Reader-Friendly Reports: A No-nonsense Guide to Effective Writing for MBAs, Consultants, and Other Professionals

A NOTE ON A, AN, AND THE, FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

Speakers of other languages, especially Asian languages, often have trouble trying to figure out when to use a, an, and the in English. No wonder. Even native speakers who can intuitively tell whether a the is needed find it hard to explain what the reason is. To complicate the situation even further, British usage and American usage are widely different, as in “He is in hospital” (British) but “He is in the hospital” (American).

Generally—and this is very generally, with lots of exceptions—the following rules apply.

Rule 1. If It’s Singular and Countable, Use a, an, or the

Countable

The dog runs around the corner and into the street.[One dog, one corner, one street]

The organization ...