Definite & Indefinite articles the a / an

&
Indefinite
articles
the
a /

an

the Sun)
cinemas (the Odeon, the Rex)
theatres (the Empire)

museums / art galleries (the Louvre)
ships (the Titanic)
organisations (the United Nations)
rivers (the Thames)
oceans / seas (the Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea)
canals (the Panama Canal)
groups of Islands (the Bahamas)

they include words such as
States, Kingdom, Republic (the

USA)
names or nouns with of (the Houses of Parliament)
geographical terms such as:
the Antarctic / Arctic / equator
the North of Germany BUT northern Germany
the North / East / South / West

the

don´t include words States, Kingdom,
Republic (Germany, India,

China) BUT the Netherlands,
the Gambia, the Vatican
streets (Bond Street, Penny Lane, Oxford Street)
squares (Trafalgar Square)
bridges (London Bridge BUT the Golden Gate Bridge)
parks (Hyde Park)
railway stations (Euston, King´s Cross)
mountains (Mount Everest, Mont Blanc)
individual islands (Sicilly)

banks, hotels, etc. Which are named after
the people

who started them (Harrods, Tony´s Restaurant)
cities, towns (London, Paris, Manchester)

we mention something for the first time
(I

have got a pencil.)

with There is a ... / Is there a ... ?
(There is a shop. / Is there a bank near here?)

A + consonant (spoluhláska)
AN + vowel (samohláska)

(Bill owns a car and a bike. The car is

blue and the bike is red.)
nouns that are unique (the sun, the Earth)
with superlatives (the best film I have ever seen)
BUT
most + a noun – without THE
(most people enjoy going to the theatre)
with ordinal numbers (the first, the third, the twelfth)
with words day, morning, afternoon and evening
BUT
at night, at noon, at midnight, by day / night

names of families (the Jones, the Smiths)
titles (the ambasador,

the President) BUT
not with titles including a proper name
(Prince Charles)
nationalities ending in –sh, -ch, -ese (the Chinese)
other nationalities can be used with or without the
(the Egyptians / Egyptians)
with historical periods / events (the last Ice Age,
the Vietnam war BUT World War II)

we use the :

shop, coast, sea
(side), beach, city, country

(side), jungle, world, ground,
weather (They went to the cinema.)

is my cousin.)
with uncountable and plural nouns when talking

about
something in general (Coffee is a very popular drink.)
with possessive adjectives and possessive case (Nelson´s Column)
with names of sports, games, activities, days, months,
celebrations, colours, drinks, meals (They are leaving on Sunday.)
languages not followed by the word language
Italian, French, English
BUT
The French language is spoken in Belgium.

(pneumonia)

BUT
flu / the flu, measles / the measles, mumps / the mumps
Mr, Mrs, Captain, Doctor etc. + a name
(Mr Johnson, Uncle Robert, Aunt Jane, Princess Anne etc.)
with the word work (I start work by 9 o´clock.)
with words home, mother, father, etc. when we talk about our
own home / parents
with by + means of transport (by bus / ferry / train / car / etc.)
(We travelled to Athens by train.)