You use the definite article (the) with a noun that you already mentioned and the indefinite article (a or an) with a noun that is undefined. These are the basic rules, but there are others that you should know.
Rule 3. Geographical names without articles
No Article
Do not an article with streets, parks, cities, states, counties, most countries, continents, bays, single lakes, single mountains, and single islands.
America
Ascension Island
Australia
Barbados
Central America
Chile
China
Cambridge
Central Park
North America
Northern Ireland
Pennsylvania Avenue
San Francisco Bay
Santorini (Greece)
South America
Wall Street
With and Without articles
Some geographical names you can use without the article when you say their names only or with the article when you use their official names.
| Name Only |
Official Name |
| Belgium |
the Kingdom of Belgium |
| Cape Verde |
the Republic of Cape Verde |
| China |
the People’s Republic of China |
| Guam |
the Territory of Guam |
| Dallas |
the City of Dallas |
| Manhattan |
the Island of Manhattan |
| Puerto Rico |
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico |
| Russia |
the Russian Federation |
| Senegal |
the Republic of Senegal |
| Slovakia |
the Slovak Republic |
| Vermont |
the State of Vermont |
“Dallas or the City of Dallas”
Nate Hovee | Pexels
Rule 4. No Article with Plural Nouns with a General Sense
Compare the use of articles in the following groups of sentences:
— I like cats but I prefer dogs.
— Would you like to have a party on your birthday?
— Sure! I love parties.
(At the end of a movie)
— Did you like the movie?
— I loved it! I only like scary movies that have good stories.
“Manhattan or the Island of Manhattan”
Pixabay | Pexels
Rules 5, 6, and 7 are about using articles with names and titles.
Rule 5. No article with people’s names
In some languages, it is correct to use a definite article with people’s names. This is not true of English.
Rule 6. Use “the” with titles
Use “the” to talk about people by their title.
the bishop of New York
the governor of California
the president of the United States
the king of England
Rule 7. No article if you use the person’s name after the title
If you use the person’s name after the title, you apply Rule 5 (no article with people’s names).
Bishop Timothy Dolan
Governor Smith
President Joe Biden
King Charles III
Is This Confusing?
Yes, this can be confusing.
The best way to get better at using articles in English is to practice reading, writing, listening, and speaking as often as possible.
Using the correct article is important, but most of the time people will understand you even if you use an article incorrectly. Just do your best and practice a lot.
Practice
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