English Articles - 3 Simple Rules To Fix Common Grammar Mistakes & Errors

Hello! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish and in this lesson we're working on your English

grammar, specifically on how to use articles. Now I know this is a lesson that

you need to watch. There are three English articles, "a", "an" and "the".

It is possible to have no article and using one or the other changes the meaning of

your English sentences. But more on that later!

Articles are a challenging part of speaking English but they're a really

important part. They give information about the noun that they come before.

Using articles incorrectly can make your sentences confusing or sound strange.

And mistakes with articles are quite obvious to native speakers. They probably won't

correct you, but they'll notice them - even though you'll probably be understood if

you make mistakes with articles. Using the incorrect article is one of the most

common errors that English learners make. If you've ever emailed me or messaged me

on Facebook, I've probably seen it in your writing too. These mistakes happen all the time

without you even realising it! But there is a reason why these kind of

mistakes are so common! There are lots of different rules about how to use

articles and lots of exceptions too!

So to make articles a little easier for you,

I've broken this lesson down into three main rules that you need to know about

using English articles. Now, I'm not going to teach you every rule about English articles.

I don't want to scare you away so much that you never come back!

I'm going to teach you some principles that will help you to use

articles better. Remember, that articles are used with English nouns.

So, nouns play an important part in your decision to use an article. The type of noun is important.

There are two types of articles in English, definite and indefinite.

And it's probably easier for me to show you how they work.

This table will help to make it a little clearer. Thinking about English nouns, we

know that there are countable and uncountable nouns. Countable nouns can be

singular or plural. So there's a lot to think about

and it really affects how you use articles. If a noun is singular and countable,

then you can use the indefinite article "a" or "an". The definite

article, "the", can be used with countable or uncountable nouns.

When a noun is plural, so when there is more than one of that noun, the definite article, "the", can

be used. And though we can't use the indefinite singular articles "a" and "and",

we can use "some" when we're not being specific.

Now, this technically is not an article but if you're using a plural noun and

you're not being specific, "some" is the perfect choice. So for the singular

countable noun, strawberry, I can say "A strawberry", I can say "The strawberry" when

I'm being specific. If I'm using the plural form of that noun, strawberries,

then I can use "some" if I'm not being specific.

"I would like some strawberries please" or I can use "the", the definite article with

my plural noun. "Could you pass me the strawberries?"

The difference between the definite and the indefinite articles is the difference between talking about a

specific pen, a unique pen, or any pen at all - it doesn't matter!

Like I said, we're going to focus on three main rules today. Learn these rules

and you will choose the correct article most of the time. The first rule explains

when we use "the", the definite article and when we use "a" or "an", the indefinite article.

The second rule deals with unique nouns, which usually require the

definite article. And the third rule explains why we sometimes leave articles out.

If you do need an article, when should you use an indefinite article and

when should you use the definite article? Great question!

Let's talk about rule number one. Indefinite articles, "a" and "an" are used

when you first introduce someone to a noun. It doesn't matter if you're

speaking or writing. When you first introduce a countable noun, you need to

use "a" or "an", then you can use the definite article, after you have introduced the noun.

I want to demonstrate this for you with a very simple story.

I saw a person yesterday. The person was sitting under a tree. The tree was very tall.

The person stood up when they saw a cat. The cat jumped on a wall to try and catch a bird

but the bird flew off the wall.

In this example, the nouns

person, tree, wall, cat and bird, all take the indefinite article but only when

they're first introduced. After that, we use the definite article every time.

This rule is about ensuring that the reader or the listener knows which specific

noun you're talking about. As soon as you've made this clear to the person, you

can use the definite article every time you use it.

Now we know which bird, of all of the possible birds in the world that it

could be, we know which specific bird you're talking about. So, we can use the

definite article. The second rule. When a noun is unique, use the definite article.

When something is unique, there is only one of that thing. That's when we use the

definite article. The definite article is "the". "The sun", "The president", "The Queen

of England" and "The capital city" are all examples of this. There is only one of

these nouns. They're unique. This is especially true for nouns that are

well-known by most people. But it's even true when the listener might not know the noun.

"Who's he?" "He's the president of the United States. He's the CEO. He's the mayor."

Compare it to "Who's she?" "She's a member of parliament. She's an accountant.

She's an engineer." There is more than one of these nouns, so that noun is not unique.

Now, I'm going to keep giving some more examples to rule number two.

