Grammar for college writing

Articles: A, An, The

Use this page when you are not sure whether a noun needs a, an, the, or no article.

About 12 minutes. Includes practice with answers.

What articles do

English has three articles: a, an, and the. An article comes before a noun. It tells your reader whether you mean one specific thing or any one of many.

I read an article about sleep. The reader does not know which article. It is one of many.
I read the article about sleep. The reader knows which article. Maybe the instructor assigned it.

Many languages have no articles, so this part of English takes practice. A missing article rarely stops a reader from understanding you. Still, articles appear in almost every sentence, so a small improvement shows everywhere in your writing.

Key terms

Noun:: a word for a person, place, thing, or idea.
Countable noun:: a noun you can count. It has a plural form: one essay, two essays.
Uncountable noun:: a noun you cannot count. It has no plural form: research, information.

Three questions for every noun

When you are not sure, ask these questions in order. Stop at the first “yes.”

Does my reader know exactly which one I mean? If yes, use the.
Is the noun singular and countable? If yes, use a or an.
Is the noun plural or uncountable, and am I speaking in general? If yes, use no article.

When does my reader know which one?

You already mentioned it. I wrote a draft. The draft was too short.
Your sentence identifies it. the article that we read this week, the first paragraph
There is only one. the author of an article, the instructor of your class, the sun

A or an?

Listen to the first sound of the next word. The spelling does not decide.

Use a before a consonant sound: a draft, a university, a one-page summary.
Use an before a vowel sound: an essay, an hour, an MLA citation.

Example: articles in a paragraph

This paragraph comes from a student’s summary. Each number matches a note below it.

A paragraph with notes

I read an article1 about sleep for my psychology class. The article2 explains that college students need at least seven hours of sleep. Research3 shows that students4 who sleep less have more trouble remembering information. The author5 gives an example from a study at a large university.6 In the study,7 students who slept longer earned higher grades.

First mention. The reader does not know which article yet. The noun is singular and countable, so it needs a or an. Article begins with a vowel sound, so the writer uses an.
Second mention. Now the reader knows which article, so the writer uses the.
An uncountable noun, in general. Research is uncountable. The writer means research in general, so there is no article. Information, later in the same sentence, works the same way.
A plural noun, in general. The writer means students in general, not one specific group, so there is no article.
Only one. The article has one author, so the reader knows which person the writer means.
Two first mentions. The reader does not know which study or which university. University begins with a “y” sound, so the writer uses a, not an.
Second mention. The study was introduced in the sentence before, so now it is the study.

Three common problems

Watch for these

1. Uncountable nouns in college writing

These nouns are common in college, and all of them are uncountable in English: research, evidence, information, advice, feedback, homework, equipment, software. Do not use a or an with them, and do not add -s.

Uncountable nouns
Not this	Write this
I did a research.	I did research. / I read a study.
The essay needs more evidences.	The essay needs more evidence.
She gave me an advice.	She gave me some advice. / She gave me a piece of advice.
I found many informations.	I found a lot of information.
I finished my homeworks.	I finished my homework. / I finished my assignments.

2. A singular countable noun with nothing before it

A singular countable noun cannot stand alone. It needs an article or another small word such as my, this, or one. Use only one of them.

Singular countable nouns
Not this	Write this
I wrote essay about my job.	I wrote an essay about my job.
The my essay is finished.	My essay is finished.

3. The in general statements

When you speak about a whole group in general, use a plural noun with no article.

General: Students need feedback. This means students everywhere.
Specific: The students in my group need feedback. This means one group that the reader can identify.

Phrases you will use often

You can learn these phrases as whole pieces. The article is already correct.

To write about a readingAccording to the author, .The main idea of the article is .In the first paragraph, .
To give supportThis is an example of .A study by shows that .
To explain your own writingThe purpose of this essay is to .As a result, .

Practice

Choose a, an, the, or no article for each blank.

I wrote essay about my first job.
essay that I wrote last week needs more support.
My instructor gave me feedback on my draft.
She said that I need stronger thesis.
I need to find information about wages.
It took me hour to revise one paragraph.
students often work while they attend college.

Then correct this sentence: “I did a research for my homeworks.”

Show suggested answers

an First mention, singular and countable. Essay begins with a vowel sound.
The The words that I wrote last week identify which essay.
No article Feedback is uncountable. Some feedback is also correct.
a Singular and countable, and the reader does not know which thesis yet. Stronger begins with a consonant sound.
No article Information is uncountable. Some information is also correct.
an The h in hour is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound.
No article The sentence is about students in general. The first word is Students, with a capital letter.

Corrected sentence: I did research for my homework. Both nouns are uncountable, so they take no a and no -s.

Next step

Try this with your own writing

Choose one paragraph from a draft.
Circle every noun.
Ask the three questions for each noun.
Check the list of uncountable nouns on this page.

More practice

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a writing site from Purdue University. Many college classes use it.