Use a / an for one countable thing: a coffee (one cup), a chicken (the animal). Use no article for uncountable nouns, which are substances, materials and ideas: Coffee keeps me awake. I had chicken for lunch. Some nouns, like advice and information, never take a or an.
Same situation, two choices. Pick an example.
Can I have a coffee?
One item you could count: one cup, one animal, one newspaper.
Coffee keeps me awake.
Stuff, not things: a substance, a material or an idea you can't count.
| Rule | A / An | No article |
|---|---|---|
| Noun type | Countable: one thing | Uncountable: a substance, material or idea |
| Plural | a coffee → two coffees | coffee: no plural in this meaning |
| Some / any | Not with a: a coffee | Often with some: some coffee |
| Never with a | — | advice, information, news, furniture, luggage, equipment, research, homework |
Can you give me _____?
Paste an email or an essay. Clarigram marks the mistakes you actually make, shows the rule behind each one as a picture, and builds your practice from them.
Common ones that surprise learners: advice, information, news, furniture, luggage, equipment, research, knowledge, homework, traffic, weather, progress. They never take a or an and have no plural.
It looks plural but it's uncountable and takes a singular verb: The news is good. For one item, say a piece of news.