When no article is the right choice

Learning outcome

You can leave the article out when the noun is general, and when the exam expects no article before languages, meals, sports, and the purpose of a place.

Concepts and reasons

No article means the noun is not one particular thing and not one example picked from a group. A plural used for the whole class takes no article: Dogs are loyal. Books are useful. An uncountable noun used in general takes no article: Water is necessary. Gold is costly. Languages, meals, and sports take no article when you mean the thing itself: Hindi, breakfast, cricket. She speaks Hindi. We play cricket. He takes breakfast at eight.

School, college, hospital, church, and bed take no article when you go for their usual purpose: go to school, go to hospital. Use the when you mean the building as a place you visit: go to the school to meet the teacher. The exam expects this purpose contrast.

Worked examples

1. Dogs are loyal. The plural names the whole class, so there is no article.
2. She speaks Hindi and plays cricket. Language and sport take no article.
3. Children go to school. The purpose is study, so there is no article. Parents go to the school for a meeting. the school means that building.

Common traps

Do not write the dogs when you mean dogs in general. the dogs means particular dogs already known. Do not write the Hindi for the language. the Hindi newspaper is different, because newspaper is a particular object and Hindi only describes it. a breakfast is possible only when you mean one serving, not the meal in general. In He takes breakfast at eight, use no article.

Practice questions

1. ___ gold is a metal.
2. We play ___ cricket on Sunday.
3. She has gone to ___ school.

Answers and explanations

1. No article. gold is an uncountable noun used in general.
2. No article. cricket is a sport.
3. No article, if she has gone there as a student. to the school would mean a visit to the building, not the usual purpose.

Analogy

No article is a wide gate. The whole class of dogs, the language Hindi, and the purpose of school pass through without a ticket. the is a ticket for one named thing. a is a ticket for one example.

Quick reference

• General plural: Dogs are loyal. No article.
• General uncountable: Water is necessary. Gold is costly.
• Languages, meals, sports: Hindi, breakfast, cricket.
• Purpose: go to school, go to hospital. Building: go to the school.