many languages alter articles to show gender (most European languages) and it is impossible to use any noun, even an invented one, without first considering its gender.  European languages have two or three genders normally although more are possible.
Some languages, such as Basque, Georgian and most Native American languages distinguish between animate and inanimate nouns through the use of gender.

Languages which are traditionally described as being article-less such as Japanese and Cantonese often use classifiers (sometimes called counters) to denote a wide range of properties in the nouns such as animacy, flatness, stick-like appearance and so on.  For more, see the guide to classifiers, partitives and group nouns.

English, on the other hand, has no gender marking on articles but a deeply important distinction between definite and indefinite and specific and non-specific (or generic) concepts which is entirely lacking in many other languages.  English also makes use, as we shall see, of the notions of mass and count nouns lacking in many other languages.

In what follows, we shall not be considering the negative article no or the partitive article some but we will look at the indefinite, definite and zero articles in English and consider proper articles in English as a subset of the definite article.

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Rule 1

Decide what you are talking about.  There are only three choices:

1. One or some of many – indefinite specific reference.  This means that the speaker / writer is referring to a specific class of nouns but not to the specific instance of the noun.  In other words, the noun is not identifiable by the reader / hearer other than knowing the class of nouns to which reference is being made.  The speaker / writer may or may not know more about the noun but this information is not being communicated to the hearer / reader.  Compare this to the third point, below.
   For example:
       A man arrived
       People arrived
       Information got lost
   In these examples, the hearer / reader only knows what sort of noun is in question (i.e., specific reference) but does not know any more about the noun (i.e., the reference is indefinite).
   The reference is specific but indefinite.
2. All of them, everywhere – generic reference.  This means the speaker / writer is referring to a whole class of nouns, not a single instance of the class.  For example:
       The wheel was an important invention
       A solicitor deals with legal matters
       Doctors charge a lot in my country
   In these examples, the speaker / writer is referring not to single instances of the nouns but to the whole class of nouns in general.
   The reference is, then, generic but indefinite.
3. This one exactly – definite specific reference.  This means the speaker / writer is referring to a single, known instance of the noun.  For example:
       The man spoke to me.
       London is the capital of Britain
   Here, the reference is both definite (we know which noun is being referred to) and specific (we know what sort of noun is in question).  Normally, both the writer / speaker and the reader / hearer are aware of some or all of the noun's characteristics and can use that information to distinguish between instances of the noun in question.
   The reference is definite and specific.

Rule 2

In each of these categories, there's a choice of which article to use.
If we are talking about indefinite specific reference (one of many or some of many), we can have, e.g.,
    A man came in
    Men came in
    Good furniture is expensive
If we are talking about generic reference (all of them, everywhere), we can have:
    A car is useful in the country
or
    Cars pollute
or
    Petrol is expensive
or
    The cat is an independent animal
If we are talking about definite specific reference (this one exactly), we can have:
    The car is outside
    The sugar is in the cupboard
    The cars are here
    Great Britain is an island

What are the choices of article in each category?

Here's the picture:

We shall refine that diagram later.

Rule 3

It matters if the noun is countable or uncountable (i.e., a mass noun), singular or plural.
English is not unique but it does has a fundamental and very important distinction between mass and count nouns.  Languages which do not have this distinction (or in which the distinction is not grammatically significant) generally have much simpler article systems, or none at all.  It is almost impossible to use a noun correctly in English unless one has first considered whether it is being used as a mass noun or a count noun.

Indefinite specific reference (one of many)

Questions:

1. If you use indefinite specific reference and want to talk about one of many uncountable (i.e., mass) nouns such as acid or types of furniture what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ tea contains as much caffeine as __________ coffee
   I saw __________ water had damaged the books
2. If you use indefinite specific reference and want to talk about one of many countable nouns such as houses or chairs, what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ room will be needed for the committee meeting.
   I saw __________ fox in the garden
3. If you use indefinite specific reference and want to talk about many countable nouns such as houses or chairs, what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ cars are expensive in my country
   We discovered __________ pollutants in the river water

Make a note and then click here for some comments.

Generic reference (all of them, everywhere)

Questions

1. If you use generic reference and want to talk about all uncountable things such as money or water what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   Children need __________ love
   We discovered __________ pollution in the river water
2. If you use generic reference and want to talk about all countable things in the plural such as tigers or chairs, what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ houses are expensive everywhere
   I enjoy watching __________ animals
3. If you use generic reference and want to talk about one countable thing in the singular as representative of all such as tiger or wheel, what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ train is usually cheaper than driving alone
   __________ smart phone has changed people's lives
   __________ dog is a faithful animal

Make a note and then click here.

