Articles A/AN THE NO ARTICLE WE USE ARTICLE «A/AN» BEFORE Singular nouns Bob has got a car. Mary is an engineer. It’s an international bank. Certain expressions Twice a day Six times a month WE USE ARTICLE «THE» BEFORE Specific nouns Bob has got a car. The car is green. Unique nouns The Sun The names of musical instruments Play the guitar The names of families and nationalities as a group The Browns The French (sh, ch, ese) but Russians Titles The Queen, the President Ajectives in superlative form The best film WE USE ARTICLE «THE» BEFORE Lakes The Bering Strait The Ontario Oceans Except for The Pacific Ocean Lake Baikal Seas The Black Sea Rivers The Mississippi Canals and straits The English Channel WE USE ARTICLE «THE» BEFORE Deserts The Sahara Desert The Kalahari Desert NO ARTICLE WITH CONTINENTS Asia ['eɪʃə] Eurasia Europe Africa North America South America Antarctica Australia NO ARTICLE WITH INDIVIDUAL ISLANDS Malta ['mɔːltə] Sakhalin Except for groups of islands The Japanese Islands The Canaries The British Isles NO ARTICLE WITH INDIVIDUAL MOUNTAINS Everest Kilimanjaro Except for mountain ranges The Urals The Himalayas The Alps The Pamirs The Andes NO ARTICLE WITH MOST COUNTRIES France Portugal Finland Except for countries The United States of America The United Kingdom The Russian Federation The Czech ['ʧek] Republic The Netherlands