Here are some general rules about article usage with nouns in English.
If a noun can be counted, it needs an article or a plural form. Test it to see if you can make it plural. For example, “a/the meeting, meetings”, “an/the office, offices”.
If it is an abstract noun, then it won’t have an article. Examples include “information, energy”.
With jobs, if it is describing the general function, it is countable and has no capital letters; for example, “She works as an administrative assistant”. But if it is the job title, then it has no article and is capitalized. “She works as Office Assistant.”
Test yourself
Correct the errors in these sentences. The nouns are underlined. The articles may be missing or another related issue.
- I have been managing relationship with institutions at national and international level.
- I’ve built an expertise in partnerships building.
- Implementing survey would provide a reliable measurement of the national prevalence of antimicrobial resistance.
- I have acted as member of NGOs networks.
- I have worked since 2021 as a Programme Assistant.
Answer key
- I’ve been managing relationships with institutions at national and international levels.
- I’ve built expertise in partnership-building. (abstract noun, so uncountable)
- Implementing a survey would provide a reliable measurement of the national prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. (countable noun)
- I have acted as a member of NGO networks.
- I have worked since 2021 as Programme Assistant. OR as a programme assistant. (depending on whether it’s the official title or not).
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Author: Carol Waites
Presentation/editing by Christina O’Shaughnessy
https://worldwidewriting.org/
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Carol Waites (PhD)
Email: carolswritingtips@gmail.com
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Carol’s memoir of her times at the United Nations, Behind the Flags, is available on Amazon and lulu.com
ISBN 9783952632703 Behind the Flags Amazon
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