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Articles: Rules

In English, knowing when to use ‘a’ or ‘the’ can be difficult. Fortunately, there are rules to help you, but you need to know what type of noun you are using.

Rule 1

When you have a single, countable English noun, you must always have an article before it. We cannot say “please pass me pen”, we must say “please pass me the pen” or “please pass me a pen” or “please pass me your pen”.

Nouns in English can also be uncountable. Uncountable nouns can be concepts, such as ‘life’, ‘happiness’ and so on, or materials and substances, such as ‘coffee’, or ‘wood’.

Rule 2

Uncountable nouns don’t use ‘a’ or ‘an’. This is because you can’t count them. For example, advice is an uncountable noun. You can’t say “he gave me an advice”, but you can say “he gave me some advice”, or “he gave me a piece of advice”.

Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable. For example, we say “coffee” meaning the product, but we say “a coffee” when asking for one cup of coffee.

Rule 3

You can use ‘the’ to make general things specific. You can use ‘the’ with any type of noun – plural or singular, countable or uncountable.

“Please pass me a pen” – any pen.
“Please pass me the pen” – the one that we can both see.

“Children grow up quickly” – children in general.
“The children I know grow up quickly” – not all children, just the ones I know.

“Poetry can be beautiful”- poetry in general.
“The poetry of Hopkins is beautiful” – I’m only talking about the poetry Hopkins wrote.

More uses of articles in English

Rivers, mountain ranges, seas, oceans and geographic areas all use ‘the‘.
For example, “The Thames”, “The Alps”, “The Atlantic Ocean”, “The Middle East “.

Unique things have ‘the’.
For example, “the sun”, “the moon”.

Some institutional buildings don’t have an article if you visit them for the reason these buildings exist. But if you go to the building for another reason, you must use ‘the’.

“Her husband is in prison.” (He’s a prisoner.)
“She goes to the prison to see him once a month.”

“My son is in school.” (He’s a student.)
“I’m going to the school to see the head master.”

“She’s in hospital at the moment.” (She’s ill.)
“Her husband goes to the hospital to see her every afternoon.”

Musical instruments use ‘the‘.
“She plays the piano.”

Sports don’t have an article.
“He plays football.”

Illnesses don’t have an article.
“He’s got appendicitis.”
But we say “a cold” and “a headache”.

Jobs use ‘a’.
“I’m a teacher.”

Countries
We don’t use ‘a’ if the country is singular. “He lives in England .” But if the country’s name has a “plural” meaning, we use ‘the’. “The People’s Republic of China “, “The Netherlands “, “The United States of America “.

Continents, towns and streets don’t have an article.
“Africa”, ” New York “, ” Church Street “.

Theatres, cinemas and hotels have ‘the’.
“The Odeon”, “The Almeira”, “The Hilton”.

Abbreviations use ‘the’.
“the UN”, “the USA “, “the IMF”.

We use ‘the’ before classes of people.
“the rich”, “the poor”, “the British”.

Some v/s Any

We use some and any with uncountable nouns and plural nouns. The general rule is that you use “some” in positive sentences and “any” in negative sentences and questions.

“I have some ideas.”

“I don’t have any ideas.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

However, we can also use “some” in questions.

“Would you like some tea?” (I expect the answer to be “Yes”.)

When we use some in a question, we limit what we are offering the other person.

For example, “Can I get you something to drink? – Coffee, or tea?” means I am offering you a limited choice of things to drink.

When we use “any” in a question, we are not limiting the choice.

For example, “Would you like anything to drink?” includes a whole range of things to drink.
“Do you have any questions?” (You can ask me anything you like!)

We can also use any in positive sentences which have a negative meaning. We often use “any” with “hardly”, “without” or “never”.

“There’s hardly any petrol left in the car – we need to go to a garage.”

“He went out without any money on him.”

“She never has any problem understanding.”

Using “Lots of”

In spoken English we often use lots of or a lot of. In written English, it is more common to write many (for countable plural nouns) or a great deal of (for uncountable nouns) in positive statements.

