Articles: a, an, the | English Grammar Lesson | B1-Intermediate

Hello and welcome everyone to today's lesson,  which is about Articles. Let me share my screen  

so you can see the lesson. As you know, there are  two types of Articles; Indefinite. That's 'a' or  

'an'. And Definite. Article 'the'. Mistakes with  these articles are very common for speakers of all  

languages, and can go both ways. One mistake can  be dropping an article when it's needed. Or other  

type of mistake is using an article when it's not  needed. Fortunately, these mistakes don't usually  

affect the clarity of your message, so you can  relax about them. With enough revision, practice,  

and exposure to their correct usage, that's  particularly important exposure to correct usage,  

you will build the necessary reflexes to  use them correctly yourself. So, today's  

lesson is a bit of a revision as you will have  probably seen my other lessons on Articles. So,  

let's get started by looking at the basic rules  of Articles. Right, as you know, Articles always  

come before nouns. Now, we have different types  of nouns so let's start by looking at singular  

countable nouns. We use 'a' or 'an', and these are  Indefinite Articles before a singular countable  

noun when we mention it for the first time. We  use 'a' if the word starts with a consonant sound,  

and we use 'an' if the word starts with a vowel  sound. So for example: I watched a documentary  

last night. But I spoke to an architect last week.  A little note here important note, be careful with  

words that start with the letter 'U'. If 'U' is  pronounced as the way I said it 'U', then use  

'a' not 'an'. So, a university, a unanimous vote.  And if it's pronounced as a so as 'uh' a vowel,  

then of course you will use 'an'. Right, so that's  for singular countable nouns when we mention them  

for the first time. Now, if we mention this noun  again, the Article changes to 'the'. It becomes  

the Definite Article. so our first sentence: I  watched a documentary last night. The documentary  

was about electric cars. I spoke to an architect  last week. I asked the architect for advice.  

Alright, so now let's look at the rules for plural  nouns. So, if the noun is plural, 'a' 'an' changes  

to 'a number' or 'a quantifier'. So: I watched  two documentaries. Some documentaries. Several,  

a number of, many documentaries. Plural  noun. And again, if we mention this plural  

noun again, the article changes to 'the': The  documentaries were about electric cars. So,  

the rules are simple. I think you have  heard them and used them many times. So,  

let's see where the common mistakes come from.  Looking at common mistake number one is dropping  

'a' or 'an' before a singular countable noun. And  this usually happens when you don't have this type  

of article in your own language or you're allowed  to drop it. But in English, a singular countable  

noun never appears on its own. We can never  have a sentence like: She is architect. Or:  

I was speaking to neighbour. You need an article  before a singular countable noun. In this case,  

it's the first time we're mentioning architect  or neighbour. It's the Indefinite Article: She  

is an architect. I was speaking to a neighbour.  Of course, there are other words that can come  

before a singular countable noun instead of 'a' or  'an'. I just said they are never alone. It's 'a'  

or 'an'. Or, you can also use a possessive  pronoun like 'my' or 'your' or 'his'. Or,  

a singular determinant 'this', 'that', 'another'.  You can say: I was speaking to my neighbour. Or:  

I was speaking to another neighbour. Right, so  are there any cases where we can or must drop  

'a' or 'an'. And I think you know the answer. Yes!  With or before uncountable nouns because that's  

another type of noun in English that you are  familiar with. Words like 'water', 'information',  

'advice'. They look singular, but in fact they  are uncountable nouns. So for example: I asked the  

architect for advice. In this case, we cannot use  'a' or 'an'. But you can use a possessive pronoun,  

a suitable determiner, or a suitable quantifier  before an uncountable noun. You can say:  

I asked the architect for his advice, or for  some advice. So, this is common mistake one  

to do with the Indefinite Articles 'a' or 'an'.  Now, let's look at common mistake number two,  

which relates to dropping the Definite Article  'the'. And the mistake here is dropping 'the'  

when you are referring to a specific noun.  For example saying: Documentaries I watched.  

When you say documentaries I watched, we know  which documentaries you're referring to. These  

are specific. You must use the Definite Article:  The documentaries I watched were about electric  

cars. And again of course, it doesn't have to  be 'the', but we need something. It can be a  

possessive pronoun, it can be plural determiners  (these, those, other). Or, it can be a quantifier  

as we can count some, a few, several. We can  say: I watched those documentaries last week. Or:  

I watched other documentaries last week. So, is  there a case when we must drop 'the'? And there  

is definitely! And that's when we refer to objects  or people in general. When we are not referring to  

a specific group of objects, or people, or person.  So for example: The documentaries I watched. We  

know which documentaries we're talking about.  Were about electric cars. Now, we don't need  

'the' because we're talking about all electric  cars. Not specific ones. Or in another sentence:  

Architects don't earn more than accountants. We  don't need 'the' before architects and accountants  

because we're talking about all architects all  accountants. Not specific ones that we have  

already mentioned or we know we're talking about.  It's the same, so these are plural nouns. It's the  

same with uncountable nouns. It's sometimes  necessary to seek advice. Advice in general.  

