'student at the university' and article 'a'

Question

I think it's okay to say "I study [subject] at the University of [City] ". However, should I say

I'm a physics student at ...

or without 'a',

I'm physics student at ...

I'm suddenly terribly unsure which one is correct, so maybe you lot can help.

Answer 1

"I'm suddenly terribly unsure which one is correct, so maybe you lot can help.".

It all depends on the noun you use.

First, let's look at your first example:

"I study [subject] at the University of [City]".

or

"I study physics at the University of Miami."

In this sentence, "physics" is an uncountable noun (or noncount noun). That means it cannot be counted.

We cannot say, "1 physics, 2 physics, 3 physics."

Uncountable nouns do not require an indefinite article.

For example:

• Please buy sugar. (Incorrect: Please buy a sugar.)
• Love is blind. (Incorrect: A love is blind.)
• I like coffee. (Incorrect: I like a coffee.)

See more examples of uncountable nouns here: Uncountable Nouns

Now, your second example:

"I'm a physics student at the University of Miami."

In this case, "physics" is not a noun. It is actually an adjective that tells us what kind of student.

So, we look to the noun "student". "Student" is a countable noun (or count noun). That means it can be counted. We can say, "1 student, 2 students, 3 students."

Countable nouns do require an article (such as an indefinite article "a" or "an" or the definite article "the"), a quantitity word (some, three, many), or a possessive adjective (my, our, their).

For example:

• I saw a mouse. (indefinite article)
• Did you see the show? (definite article)
• He needs three books. (quantity word)
• That is my house. (possessive adjective)
• That is my red house. (This one has an adjective before the noun, like your example)

Read more about countable nouns here: Countable Nouns