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A, An, or The? 16 Real Article Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound. The key word is sound: the spelling of the next word does not matter. Use the when the reader knows exactly which thing you mean. The examples below are real sentences that people sent to Proofread Bot.

The corrections below are written in formal, academic English.

1. A or an: listen, do not look

✗ My mother is a honest woman.
✓ My mother is an honest woman.
✗ She holds a MA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Bologna.
✓ She holds an MA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Bologna.
✗ John lives next to an university.
✓ John lives next to a university.
✗ She is an United States senator.
✓ She is a United States senator.

Honest starts with a silent h, so it begins with a vowel sound. "MA" is pronounced "em-ay." University and United begin with a "you" sound, which is a consonant sound. The same applies to "a European country," "a one-time offer," "an hour," and "an MRI."

2. "An" before a consonant

✗ President Trump declared July 4th an National Holiday.
✓ President Trump declared July 4 a national holiday.
✗ He sees an world of the dead.
✓ He sees a world of the dead.
✗ CryptoKitties is essentially like an digital version of Pokemon cards.
✓ CryptoKitties is essentially a digital version of Pokémon cards.

These usually happen when a sentence is edited: the writer changes "an old world" to "a world" but forgets to change the article.

3. "A" with a plural noun

✗ I have a apples.
✓ I have apples.
✗ Unlike a stars, planets do not shine under their own power.
✓ Unlike stars, planets do not shine under their own power.

4. Missing articles

A singular countable noun almost always needs an article or another determiner (my, this, every).

✗ I bought new car yesterday.
✓ I bought a new car yesterday.
✗ John is fastest boy.
✓ John is the fastest boy.
✗ Greatest, baddest, and coolest movie is Sandokan.
✓ The best movie is Sandokan.
✗ I have been to United States of America.
✓ I have been to the United States of America.
✗ You can also use Let's Encrypt, which is free, automated, and open Certificate Authority.
✓ You can also use Let's Encrypt, which is a free, automated, and open certificate authority.

Superlatives (fastest, best, greatest) take the. Country names take the when they contain a word like "States," "Kingdom," or "Republic."

5. Unnecessary articles

✗ The Tesla was one of the greatest inventors of all time.
✓ Tesla was one of the greatest inventors of all time.
✗ A greatest story is hard to find.
✓ The greatest story is hard to find.

Names of people take no article. And because a superlative refers to one specific thing, it takes the, not a.

A quick decision guide

  1. Is the noun uncountable or plural and used in a general sense ("Water is essential," "Dogs are loyal")? Use no article.
  2. Is it the first mention of one of many possible things ("I bought a car")? Use a or an.
  3. Does the reader know which one you mean, because it was mentioned before, is unique, or is a superlative ("the car I bought," "the sun," "the best")? Use the.

Articles are among the hardest parts of English for speakers of languages without them, including Russian, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Proofread Bot flags missing, extra, and incorrect articles. See also countable and uncountable nouns.

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