Not a specific advice. Okay, so now we come to  common mistake three. There are are some special  

cases in English, some special structures, some  special nouns, that require the Definite Article  

'the'. You just need to know them. I have listed  here seven of such cases. This list may not be  

exhaustive but it's pretty complete. So you  just need to remember these. Case number one:  

when there is only one of something. So, the UK  Government. Not UK Government. Right, we need  

'the' in a case like this. The French President.  Case two: before collective nouns created from  

an adjective. The elderly, the privileged. Right,  case number three: before superlative adjectives.  

The highest, the most valuable. Before the  structure the specific structure in English,  

which is the more the more. For example: The  sooner the better. Case number five: before names  

of some countries, some geographical features, and  some organisations. Not all but occasionally. For  

example, The Netherlands, The Red Sea, The United  Nations, or even if you abbreviate the name:  

The UN. Case six: before ordinal numbers. So, the  third page, the 11th of June. And finally, before  

decades: The 1960s, The 60s. Right, so are there  cases when we must drop 'the'? Naturally, yes!  

Again these are specific cases to remember. Three  important ones: before names, people, companies,  

most countries. For example: President Kennedy.  No 'the' here. IBM. No 'the' here. Brazil. No  

'the'. Second case: before cardinal numbers. Not  the page three, but page three. Day 11. Also,  

before sports, subjects, and meals. Not the  gymnastics, but gymnastics. Geography, dinner. So,  

I hope that's given you an overview, a revision  of the cases where we must use these articles and  

when we mustn't. Again as I said, it's all about  revision, practice, and exposure to these articles  

being used correctly. So, be patient. As I said,  your message will still be clear if you make a few  

mistakes, and gradually they will become reflexive  in your own usage. Before we end, I just want to  

talk a little bit about pronunciation, starting  with the pronunciation of 'a' and 'an'. As these  

words start with a vowel sound, they're usually  phonetically linked to the word before them.  

And also, because they're grammatical words, the  letter 'a' in these words is pronounced as a very  

short sound called the schwa, which is uh. Not on  their own, so I can say: a, an. But in a sentence,  

we don't say: This is a controversial topic.  We say: This is a controversial topic. This is  

a. Is-a. So, it's connected to the 'z', and it's  reduced to schwa. In the case of 'an', there is a  

phonetic link to the word after it as well. So,  we don't say: This is an interesting topic. It  

all runs. It's: This is-an. This is-an interesting  topic. Because of this, 'a' and 'an' are difficult  

to hear clearly when you listen to English. You  can only see them clearly when you read. That's  

why it's not easy to activate them to get a lot of  good usage examples if you only listen. You need  

to see them. More or less the same thing with  'the'. 'The' is pronounced differently before a  

consonant and a vowel sound. Before a consonant  sound, it's pronounced as 'the'. Again, we have  

the little schwa sound. The show, the book. And  before a vowel sound, it's pronounced as 'the'.  

The actor, the end. So finally, it becomes even  difficult to hear the difference between 'uh' and  

'the'. Why? Because both of them end in the schwa  sound. 'Uh'. 'Uh', 'the'. And because 'uh' a,  

is always linked to the sound before it,  it's really hard to hear the difference in  

spoken English. For example, can you really  hear the difference between: I watch a show  

and I watched the show? I read the two sentences,  and they sound almost identical: I watched a show.  

I watched the show. So, I think you're beginning  to see where I'm going with this. If you're using  

a lot of audio materials to work on your English,  it's difficult to get exposure to correct usage.  

You can't hear what was that an 'a'? Was it  an 'an' 'the'? They all sound very similar.  

So, what you need to do if you want to  activate these more quickly is to do occasional  

transcription exercises. Or at least sometimes,  not always, read the transcript to reinforce the  

correct use of these Articles. And of course,  writing your own texts and having your texts  

corrected. Getting feedback on your usage is also  a very good tool to activate these little things.  

I hope this has been helpful as a revision, and  as some pointers on how to get these activated  

in your language, and I hope to see you in the  next lesson. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.  

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