Definite specific reference (this one exactly)

Questions:

1. If you use definite specific reference and want to talk about one amount of a particular uncountable thing such as acid or sugar what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ cardboard is in the garage
   __________ grass needs cutting
2. If you use definite specific reference and want to talk about more than one countable thing such as tigers or cars, what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ men you spoke to have decided
   The officer directed __________ drivers to stop
3. If you use definite specific reference and want to talk about one countable thing such as tiger or car, what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ car I bought was quite cheap
   __________ phone is ringing in the hallway
4. If you use definite specific reference and want to talk about one particular proper noun such as Berlin or Mary, what article do you use?
   Fill these gaps:
   __________ Napoleon was Emperor of France
   I gave the book to __________ Aunt Mary

Make a note and then click here for comments.

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Quirks and exceptions

Exceptions with the

The English article system is often wrongly presented as an impossibly difficult area.  As we saw, however, the rules are quite simple.  There are, however, a few quirks and exceptions concerned with the use of the definite article.  Many of these, however, can be traced back to the rules above.
These aren't lesson topics – they should be taught as and when they arise.

1. One teachable case of definite specific reference (this one exactly) is when the noun has been mentioned or it can be assumed that a unique reference is intended and understood.
   So we get, e.g.
       A car drove by and the driver waved
       The toilet's probably upstairs
   etc.
   This is often referred to as the unknown-known rule and can easily be explained that way.  An alternative explanation of a sentence such as:
       She bought a new car.  The car broke down on her first journey.
   is:
   1. in the first instance, we are referring to an indefinite specific reference for a countable noun and that, as we saw, requires the indefinite article.
   2. in the second instance, we are now referring to a definite specific reference for a countable noun (because we now know that the car was hers) and that requires the use of the definite article.
2. When a noun is modified, it's also a sign of definite specific reference.
   So we get, e.g.
       The man who is married to the Minister
       The author of this article
       The girl in the corner
   etc.
   Modification takes many forms.
   A subset of this category contains country names which are modified by an adjective such as United, Islamic, Peoples' or Federal: the United States, the Federal Republic etc.  Otherwise, nations and languages take ∅ (the zero article).  Another subset contains things like the Doppler Effect, The Theory of Relativity etc. but when the possessive 's is used there is no article: Einstein's Theory, Murphy's Law.
3. Unique objects (or objects unique in a certain shared setting): the sun, the moon, the Milky Way, the queen, the president etc.  A subset of this category contains things like nationalities, geographical areas and superlatives: the Greeks, the French, the biggest building, The Atlantic etc.
   The latter can be explained by noting that the modifier has been omitted: The Atlantic (Ocean), The (River) Amazon, The Tate (Gallery) The Alps (Range), The Hilton (Hotel).  Note the convention to capitalise the article in some cases.  Plural countries always take the article: The Netherlands, The Bahamas, The Seychelles.
4. Families count as plural definite specific reference: Take tea with the Windsors
5. Rivers always take the definite article the, even if they aren't unique: The Stour, The Thames, The Nile.  Lakes don't usually but modification (The Great Lakes) occurs.

Exceptions with ∅ (the zero article)

1. Some common prepositional phrases often with verbs like go, have, get, eat, and be involve indefinite specific reference: go by bus, be in school / church / prison / hospital, go to university etc.  The nouns are nearly always means of transport, meals, illnesses or institutions: have appendicitis, get flu, eat lunch, travel by air, go to college etc.
2. Times with the prepositions at, by, after, before take the zero article but those following during and in take the: at dawn / sunset / night, by dusk / sunrise / evening, after dark, before nightfall, during the day, in the morning etc.
3. Parallel structures take ∅: hand in hand, man to man, right to left, pen in hand etc.

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There are a couple of exercises for more advanced learners on article use in the section for learners on this site.  Go to that index, find the exercises and see if you can identify which rules from all of this are applicable.
There is also one lesson for elementary-level learners which focuses on the for unique use, some for mass nouns and plural count nouns and the known-unknown rule for using a(n) and the.

If you would like an abbreviated version of this guide as a PDF document, click here.

If you are happy that you have understood the nature of the article system in English, you can go on to considering the teaching and learning implications in this area.  Click here to do that.

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Click to take a test in this area.

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