A common mistake is to use lot of. For example, “There are lot of accidents on this road”. To avoid making this mistake, remember either to use a before lot, or to make lot plural – lots.

We can say either a lot of or lots of before a noun. For example, “There are a lot of people here” or “There are lots of people here”. There isn’t any difference between the two expressions.

We can also use a lot as an adverb to say how much you do something. For example, “She talks a lot“.

A lot is also used in short answers. For example, “Do you like swimming?”, “Yes, a lot.”

Like v/s As

Like and as are often confused in English. They can both be used to talk about how things are similar.

Like is followed by a noun or pronoun. For example, “I’m like my sister”, or “Like my sister, I have brown eyes.”

As is followed by a subject and verb. For example, “She’s a good student, as her brother was before her.”

However, in spoken English, like is often used instead of as. “She’s a good student, like her brother was before her.”

As is used with a preposition, such as, “As in the 1960′s, the population explosion will cause some problems.”

We can use as in certain expressions, such as “as you know”, “as you requested”, “as we agreed”.

We also use as…..as to give comparisons. For example, “He’s as clever as his sister.”

“If” sentences

There are four main types of if sentences in English, often called conditional sentences.

These sentences are in two halves, with the if part in one half and the other part where you can use words such as can, will, may, might, could and would.

If + present form + present form

“If you heat ice, it melts.”

In this type of sentence, you could use when instead of if. It’s always true that when you heat ice it melts. This is why this type of sentence is sometimes called a zero conditional.

If + present form, + will, can or may

“If I am late, I will call you.”

“If you need me, you can call me at home.”

“If it gets any hotter, we may have a thunder storm.”

In these sentences (or first conditional sentences), there is a strong possibility that the first part (coming after if) is going to happen. The second part says what will happen as a result.

If + past form + would, could or might

“If I got a pay rise, I would buy a new car.”

“If you left your job, you could travel around the world.”

“If you were nicer to him, he might lend you the money.”

In these sentences, the first part with if shows that the event is unlikely to happen. In English, we often use this type of sentence (called a second conditional) to talk about hypotheses, or imaginary future events.

For example, “If I was President of the United States , I would change some laws.” But I know that I’ll never be the President of the USA – I’m just saying what I would do if I was in his/her position. Note: in American English, it is correct to use “if I were…” In British English, it’s more common to say “if I was…”

If + past perfect + would/might/could have done

“If I had revised, I would have passed my exams.”

“If we had gone out earlier, we might have got to the cinema on time.”

“If you had told me there was a problem, I could have helped.”

In these sentences (or third conditional sentences), the first part of the sentence with if didn’t happen. So there is no possibility of the second part of the sentence happening. I didn’t revise, so I didn’t pass my exams and there is nothing I can do about it now. English speakers use this type of sentence to show how things could have been different.

How to choose your English tenses

Using the correct tense and verb form is important in English grammar. Here’s a simple rule to help you choose which tense to use – which tense you use depends on how you see the event or action.

Routine or permanent situations

- use the simple form. For example, “I live in London ” tells you that “live” is true all the time – London is my home.

“I lived in the countryside when I was a child” – this was a long-term situation in the past.

Temporary or continuing situations

- use the continuous form. For example, “I’m working as a secretary at the moment” – the job isn’t permanent and maybe I’m doing it for a while until I get another job.

“House prices are rising” – they are continuing to rise and haven’t stopped rising yet.

“She was wearing a black dress” – she put it on before I saw her and she still wore it after I saw her – wearing the dress continued over a period of time.

Connecting different times

- use the perfect form to show that one event was completed before another, or to show that one situation continues from one time to another.

For example, “I have lived here for two years” – I started to live here two years ago and I still live here.

“I will have finished the report before next week” – some time before next week, but I don’t know exactly when.

“He had studied law before he met her” – he studied law before he met her, but we don’t know when.

Using “had done” in English

The “had done” form (or past perfect) is one of the least used tenses in English. We only really use it in the following situations.

• Ø When it’s important to say which event happened first in the past
• Ø In reported speech
• Ø To show regret about the past
• Ø In conditional (if) sentences

Normally, when we say what happened in the past in English, we use the simple past or past continuous form.

