No Articles Allowed

If there’s one rule that’s the most important in English, it’s probably that every rule has an exception! Take articles for examples. Basically, you’re told that we use the before specific objects and a or an before singular, general objects. As you learn the language, you learn that there are expressions, where don’t use them when you think we should!

As you know, we use an article before places, specifically or in general, except when you are at or go to certain places, such as home, school, work or bed.

I’m coming back __ home tomorrow.

He’ll be back at __ home at 5:00.

I went to __ bed late yesterday.

Do you take the train to __ work / school?

She’ll be at __ work / school the whole day.

When we refer to school as a physical building, we use the

I forgot my knapsack, so I went back inside the school.

You can usually find lockers in an American High School.

But when we refer to school as an institution, we don’t use the.

After being sick a week, she returned to __ school.

The same thing happens when we talk about transport. We don’t use the when explaining how we go after the preposition by.

I go to work by __ bike / by __ train..
He goes to the supermarket by __ car.

We don’t use an article before meals in the expression have meals:

We had __ breakfast / lunch / dinner.

Unless you have an adjective before the meal:

We had a big / fast breakfast this morning.

Now you can think about not using articles when you go home by train tonight!