Articles with Meals Explained

Using articles correctly can make your English sound much more natural, especially with everyday topics like meals. Many learners mistakenly add a or the when talking about breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This video explains the easy rule to help you avoid those errors.

When you talk about meals in general, you do not use articles. For example:
• I like coffee, not I like the coffee, unless you mean a specific cup.
• I had lunch, not I had a lunch.
• She made dinner, not She made a dinner.

The same rule applies to other common examples:
• He’s eating breakfast, not He’s eating the breakfast, unless referring to a specific meal.
• We’ll have dinner tonight, not We’ll have a dinner tonight.

Articles are only added when you refer to a specific meal or a special event meal, such as a romantic dinner or the lunch we talked about.

Mastering this simple pattern helps you sound more fluent and confident in everyday conversations. Practice removing articles with meal names to make your English clearer and more natural.