For example, “He got up early to go to the beach. He spent all day there and went home as it was getting dark.”

We know which order things happened in, so we don’t need the past perfect tense.

Sometimes, we need to explain which events happened before other ones (especially if we “jump” around in our story). When we need to show that one thing happened before another, we can use the past perfect form.

For example, “I was hungry, as I hadn’t eaten all day.” (Being hungry happened after not eating all day.)

Compare these two sentences:

“When he got to the airport, the plane took off.” (The plane took off after he arrived at the airport.)

“When he got to the airport, the plane had taken off.” (The plane took off before he arrived at the airport.)

Reported speech in English

“I didn’t see her,” he said.

Because his words are in the past, when we report them we need to go one tense back and use the past perfect.

“He told me he hadn’t seen her.”

This is also the case if the words are in the present perfect.

“I have never been to Scotland .”

She said that she had never been to Scotland .

To show regret

I wish I hadn’t gone to the party. (But I went.)

If only she hadn’t bought that car. (But she did.)

Conditional sentences (when we speculate about past events)

If I had worked harder, I would have passed the exam. (But I didn’t work harder, so I failed.)

If you had told me, I could have helped. (But you didn’t tell me, so I couldn’t help.)

If they had left earlier, they might have caught the plane. (But they didn’t leave earlier, so they didn’t get the plane.)

How to use “used to” in English

There’s a big difference between used to live – to talk about past habits or states and is used to doing – to talk about something that you are now familiar with.

For example, a common mistake is “I am used to study.”

Do you mean that you used to study, but you don’t study any more, or do you mean that you know about studying?

Avoid making mistakes by remembering the verb pattern.

Used to + verb describes a past habit or state.

For example:

He used to smoke, but he doesn’t now.”

To be used to + verb with ing describes something that you are now familiar with.

For example, “Five years ago, I didn’t know about the internet. Now I am used to working with it.”

How to use Gerunds?

In English, the ing form, for example swimming or smoking, is both a noun and a verb. You can follow it by an object, smoking cigarettes, by a verb, swimming is good, or you can make it the object of a sentence, I like swimming.

After verbs

You use the ing form after some verbs such as enjoy, admit, appreciate, can’t stand / help / bear, deny, avoid, mind, understand.

For example, “I can’t stand doing nothing”, or “she denied breaking the copier”.

With ‘from’ and ‘to’ with some verbs

Prevent / stop someone from doing: “He prevented her from leaving.”

Look forward to doing: “We look forward to hearing from you soon.”

Object to doing: “Does anyone object to me smoking?”

Get used to doing: “It took him a long time to get used to living in a city.”

Prefer something to doing something else: “I prefer cooking to doing the dishes.”

After prepositions

“Before going out he turned off the heating.”

“I’m tired of arguing.”

“These are used for cracking walnuts.”

“I passed the exam by remembering the equations.”

In some fixed expressions

“As well as doing…”
“It’s no good doing…”
“It’s no use doing…”

Some verbs can use either the ‘to do’ or the ‘ing’ form

See / hear / watch someone do / doing

With the verb form do, you see or hear the whole action. For example,”I heard him tell you about the letter.”

With the verb form ing you only see or hear part of the action. For example, “I saw her drinking a coffee in the bar.”

Remember / regret

If you use ing after these verbs, you are talking about something that happened before. “I remember coming here as a child” – I’m not a child any more, but I remember the times when I came here before.

“I regret not studying.” (I didn’t study in the past and I regret it now.)

If you use the to do form after these verbs, then you are referring to something in the future.

“Please remember to turn off the lights.” (Please don’t forget to do it later.)

“I regret to inform you that…” (I’m just about to tell you some bad news.)

Stop

“I want to stop smoking.” (I want to break my habit.)

“She stopped to sit down.” (She stopped walking so that she could sit down.)

Try

Try + ing = try out this experiment.

Try reading something in English every day.” (You may be surprised at the results!)

Try to do = try hard to do something.

“Please try to be quiet when you come in.” (Please make an effort.)