English Grammar: When NOT to use an article – 9 rules

Hi, everybody, welcome to www.engvid.com, I'm Adam.

In today's video, I want to talk to you about the zero article.

Now, some of you might not be familiar with this word.

The zero article is basically the situations in which we don't use any article.

"A", "an", "the", these are definite and indefinite articles.

Zero article means no article.

So, I'm going to give you nine situations or nine rules where you should not use an

article.

And like it is with English in many ways, there are also exceptions.

So, the rule is pretty general, but there are specific exceptions or situations where

the rule does not apply, and I will point these out as well.

So, we're going to start with a few very basic ones.

To be honest with you, the only way to understand - not understand, to remember these is just

to memorize them and practice them.

Just know the rules and just keep remembering them whenever you're writing.

When I get to the last two or three rules, it gets a little bit trickier, but for the

beginning it's just very straightforward, just remember, okay?

So, we're going to start with country names.

All country names do not take an article.

So, Canada, or England, or Brazil, or Iran, or China, or Vietnam, etc., no article.

But there are exceptions, and I wrote this for short.

I'll just write it out for you if you want to make sure.

An exception is the one or two times where the rule does not apply.

So, any country that has the word "republic", "federation", or "united" in the name of the

country takes "the".

So, for example, Korea, there's two ways to refer to the country, South Korea.

One is just Korea, or South Korea, or the more technical, formal name is "the Republic

of Korea", Russia, or "the Russian Federation".

So, as soon as you see these words in the name of the country, add "the".

If the country is plural, add "the", so "the Philippines", "the Virgin Islands", "the Seychelles",

etc.

"The Bahamas".

As soon as there's an "s" as a plural, add "the", and of course there's "the Vatican",

which is technically its own country, it's special, there's only one, so we put "the".

Otherwise, no article.

Now, that's country name, now we're talking about the people who live in these countries,

so nationalities, when we're making a general reference.

So, if you go to the UN, like in that side of the building, that's where the Americans

are sitting, the Russians sit on the other side, they separate from each other.

So, when you're talking about people, and you're describing people, then you use "the".

Otherwise, in a general reference, nationalities, you don't use "the", no article.

But again, there's an exception.

If the nationality is the same word as the language that they speak, then you use "the".

Then you use the definite article, right?

So, "the French speak French".

"The French" means the French people speak French, the French language.

Canadians, however, speak English.

So, Canadians and English, two different words, no article.

Same word for nationality and language, the nationality gets an article.

But that leads us to rule number three, languages.

Languages don't get an article.

No exceptions.

All languages, English, French, Russian, Persian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, whatever, no article.

Four, sports.

So, all sports don't get an article, but - and this is not really an exception, but it can

often be confused - sporting events do get an article, because there's only one of them.

There are definite events, so "the Olympics", "the US Open", "the", whatever other events

there are.

Again, some of them are not.

It's a Wimbledon tennis match, I'm not sure if there's an actual formal name for it or

if it's just Wimbledon tennis match, but most sporting events get "the", because they're

very specific and only one of them.

So, these are very easy, you just have to remember the rules, and most importantly,

remember the exceptions.

That's where people get a little bit confused.

Let's look at some more.

Okay, so now we have a few more rules, and again, these are the ones that you're just

going to memorize and try to remember, and keep in mind that most of these rules are

especially important in writing.

Of course, they're important in speaking as well, but if you make mistakes, people will

still generally understand what you're saying.

In writing, it can make a big difference to the flow, to the feel of the writing, so try

to remember these and apply them whenever you can.

So, next, number five, we're looking at academic subjects.

Now, individual subjects don't take an article, but when you group them into a category, then

the category will take an article, it will take "the".

So, for example, philosophy is just a subject, it doesn't take an article, but philosophy

is part of the humanities.

The humanities, like philosophy, English, all these things that go together.

The sciences, the arts.

Whenever you have a grouping, add "the".

Individual subjects, no article.

Number six, so now we have a few geographical or geographic features.

