INDEFINITE ARTICLES (A, AN) AND DEFINITE ARTICLES (THE) IN ENGLISH

I. THE ARTICLES A/AN 

A and AN are used with countable singular nouns: 

1) To introduce a thing or person being mentioned for the first time:

- I bought a new car.

- We saw a good movie yesterday.

- She went to a concert last night.

- I spoke to a woman two days ago.

2) With job titles:

- She's a bank advisor at the city's main bank.

- He is an engineer specializing in road and safety issues.

- She became a legal expert in a law firm.

However, you can omit the article when referring to a single function: He's a headmaster / He's headmaster of Oakland International High School.

3) To express a general statement:

- A cat is smaller than a cheetah.

- A toothpick is sharper than a fork tine.

4) In a distributive sense, to indicate prices, frequency or speed:

- These avocados cost €1 each, or €4 a kilo.

- Take one pain relief tablet two or three times a day.

- I was driving at 30 miles per hour downtown.

5) After a preposition:

- She took advantage of a loophole in the law to get away with it.

- I'll keep you informed as a classmate.

- His boss is always in a bad mood over nothing.

6) In apposition: 

- His sister, a condescending girl, looked down on everyone.

- Her co-worker, better known as a cost-killer received a pay raise last month

7) In negations:

- I haven't had a car since mine broke down on the motorway the other day.

- She hasn't lifted a finger since they left this morning.

8) In certain expressions such as:

- I have had a headache since this morning.

- I have a good sense of humor when people aren't being mean.

9) After as/so/too + adjective:

- I have rarely seen as elegant an outfit.

- I have never seen so clean a car.

- Roadworks are too difficult a task for the workers assigned to them.

10) After what, such, really and before real:

- What a disaster, he failed his recruitment test!

- It's really a shame you didn't warn me in time.

- It's such a pity to have to walk to the station instead of taking the free shuttle.

- Taking the train to the suburbs during rush hour is a real ordeal.

11) With half:

- Don't leave, I'll be back in half an hour.

- He has half a million dollars in his bank account after winning the lottery.

12) With quarter:

- I'll be over in a quarter of an hour.

- He showed up a quarter of an hour later.

II. THE ARTICLE THE

The definite article 'The' is used with countable and uncountable nouns 

1) To refer to a specific thing or person:

- The crime TV movie I watched an hour ago was extraordinary!

- The woman I met at the office the other day had influence with the decision-makers.

2) To talk about what everyone knows or what has already been mentioned: 

- From here, I can see the fireworks set off for the French national holiday.

- The new department head will take up his duties early next week.

3) To express a general statement:

- The dog is smaller than the wolf.

- The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

4) Before the names of countries in the plural or formed with Kingdom, Union, Republic:

- The United States is among the countries that singed the ceasefire treaty.

- The Bahamas faced a deadly hurricane last fall.

- The United Kingdom has rejected the request for clemency from the perpetrators.

- The Dominican Republic welcomes hordes of tourists during the summer holidays.

5) Before the names of rivers, oceans, seas, regions and mountain ranges:

- The Thames is a river that flows through southern England, including London. At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely within England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the Severn.

- The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceans with an area of approximately 85,133,000 km². It covers about 17% of the Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface.

- The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula.

- The Alps constitute one of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching for approximately 1,200 km across eight Alpine countries, including France, Monaco Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Liechtenstein.

- The Rocky Mountains stretch for some 3,000 miles from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and all the way to New Mexico in the United States.

- The Pyrenees mountain range separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe, stretching over  430 km between Spain and France and reaching altitudes of over 3,400 m.

III. THE ABSENCE OF ARTICLES

In English, countable and uncountable nouns are often used without a definite article. The article is omitted in the following cases:

1) Before abstract nouns and before things and people considered in general:

- She found happiness with a man who was kind to her from beginning to end.

- Life is too short, so let's make the most of it.

- He's scared of spiders and feels absolutely compelled to kill any crawling creatures that come near him.

- Computers have become indispensable in our daily lives, both personal and professional.

2) In front of the names of continents, countries, states, lakes, mountains, streets etc,:

- Africa is the second largest continent in the world by area, after Asia.

- France, a country in Western Europe, is rich in medieval cities, Alpine villages, and beaches. These riches have profoundly influenced its culture and gastronomy throughout the world.

- Italy, a European country bordered by the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, has also left a strong imprint on Western, and even global, culture and cuisine.

- Texas is the second largest state in the United States of America after Alaska and the second most populous after California.

- Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America.

- Mount Everest is a mountain located in the Himalayas, on the border between Nepal and China.

3) Before titles followed by a proper name:

- King Arthur is a Briton lord who is said to have organized the defense of the Celtic peoples of the British Isles and Armorican Brittany against Germanic invaders at the end of the 5th century or the beginning of the 6th century.

- Dr. Philippe Giard was my attending physician when, in the early 1990s, I lived in a town called Raismes, near Valenciennes, in northern France.

4) Before the names designating the institutions:

- I'll go to church for Christmas carols next week.

- He came home from school earlier yesterday afternoon.

- I'm going to university this year to acquire new general knowledge. 

- He's been in prison for over ten years for drug-related offenses. 

- They took him to court for non-payment of royalties. 

- She is in hospital to be treated for cancer.

5) Before the names of meals:

- Breakfast is served from 6 am to 9 am.

- Lunch is usually eaten at noon but more often at 1 pm because of work.

- We are eating dinner later and later because we have many activities to manage after our workday.

6) Before the names of the foods, drinks, materials:

- Moroccan tomatoes are delicious.

- Mangoes are rich in nutrients.

- Brick houses are less common today, having been replaced by wooden houses for ecological reasons. 

7) In front of the names of the seasons, months, and days of the week:

- Autumn is my favorite season because leaves cover the ground and the days get shorter.

- August is the hottest month of the year.

- Everything is closed on Sundays except for restaurants, cafes and movie theaters.

8) Before the color names:

- Yellow is my favorite color.

- Brown is my second favorite color.

9) Before the names of languages, school subjects, games sports:

- She speaks fluent German.

- I hate maths (UK) / I hate math (US).

- Scoring points in basketball requires a lot of skill.

10) In front of certain disease names:

- She suffers from jaundice, a medical condition characterized by yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, due to an excess of bilirubin.

- They were suffering from diarrhea, due to a persistent infection caused by food poisoning.

- He contracted malaria after being bitten by a mosquito that transmitted the disease to him.

11) In the expressions to go by car / by train / by plane:

- Most people prefer to travel by train because it is cheaper.

- It is preferable to travel by car rather than by train when the whole family is involved.

- For short trips, travelling by plane is becoming less and less fashionable in order to avoid pollution. 

12) In the expressions to go to university / to school / to work / to bed:

- They go to university on Saturday mornings.

- Anne Lavigne always drives her children to school so as not to be late with public transport.

- I go to work on weekdays and sometimes on public holidays when I'm snowed under with work.

- Last time, he went to bed early because he was completely exhausted.

IV. WITH OR WITHOUT ARTICLES DEPENDING ON THE CONTEXT

1) In a general context: no article:        

- When I was a teenager, I always received money from my parents.

- I love baked cabbage sprinkled with grated cheese and spices.

- They stayed in hospital for two weeks for a lung infection.

- Music has always been her passion. That's why, she participated in this music festival which identifies new talents and offers them the opportunity to be discovered.

2) In a specific context: definite article the:

- The money from my wages hasn't arrived in my bank account yet.

- I loved the cabbage we had last Saturday morning.

- We live very close to the Lariboisière hospital in Paris.

- The music I heard in that store gave me a metallic sound in my ears.