And remember, for rule two, we're thinking about nouns that are unique. There's only

one of these nouns. But this uniqueness, it doesn't need to

be really obvious, it can come through the context. So for example, "A truck

crashed into a tree. The driver was not injured." Once we introduce the car, we

know, by association, that there could only be one driver because there was

only one car or one truck mentioned. So the driver is unique in the story.

There's only one driver that we could possibly be talking about. Keep thinking

about this idea of a unique noun as we continue. When you're using superlative

adjectives, "the best place", "the worst thing", "the fastest runner", "the tallest mountain",

"the most interesting person I've met", you need to use the definite article

because there can only be one person, place or thing that can be the

fastest or the most expensive.

Paul is taller than Steve and Greg but Tom is

taller than Paul. And Adam is the tallest. There are many boys who are taller than

Greg but only one person can be the tallest, that's Adam.

Also, use the definite article for named things. By naming them, they become unique.

So for example, "The Himalayas", "The Amazon River", "The Indian Ocean", "The United Nations",

"The Eiffel Tower", "The 8:06 bus". All of these nouns are unique but there are some

exceptions, like the names of people - we don't usually use an article.

The names of lakes and islands don't usually use articles,

Phi Phi Island or Lake Victoria, except when these nouns are plural, like The

Great Lakes or The Galapagos Islands. These exceptions are what make articles

very frustrating in English but don't give up! When you're ordering things,

so when ordinal numbers like second, fifth, are used as adjectives. For example, "The

second time" or "The third example" or "The fourth person to call". So in other words

once you place an order on an object, they hold a unique position in that

order and so you can use the definite article. OK lastly, why do we use an

article with a noun sometimes and at other times we don't

use an article at all? This is the third rule. When we're speaking about a noun in

general, we're not being specific about which particular noun, we usually leave

the article out. And if it's countable, you need to use the plural form.

Let's use a countable noun, this pen, as an example. When we're talking about an

actual pen or pens that really exist, we use an article, definite or indefinite.

In the following examples we're speaking of specific or actual or real pens that exist.

"Can I borrow the pen?" That's a specific pen. "The pen that's on your desk."

Singular and specific. "The pens are in your bag." That's a plural noun, right?

And with the definite article. But we can also make general statements about pens

and when we do, we speak generally, this is when we can leave the article out.

For example, "I prefer to use black pens", "I never have pens when I need them"

"I bought pens for you to use" It is absolutely possible to use an article or

leave it out but the meaning will be different in each case. "I really like

eating cake" This is a general statement about cake - could be any cake but compare it to

"I really like the cake you made". It's a statement about a specific cake,

a cake that I've actually eaten. When speaking generally about a countable

noun, you need to use the plural form. So for example, "I'm allergic to strawberries".

So strawberries in general.

"Australians like to eat eggs for breakfast" Just eggs in general, not specific eggs.

If you're talking about something that is uncountable like information or

knowledge or equipment, then just use the noun in its original form because

obviously it doesn't have a plural form. So for example, "The information is

available at the counter" and that's specific information, something that

we've already been talking about. "Information is available at the counter"

is a very general statement. General information. OK I know that that was a

big lesson and a lot to take in. You should probably watch it again to really

let all of the information sink in. I've made a cheat sheet and a worksheet

that's going to help you to practise using what you learned in this lesson.

You can download it right here. But before you do go there, let's just go

over those three important rules again just to make sure you

remember them. The first rule explains when we use "the", and when we use "a" or "an",

the definite and the indefinite articles. Remember the story about the

person and the cat and the bird? When you're introducing something that is

probably unknown to the listener or the reader, you need to use "a" and "an" or "an"

Then any time after that, you can use "the". The second rule deals with unique nouns

which usually use the definite article. Now I gave you lots of different

examples about how nouns can be unique and we also talked about how "the" should

usually be used with ordinal numbers, when they're adjectives. The third rule

explains why we sometimes leave articles out - that's when we're talking generally

about something. Now remember, that these three rules are great but they're general

rules. They work most of the time. Unfortunately, there will always be some

exceptions with articles, but don't lose hope! These three rules are going to help

you make better choices about using English articles, so that you can really

improve your English grammar. Don't forget to download the worksheet, up here!

The mmmEnglish worksheets are great because I'll also send you a bonus audio guide

of me explaining the answers for you. So if you do get any of them wrong,

you'll know exactly why. To keep practising English grammar, check out

this lesson here. And to improve your pronunciation and your speaking skills,

try my imitation lessons right here. I hope that you enjoyed this lesson

and I will see you again next week for the next lesson.

Bye for now!