Use 'A' or 'An' with:

1. Professions
I'm a teacher.

She's an architect.

2. Some expressions of quantity

A lot of

A couple of sth.

A little

A thousand

A few
A pair of shoes.

Three times a day

Forty miles an hour

3. Exclamations with What + countable noun

What a lovely day!

What a terrible hat!

4. Use 'An' with silent consonants (see introduction above)

An honour

An honest person

Don't use A or An with:

5. Plural nouns

7. Meals

X Children usually go to school.

I had X breakfast at 8.30.

6. Uncountable nouns

8. Abstract nouns (see 27 below)

Buy X bread and X milk, please.

X Heavy industry causes X pollution.

Use 'The' with:

9. Nouns where there is only one
The President

The sun

10. Ordinal numbers

The first

The fifth time

11. Superlatives
The best

The most beautiful place in the world.

12. Geographical areas

The Middle East

The Midwest

13. Nationality and geopolitical adjectives when followed by a noun or defining the people
The Federal University

The International Airport (see 39 below)

14. Seas & oceans

The Atlantic

The Mediterranean

15. Rivers & deserts

The Nile

The Sahara

16. Most hotels

The Hilton

The Copacabana Palace Hotel

17. Pubs
The Red Lion

The Queen's Legs

18. Theatres and cinemas

The Odeon

The Municipal Theatre

19. Museums
The Museum of Modern Art

The Carmen Miranda Museum

20. Newspapers
The New York Times

The Guardian

21. Mountain ranges (see 35 below)

The Himalayas

The Alps

22. Groups of countries, islands or states

The Bahamas

The EEC

23. Musical instruments

Play the piano

Good on the violin

24. Public buildings (see 28&29 below)

When I was in Oxford I saw the university.

She works at the hospital on Fridays.

25. Radio and computer (see 38 below)

I heard it on the radio.

It's on the computer at work.

Don't use 'The' or 'A/An' with:

26. When talking about people and things in general. Cat's like milk.
27. Uncountable and abstract nouns (see 8 above)
X Heavy industry causes X pollution
unless defined : The pollution in the city centre is worse today.
28. Places where the focus is on the activity which takes place there.
I went to X university to take an exam.
The kids were at X school all day.
29. Prison & hospital if a prisoner or patient
She spent three months in X prison.
We took her to X hospital after the accident.
30. Continents
He travelled across X Asia.
Monaco is in X Europe.
31. Countries
X Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world.
X Russia is the biggest.
32. Towns
X London in the capital of the UK.
X Rio de Janeiro isn't the capital of Brazil.
33. Streets
I live in X Oxford street.
X Park Lane is in the centre of London.
34. Lakes
X Lake Titicaca is between Bolivia and Peru.
X Lake Victoria is in Africa.
35. Mountains
I wanted to climb X Mount Everest.
X Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK
36. Possessive 's'
It's X John's book.
X Brazil's economic situation.
37. All + time expression
I've been waiting all X day.
We spent all X week there.
38. TV and most recording media (see 25 above)
I saw it on X TV.

I've saved it on X cd-rom.

39. Airports
I arrived at X JFK at 6am.

What time do you get in to X Heathrow?

40. With most countable clothes and parts of the body we use a possessive adjective, not 'the'
He put on his coat and shoes.
(after prepositions we often use 'the')''

I hurt my arm playing rugby.

He patted me on the back.