These you have to be - they're a little bit hard to remember because you're not going

to use these things, you're not going to refer to geographic regions very often, but you

should still remember when to use an article and when not to.

And again, it's just memorization.

So, single mountains that are named don't take an article.

So, for example, Mount Fuji, Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro.

Because you have the mount, the mount acts as the identifier, as the definite modifier

to the name.

So, Mount Fuji.

But when you have mountain ranges, when you have a group of mountains, then - and you

name the group, again, it's the same as the subjects, the categories, then you add "the".

So, "the Rockies", "the Swiss Alps", "the Himalayan Range", etc.

Next, we have lakes and bays.

A bay is like a lake, except one end is open to the sea or the ocean.

A lake is within land, surrounded by land.

So, lakes and bays don't take an article.

So, Lake Baikal in Russia, or the Hudson Bay in Canada, no article.

Again, if you're going to put a group, like in North America, like between Canada and

the US, there are "the Great Lakes".

There are five lakes, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, etc., "the Great Lakes" as the

group.

Individuals, not.

But seas, oceans, gulfs, and rivers, "the".

The Mississippi, the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, okay?

The Mississippi River, the Nile River, etc.

Other features, like canyons, valleys, or fjords, all these things, because there's

only one of them, if it's named, then you add "the", because you're specifying one only.

But again, it's not that often you're going to be talking about the Grand Canyon, so you

should be able to remember.

Next, number seven, proper names, and this is where it gets - it starts to get a little

bit confusing.

Seven, and then eight and nine are a little bit more confusing, so I'll slow it down.

When you're talking about persons, so an individual person who you're - whom you're referring

to by name does not take an article.

You don't say "the Bob", "the Wendy".

You just say their names, right?

Companies, you don't say "the Apple", you just say "Apple Corp", or "IBM", or "Amazon",

or whatever company you're talking about.

Schools.

Now, schools generally do not take an article, but we have an exception here.

Schools that have "of" in their name take "the".

So, for example, Harvard University, no "the".

The University of Toronto, with "the".

So, any school name that has "of", the College of Medicine, right?

Anything that has an "of" in it, even if it's a small one, "the London School of Economics",

then you're going to add "the".

No "of", no "the".

Again, just remember that.

There's no - I can't really tell you why that is, it's a little strange.

And then another exception, museums - oh sorry, so we also had organizations, proper names,

but museums, galleries, churches, or basically anything that's like a little bit touristy,

and there's only one "of", then you add "the".

So, "the Metropolitan Museum", "the Uffizi Gallery", "the Sacré-Cœur", right?

So, these are very specific places, there's only one of them, and that's why we're adding

"the", to make them individuals.

So, again, memorize, practice, look for in your reading and writing.

Let's look at number eight and nine, and they'll be a little bit trickier.

Okay, so we have two more rules to get through, and these ones can be a little bit tricky

sometimes, and I'll show you why.

So, when we have other modifiers, sometimes these modifiers act as the pointer, right?

So, what does "the" do?

"The" signifies that something is a definite noun, right?

Other modifiers can do the same job, especially these three.

They're not the only ones, but these are the most common ones that you can use instead

of the article.

So, possessive pronouns, "my", "your", "his", "her", "their", etc.

So, these, when I say "my book", the "my" makes it definitely, it's mine, it's not yours,

it's not his, it's not someone else's, right?

So, that word "my" makes the book definite, so I don't need "the" to make it definite,

right?

That's why you don't mix the two together.

And this is a bit of a problem that some people have, they will mix the two.

So, for example, "Someone returned the my book that I lost last week."

So, obviously, you should recognize that I can say, "Someone returned the book that I

lost last week", because I'm identifying the book, so it's a definite book, or, "Someone

returned my book that I lost last week."

Okay?

Now, technically, when I have "my book", the "my" identifies the book.

So, this becomes non-identifying, and I would switch it to "which", if I want to give that

extra information, right?

Because otherwise, you have two things identifying the book, and it's unnecessary.

If you use "the", keep "that".

