When to use a, an, the or no article
Learn the article system: a vs an (based on sound), the for specific nouns, zero article with uncountable nouns, languages, meals, sports vs instruments. 15 questions.
Articles are one of the trickiest parts of English for many learners, because neither "a/an" nor the zero article map cleanly onto anything in their own language — getting them right takes a different kind of intuition, built through examples, not translation.
The exam covers the sound-based a/an rule (an hour, a university), the first-vs-second-mention logic behind the/a, zero article with languages, meals and uncountable nouns, and the classic exceptions that trip up even advanced students, like musical instruments taking "the" while sports take none.
Practise articles with real sentence examples in the exam below.
English · Primary, Secondary
"An" before vowel sounds: an hour, an honest man. "A" before consonant sounds: a university (/juː/).
First mention: a/an. Second mention: the. This rule covers 80% of article use.
No article with languages, meals, institutions in function, uncountable nouns in general.
"A student wrote "I play the football." After the sports rule (zero article), they self-corrected to "I play football.""
Tricks and techniques to master this topic faster:
Musical instruments: the piano, the guitar. Sports: football, tennis.
Unique things: the sun, the moon, the east.
Superlatives always need the: "She is the best student."
First/second mention: "I saw a dog. The dog was barking."
If you are studying Articles in English — A, An, The and Zero Article, these curriculum topics complement each other:
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