Articles & Determiners — Quick Revision

A vs An — SOUND Rule

Use "a" (consonant sound)	Use "an" (vowel sound)
a university /juː/	an umbrella /ʌ/
a European /juː/	an hour (silent h)
a one-eyed /wʌ/	an honest (silent h)
a hotel /h/	an heir (silent h)
a useful /juː/	an MBA /em/
a uniform /juː/	an FIR /ef/
a ewe /juː/	an X-ray /eks/

Use "The" With

• Unique: sun, moon, earth, sky
• Superlatives: the best, the tallest
• Ordinals: the first, the last
• Rivers/Oceans/Seas: the Padma, the Pacific
• Mountain ranges: the Himalayas, the Alps
• Countries with Republic/Kingdom/States/plural: the USA, the UK
• Holy books: the Quran, the Bible
• Newspapers: the Daily Star
• Musical instruments: the piano, the guitar
• Inventions as class: the telephone

No Article With

• Languages: English, Bangla
• Meals (general): breakfast, lunch
• Sports: cricket, football
• Subjects: mathematics, physics
• Abstract nouns (general): honesty, love
• Single mountains: Mount Everest
• Single lakes: Lake Baikal
• Continents: Asia, Europe

Memory Trick

• River → always THE | Mountain (single) → no article
• Sport → no article | Instrument → always THE
• U = /juː/ sound → "a" | Silent H → "an"