If you use "my", switch to "which".

So, that's a little bit tricky.

That's why people get confused, because they're not sure what is doing the function of identifying,

what is doing the function of making something definite, so you have to be a little bit careful

about that.

Same with demonstrative pronouns.

"This", "that", "these", "those", "it", "they", etc.

So, "Pass me that, the cup".

So, "Pass me that cup", or "Pass me the cup", as long as the person listening understands

which cup you're referring to when you say "the".

So, in this case, again, I don't need "the", no article.

I don't need "the", no article, but make sure that the other modifier you're using identifies

or makes the noun definite.

And again, quantifiers are other modifiers.

There are a few other modifiers.

The key is not which modifier you're using, the key is the function of the modifier, to

identify, to make something definite.

So, that's another rule.

This one is not so much about memorization, this one is about recognizing the situation

of the sentence, so you have to be a little bit more careful.

The other rules I gave you were just remember them.

This one, understand it, a little different.

And the same with number nine.

When you make a general reference to uncountable and abstract nouns, you're not going to use

an article, so some examples.

People need to drink water regularly.

Water is an uncountable noun, so you can't make it definite, but the water in the glass

is warm.

So, here I'm talking about a specific quantity of water, so I can make it definite, because

I am also the water that is in the glass.

I'm identifying this particular quantity, not water in general.

So, in general, uncountable, no "the".

Specific, quantified, "the".

Oh, that's a little bit clear.

Now, when you have abstract nouns, abstract nouns are basically an idea.

You can't actually hold onto it, you can't touch it, you can't see it, etc.

Love is beautiful.

Love is generally an idea, a feeling, so there's no "the", but a mother's love is beautiful.

"A", indefinite, because we're not talking - we're not sure which mother, but we're talking

about a specific type of love, but again, different mothers, different loves, that's

the idea.

The love a mother gives her child cannot be matched by anything else, so that specific

love that a mother gives to a child, any mother, any child, then it's a bit more definite,

then I would use "the".

But general reference, abstract, no "the".

Hope it's a little bit clear.

Now, somebody asked very specifically about certain nouns that they think are specific,

but in fact are kind of abstract.

So, for example, "take office" or "run for office".

The word "office" is not a room with a desk and a computer.

Office is a position, it's a political position, it's an abstract position.

You can't actually see it or touch it or do anything with it.

An office, like a physical office, has walls, a door, a ceiling and a floor, it's a real

thing.

"Run for office" or "take office" in terms of politics, just an abstract idea, okay?

And "president", now, he ran for president, president here is not a person, president

here, again, is an abstract idea.

He ran for the presidency of the country, right?

So, he ran for president, just a bit shorter.

This is a position, this is an idea.

What is a president, actually?

It's just a person who everybody agrees is the president once he's elected.

So, the idea of the presidency, and then once the person has the title, then notice it's

a capital P, then this is an official job title, and then it's something specific that

you can actually put a "the" for, something more definite.

So, the question is not, like, it's not a trick trying to say when to take the article

out or when to add the article.

The key is to understand the function of the word, president, office.

These are actually abstract ideas, and when we're referring to them in general, then we're

not going to use an article.

When we're referring to something more specific, concrete, definite, we're going to add the

article "the", the definite article "the".

Okay, so that's it, nine rules.

I know it's a lot of information, but again, remember, some of it, memorize.

These two in particular, make sure you actually understand what is going on and be able to

recognize when another modifier is working for you instead of the article, and when you

have abstract and uncountable nouns.

Once you understand that, it's much easier to recognize what's going on in your reading,

hopefully much easier to apply this to your writing, to make sure you don't lose style

points, I guess, and grammar points if you're taking IELTS or TOEFL, etc.

So, if you have any questions about any of this, please go to www.engvid.com and ask

in the comments section.

I'll do my best to help you understand this a little bit more clearly.

There's also a quiz that you should take to try to practice your understanding of when

not to use an article, especially definite article.

And that's it.

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See you again soon.

Bye.