| Form | a before a consonant sound, an before a vowel sound | a book / an apple |
| a / an | one thing, a job, or a first mention | She's a doctor. |
| the | a thing we both know, or already mentioned | There's a cat. The cat is black. |
| the | the only one; superlatives and ordinals | the sun / the best / the first time |
| A2the | rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges | the Thames / the Atlantic / the Alps |
| A2the | countries with a plural name, Kingdom or States | the UK / the USA / the Netherlands |
| B1the | the + adjective means a group of people | the rich / the young |
| No article | plural and uncountable nouns in general; meals; names | I like dogs. / We have lunch at two. |
| A2No article | home, work, school, bed; transport after by | go home / at work / by bus |
| B1No article | hospital, prison, church for their purpose; the for the building | He's in hospital. |
| Trap | the first sound decides, not the letter | a university / an hour |
| Trap | most countries take no article | I live in Spain. |