Blog about English
Articles with meals, languages, academic subjects and games.
Do not use an article before the names of meals when referring to them generally.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and brunch normally take the zero article. Use an article when referring to a particular meal or when the meal is modified.
Use the or a/an when referring to a particular meal rather than meals in general.
Compare "We had breakfast at eight." and "The breakfast served at the hotel was excellent."
Do not use an article before the names of languages.
Examples include English, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic. Language names normally take the zero article.
Use the when a language name is followed by a noun such as language.
Compare "She speaks English." and "She is studying the English language."
Do not use an article before the names of academic subjects.
Examples include mathematics, history, chemistry, biology and economics.
Use the when referring to a particular course, field of study or subject made specific by context.
Compare "History is my favourite subject." and "The history we studied this semester focused on ancient Rome."
Use an article when a language or subject name is modified and functions as a countable noun phrase.
Examples include "a difficult English course", "the mathematics of probability" and "the French spoken in Canada".
Meals, languages and academic subjects normally take the zero article unless they refer to a specific instance or are made definite by context.
Learners often add unnecessary articles before these nouns. Always decide whether the reference is general or specific.