1. General, uncountable nouns are not preceded by an article.
2. General, countable, plural nouns are not preceded by an article.
3. General, countable, singular nouns are preceded by a or an.
4. Specific nouns are preceded by the.

For a quick review of articles, select any of the following: Definite Article Usage (the) | Indefinite Article Usage (a, an)

Definite article usage (the)

The speaker has stated (or implied) which object, group of objects, or concepts are being referred to:

Count Nouns: The memo is well written.
         The companies are famous.
Noncount Nouns: The research is completed.

These situations usually indicate that the noun is being used in a definite manner:

• Previous mention of the object or concept.
• A phrase following the noun that identifies which object it is.
  (The computer sitting on his desk is an older model.)
• Shared knowledge
  (Can you help me find the bathroom? - I know there is only one.)
• Only one such object exists or is commonly referred to.
  (The sun is big. The universe is immense.)

Back to top.

Indefinite article usage (a, an)

The speaker assumes the listener does not know which object or concept is being referred to, or the speaker has not introduced the object or concept yet ("a" can never be used in the plural):

Count Nouns

singular uses "a" or "an":	Lee has a good computer to work on. Lee works on an old computer.
plural uses some, few, a few, numbers, many:	Lee has some good computers to work on.

Noncount Nouns

singular uses no article:	Research was done in class.
plural uses some, a lot of, much	Some research was done in class.

Generic Usage

When the speaker refers to a category, abstract idea or concept, the category is considered neither definite or indefinite, so no article is used.

The whole category
singular: Poverty is all around us.
plural: Laws are meant to be broken.

Back to top.

Continue to Articles with Proper Nouns.

Copyright © 1995-2008, Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Longman Legal and Privacy Terms

[Return to the Top of this Page]