People often mess up with articles A/AN/THE in sentences. Here are examples of how to use A/AN/THE.

With a deep sigh, Helen Fields switches on her PC. Another Monday. Another article to write about leadership. Hasn’t everything been written already? Helen checks her Twitter stream and answers a few emails. She doesn’t feel like writing. Not yet. She googles the word “leadership.” 756 million articles. Ouch. But still … …

Bill is at a wine bar on Saturday night, enjoying a glass of Pinot Noir. After striking up a playful conversation with Lisa (who prefers Syrah), he asks for her telephone number. Lisa agrees to Bill’s request, and he creates a new “contact” in his cell phone. “No,” Lisa stops …

“I was only four years old when I saw my mother load up a washing machine for the very first time in her life …” That is global health and data expert Hans Rosling’s opening line of a 2010 TED Talk, as he stands on stage with a bundle of laundry …

She was an odd mix of soft skin and rowdy in the mouth. And by that, I mean she was bright, chirpy, and quick with the quirky jokes, ribbing it with the best of them, but prone to fits of sobbing at the first sign of disagreement. I needed to …

Creativity is a fickle mistress. Especially when creating content. Sometimes, the words flow as fast as the coffee. Other times, well, not so much. It’s easy to create boring content. (Many people do it quite effortlessly.) But if you don’t have a distinctive point of view, you’re just reporting. Feel stuck when it’s …

From a traditional marketing standpoint, the answer to the question in the headline above is simple. Content marketing means creating and sharing valuable free content to attract and convert prospects into customers — and customers into repeat buyers. Copywriting gets a reader to take a specific action. Sometimes that’s making a purchase, …

Shortly after the release of The Lego Movie (2014), more than one professional marketer went on record to say that it was the best piece of content marketing they’d seen in a long time. Well, I finally saw the movie, and I don’t buy that claim. Why? To be honest, I have a hunch …

How often do you shrug your shoulders and press delete after reading a marketing email? Many marketing messages make us cringe. They don’t sound like a human being wrote them. They don’t engage. They lack personality and feel cold-hearted. It’s not surprising. At school, we learned grammar rules. We learned …

At a TED conference in 2008, music conductor Benjamin Zander talks about the story of Shakespeare’s well-known play, Hamlet. In Act One, scene three, Hamlet finds out that his uncle killed his father. Now Hamlet must have his revenge. As the play progresses, Hamlet almost kills his uncle, but pulls himself …