The three choices
| Article | When | Example |
|---|
| a / an | One, not specific, singular and countable; jobs; first mention | I have a car. She is an engineer. |
| the | Specific, already known, unique, superlatives, ordinals | The car is red. The sun. The best. |
| (no article) | Plural or uncountable in general; languages; meals; most countries; sports | I like music. She speaks Spanish. We have lunch. |
a or an?
It depends on the sound, not the letter: an hour, an umbrella, an honest man but a university, a European car, a one-way ticket.
More rules
- First mention → a, second mention → the: I saw a movie. The movie was great.
- Instruments: play the piano. Sports: play football (no article).
- Places: the United States, the Alps, the Pacific Ocean (the). Mexico, Lake Michigan, Mount Everest (no article).
- Fixed expressions: go to bed, at school, at work, by car, at night.
- Exclamations: What a day! She's such a nice person!
- The + adjective = group: the rich, the poor, the French.
En español
a/an = uno, no específico (según el sonido que sigue). the = algo específico o ya conocido, único, superlativos. Sin artículo con plurales e incontables en general, idiomas, comidas, deportes y casi todos los países. Primera mención: a; segunda mención: the.
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