Nouns, articles and plurals

Urdu has no separate words for a, an and the, so these three small words are the commonest error in Pakistani students' writing. They are also the easiest marks to win back.

a, an, the, or nothing at all

When to use a, an, the or no article
Article	Use it for	Example	Urdu
a	before a consonant sound, first mention	I bought a book. He is a teacher.	ایک
an	before a vowel sound	an apple, an hour (the h is silent), an honest man	ایک
the	a particular one both people already know about	Pass me the book on the table.	وہ / یہ (معلوم چیز)
the	something unique in the world	the sun, the moon, the internet, the Quaid-e-Azam library
the	with superlatives and ordinals	She is the best student. It was the first day.
no article	plural or uncountable nouns talked about in general	Books are expensive. Water is life.
no article	most countries, cities, languages, meals, subjects	She lives in Pakistan, speaks Urdu, studies physics and had breakfast.

Article mistakes and their corrections
Wrong	Right	Why
I am student.	I am a student.	A singular job or role always needs a / an. Urdu has no article, so this is the most frequent article error.
He is an university student.	He is a university student.	Go by the sound, not the letter. University begins with a yoo sound, so it takes a.
I will come after a hour.	I will come after an hour.	Hour begins with a vowel sound because the h is silent.
The life is difficult.	Life is difficult.	No the when you mean something in general.
I went to the Lahore.	I went to Lahore.	Cities and most countries take no article.

Singular and plural

Plural spelling rules
Rule	Examples
Most nouns: add -s	book → books, student → students, city car → cars
Ends in s, sh, ch, x, z: add -es	bus → buses, watch → watches, box → boxes
Consonant + y: change y to -ies	city → cities, country → countries, baby → babies
Vowel + y: just add -s	boy → boys, day → days, key → keys
Ends in f or fe: change to -ves	leaf → leaves, knife → knives, wife → wives
Ends in consonant + o: add -es	potato → potatoes, tomato → tomatoes, hero → heroes

Irregular plurals: no rule, just learn them

man → menwoman → womenchild → childrenperson → peopletooth → teethfoot → feetmouse → micegoose → geeseox → oxensheep → sheepfish → fishdeer → deeraircraft → aircraftanalysis → analysescrisis → crisescriterion → criteriaphenomenon → phenomena

Countable and uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns have no plural and take no a / an. You cannot say two informations. To count them you need a container word: a piece of information, a glass of water, a slice of bread.

Twenty uncountable nouns students often get wrong

informationadvicefurnitureluggagemoneynewsresearchknowledgeprogresstrafficweatherworkhomeworkequipmentbreadwaterricesugarelectricityaccommodation

Which quantity word goes with which noun
Word	Use it with	Example	Urdu
many	countable, plural	How many books do you have?	کتنے (گنے جانے والے)
much	uncountable	How much money do you need?	کتنا (نہ گنے جانے والے)
a few	countable, a small number	I have a few friends here.	چند
a little	uncountable, a small amount	Add a little sugar.	تھوڑا سا
some	both, in positive sentences	I need some water and some books.	کچھ
any	both, in questions and negatives	Do you have any questions? I do not have any money.	کوئی
a lot of / lots of	both	She has a lot of experience and a lot of friends.	بہت سا / بہت سے

Check yourself

Choose a, an, the or nothing, and correct the nouns.

I bought ___ umbrella and ___ notebook.
Show the answer
an umbrella and a notebook
She is ___ honest woman.
Show the answer
an honest woman (the h is silent)
___ sun rises in ___ east.
Show the answer
The sun rises in the east.
I want to study in ___ United Kingdom.
Show the answer
the United Kingdom (but: in Pakistan, no article)
Fix: He gave me two advices.
Show the answer
He gave me two pieces of advice. (Advice is uncountable.)
Fix: How much books do you need?
Show the answer
How many books do you need?
Plural of knife, city, child, sheep
Show the answer
knives, cities, children, sheep
Fix: The life in Lahore is busy.
Show the answer
Life in Lahore is busy.

More practice on this topic: 15 exercises →