A, An or The? English Articles Explained With Practice
                     W I Z M A N T R A  A C A D E M Y   ·   G R A M M A R  D E C K
A, An or The? English 
Articles Explained With a  an  theA N D  W H E N  T O  U S E  N O N E
Practice
Three small words, a lot of lost marks. The sound rule for a and an, 
eight places 'the' always goes, and when to use nothing at all.
Listen, don't look.
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A  O R  A N
It's the first sound that decides, not the letter
'an' before a vowel sound 'an' before a silent h
an apple, an egg, an idea, an umbrella an hour, an honest man, an heir
'a' before a 'yoo' or 'wuh' sound Letters said aloud
an MBA, an SUV, an FIR (em, es, ef start with a vowel 
a university, a European, a one-rupee coin, a useful tip
sound), but a PhD, a UN report
Say the word out loud. If your mouth starts on a vowel sound, it's 'an'.
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T H E
Eight places 'the' always goes
Only one exists Second mention Superlatives Order words
the sun, the moon, the I bought a pen. The the best, the tallest the first day, the third 
internet pen leaks. building floor
Rivers, seas, Musical Both of you know Plural or union 
ranges instruments which names
the Ganga, the Indian the USA, the UK, the 
She plays the sitar. Close the door, please.
Ocean, the Himalayas Netherlands
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N O  A R T I C L E
When to leave it out
Meals
We had lunch at two. Languages and subjects Games and sports
But: the lunch at her house was She speaks Tamil. Maths is easy. They play cricket every Sunday.
lovely.
Places used for their 
Most names of places Things in general
purpose
India, Mumbai, Mount Everest Dogs are loyal. Milk is good for 
Rivers and oceans do take 'the' you.
She goes to school. He's in bed.
(slide 3). Honesty is the best policy. But: She went to the school for a 
meeting.
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C O M M O N  M I S T A K E S
Six article errors to stop making
NOT  He is an university student. SAY  He is a university student. 'University' starts with a 'yoo' sound.
NOT  She is a honest girl. SAY  She is an honest girl. The h is silent.
NOT  Sun rises in the east. SAY  The sun rises in the east. There's only one sun.
NOT  He is best player in the team. SAY  He is the best player in the team. Superlatives take 'the'.
NOT  The honesty is the best policy. SAY  Honesty is the best policy. Qualities in general take no article.
Bed, school and work used for their 
NOT  I go to the bed at 11. SAY  I go to bed at 11.
purpose.
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Y O U R  T U R N
a, an, the, or nothing?
Write x where no article is needed. Answers on the next slide.
1 She is ___ engineer. 7 It took ___ hour to get there.
2 ___ Ganga is a holy river. 8 ___ honesty pays in the end.
3 He bought ___ umbrella and ___ one-way ticket. 9 She wants to do ___ MBA.
4 Mount Everest is ___ highest peak in the world. 10 I saw ___ dog. ___ dog was barking.
5 We had ___ dinner at a dhaba. 11 He is ___ European.
6 My brother plays ___ guitar. 12 ___ Earth goes round ___ Sun.
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A N S W E R S
Check your work
1 an 7 an
2 The 8 x (no article)
3 an, a 9 an
4 the 10 a, The
5 x (no article) 11 a
6 the 12 The, the
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Q U I C K  C H E C K
Ten more article questions
10
Q U E S T I O N S
The articles quiz on wizmantra.com has 10 questions on a, an and the, 
with answers.
https://www.wizmantra.com/english-practice/english-quiz/english-articles/
Live 1-on-1 spoken English classes online: https://www.wizmantra.com/explore-english-courses/
BUILD 1
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