A - An - The - No article

A and An

We use a before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds

We use a or an before unspecified singular countable nouns.

We use a or an to talk about jobs (but not areas of business).

We use a or an to talk about frequency.

The

We use the with a specific noun we have mentioned before.

We use the when we add information that defines something.

We use the when it is clear what we are referring to because there is only one.

We use the with superlatives.

We use the with adjectives to refer a group.

We use the to refer to rivers, mountains, seas, and names of countries that include a noun like republic, kingdom, union, etc.

O article

We use to generalize about uncountable or plural nouns.

To refer to companies, cities, roads, single islands, or lakes.

Note exercise :

I like to go abroad about three times a year.

Have you met my brother? He is an engineer too.

I am thinking about buying a new car. What would you recommend?

The Lloyd Bank Review is published four times a year.

Computer software is not as expensive as you may think.

The government has urged business not to give - pay rises above inflation.

How long have you been in - engineering.

I go to meeting in London twice a month.

A vs an

I had an appraisal with the Personnel Manager the other day, and …

Oh really? How did it go ?

Fine. We were talking about qualifications and career development, and she said to me that I should consider doing a course in Business Administration.

That’s not a bad idea. You’ve already got a university degree, haven’t you?

Yes, and I am doing an evening course in accounting, but that takes up about an hour a week.

That sounds like a waste of time to me. What you need to do is an MBA at an institution like Insead, so that you end up with a decent qualification.  

The and –

I am not motivated by – money.

When are you going to pay back the money that I lent you? (specified)

Carbon-dating helps scientists to work out the age of fossils.

We never refuse to give someone a job on the basis of – age.

The mistake you have made cost us a great deal of money.

Don’t worry. Everybody makes – mistakes.

The crime in the cities is now at record levels.

The police have no idea who committed – crime.

The book will give you the information you need.

CD-ROMs can store large quantities of – information.

-visitors must be accompanied at all times.

The visitors are on fact-finding mission from Japan.

Should – unemployed people do more to help themselves?

Should the government do more to help the unemployed?

The Japanese imports are currently at very high levels.

It is very difficult to sell to – Japanese.


The and -

Coca Cola has launched a $4 million TV advertising campaign – one of the biggest ever seen in Britain – in what will be seen as a direct attack on supermarkets’ own-brand colas.

The six-week campaign, which opened last night, is part of an attempt to boost a size of the $6 billion a year soft drinks market.

The advertisements will be aimed mainly at the young, but middle-aged drinkers will also be targeted.

The drinks giant denied that the new advertisements are a response to the cola wars that raged in supermarkets in the summer, but admitted that there was room for improving sales

A -

Sweden has a long history of rules and regulations aimed at guiding citizens on the right path.

A majority of Swedish seem content with the prohibitions they believe help keep their country one of the safest on Earth.

As Sweden is an extremely child-focused society, much of the paternalistic protection is directed towards children.

For example, all television advertising aimed at children under the age of 12 –from junk food to toys to video games – has been banned on terrestrial channels before 9 p.m. since 1991.

Although it has many admirers, the ban is not entirely successful because the satellite television stations that broadcast from outside Sweden are free to target children as much as they like.

Despite this, health professional say the relatively low incidence of children’s advertising has been a big factor in the exceptionally low level of overweight children in Sweden.

Example of the:

We use the with a specific noun we have mentioned before.

I have bought a Mac and a Notebook. The Mac cost $2500 and the Notebook cost $5700.

We use the when we add information that defines something.

Where is the file that I gave you this morning?

We use the when it is clear what we are referring to because there is only one.

Would you like to come in? The chairman will see you now.

We use the with superlatives.

Coca Cola is the most famous soft drink in the world.

We use the with adjectives to refer a group.

The rich do not do enough to help the poor.

We use the to refer to rivers, mountains, seas, and names of countries that include a noun like republic, kingdom, union, etc.

The Aral Sea in the former Soviet Union is very polluted.

The and -

Hi, my name is Ted.

I am a financial analyst, and I work for a company called Pacific Investment which is based in Channel islands.

Our offices are in St Heller, …Capital.

Jersey is very popular with financial institutions from …England because it is not part of the UK for tax purpose, and it is also popular with the investors from Europe.

I work for a tour operator called Lakeland Travel, and we specialize in bringing people to …Lake District, which is in …north of England.

We run a deluxe hotel in Ambleside, a small town on the shores of …Lake Windermare.

Many of our visitors come from Scotland, which is very close, but others come from as far away as New York or …Far East.