Articles

interrogative determiners: which and what

We use "which" as a determiner to ask a question about a specific group of people or

things:

Which restaurant did you go to?

Which countries in South America have you visited?

When we are asking a general question we use "what" as a determiner:

What films do you like?

What university did you go to?

indefinite article: a and an

1. We use the indefinite article, a/an, with count nouns when the hearer/reader does
not know exactly which one we are referring to:

Police are searching for a 14 year-old girl.

2. We also use it to show the person or thing is one of a group:

She is a pupil at London Road School.

Police have been searching for a 14 year-old girl who has been missing since Friday.

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described as 1.6 metres tall with short
blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse and dark blue jeans and
blue shoes.

Anyone who has information should contact the local police on 0800349781.

3. We do not use an indefinite article with plural nouns and uncount nouns:

She was wearing blue shoes. (= plural noun)

She has short blonde hair. (= uncount noun)

Police have been searching for a 14 year-old girl who has been missing since Friday.

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described as 1.6 metres tall with short
blonde hair.
She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse and dark blue jeans and
blue shoes.

Anyone who has information should contact the local police on 0800349781.

4. We use a/an to say what someone is or what job they do:

My brother is a doctor.
George is a student.

5. We use a/an with a singular noun to say something about all things of that kind:

A man needs friends. (= All men need friends)

A dog likes to eat meat. (= All dogs like to eat meat)

definite article: the

The definite article the is the most frequent word in English.

We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the hearer/reader knows
exactly what we are referring to.

because there is only one:

The Pope is visiting Russia.

The moon is very bright tonight.
The Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979.

This is why we use the definite article with a superlative adjective:

He is the tallest boy in the class.

It is the oldest building in the town.

because there is only one in that place or in those surroundings:

We live in a small village next to the church. (the church in our village)
=

(the car that belongs to our

Dad, can I borrow the car? =
family)

When we stayed at my grandmothers house we went (the beach near my

to the beach every day. = grandmothers house)

Look at the boy in the blue shirt over there. (the boy I am pointing at)
=
 because we have already mentioned it:

A woman who fell 10 metres from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter. The
woman fell while climbing.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two men
walking on the peak were killed in a fall.

We also use the definite article:

to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:

The wolf is not really a dangerous animal (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals)
The kangaroo is found only in Australia (= Kangaroos are found only in Australia)
The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around bodies)

We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical instruments:

Joe plays the piano really well.(= Joe can play any piano)
She is learning the guitar.(= She is learning to play any guitar)

to refer to a system or service:

How long does it take on the train?

I heard it on the radio.
You should tell the police.

With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, unemployed to talk about groups of people:

Life can be very hard for the poor.

I think the rich should pay more taxes.
She works for a group to help the disabled.

The definite article with names:

We do not normally use the definite article with names:

William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

Paris is the capital of France.
Iran is in Asia.

But we do use the definite article with:

countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic:

the United Kingdom; the Kingdom of Nepal; the United States; the Peoples Republic of
China.

countries which have plural nouns as their names:

the Netherlands; the Philippines

geographical features, such as mountain ranges, groups of islands, rivers, seas,

oceans and canals:

the Himalayas; the Canaries; the Atlantic; the Atlantic Ocean; the Amazon; the Panama
Canal.

newspapers:

The Times; The Washington Post

well known buildings or works of art:

the Empire State Building; the Taj Mahal; the Mona Lisa; the Sunflowers

organisations:

the United Nations; the Seamens Union

hotels, pubs and restaurants*:

the Ritz; the Ritz Hotel; the Kings Head; the Dj Vu

*Note: We do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or restaurant is the
name of the owner, e.g.,Browns; Browns Hotel; Morels; Morels Restaurant, etc.

families:

the Obamas; the Jacksons

quantifiers

We use quantifiers when we want to give someone information about the number of
something: how much or how many.

Sometimes we use a quantifier in the place of a determiner:

Most children start school at the age of five.

We ate some bread and butter.
We saw lots of birds.

We use these quantifiers with both count and uncount nouns:

all any enough less a lot of lots of

more most no none of some

and some more colloquial forms:

plenty of heaps of a load of loads of tons of etc.

Some quantifiers can be used only with count nouns:

both each either (a) few fewer neither several

and some more colloquial forms:

a couple of hundreds of thousands of etc.

Some quantifiers can be used only with uncount nouns:

a little (not) much a bit of

And, particularly with abstract nouns such as time, money, trouble, etc:, we often
use:

a great deal of a good deal of

Members of groups
You can put a noun after a quantifier when you are talking about members of a group
in general

Few snakes are dangerous.

Both brothers work with their father.
I never have enough money.

but if you are talking about a specific group of people or things, use of the as well

Few of the snakes are dangerous.

All of the children live at home.
He has spent all of his money.
Note that, if we are talking about two people or things we use the quantifiers both,
either and neither:

More than two

One supermarket Two supermarkets*
supermarkets

The supermarket was Both the supermarkets were All the supermarkets were
closed closed. closed

The supermarket wasn't Neither of the supermarkets None of the supermarkets

open was open. were open

I dont think the I dont think either of the I don't think any of the
supermarket was open. supermarkets was open. supermarkets were open

*Nouns with either and neither have a singular verb.

Singular quantifiers:
We use every or each with a singular noun to mean all:

There was a party in every street. There were parties in all the streets.
=

Every shop was decorated with flowers. All the shops were decorated with flowers.
=

Each child was given a prize. All the children were given a prize.
=

There was a prize in each competition. There were prizes in all the competitions.
=

We often use every to talk about times like days, weeks and years:

When we were children we had holidays at our grandmothers every year.

When we stayed at my grandmothers house we went to the beach every day.
We visit our daughter every Christmas.

BUT: We do not use a determiner with every and each. We do not say:

The every shop was decorated with flowers.

The each child was given a prize.