Articles
In English an idol – any one idol an egg– any one egg an aunt – any one aunt
an umbrella – any one umbrella an opera – any one opera
BUT
a university a European an hour
This is because university and European start with a ‘yuh’ consonant sound, hour starts with a silent ‘h’ so the first sound is a vowel sound.
Task 1
Put these nouns into the group that they belong
A |
An |
|
|
apple intern unicorn television watch newspaper
egg euphemism oak chair shoe eagle umbrella |
Articles + Adjectives + Nouns – If we are using an adjective to define the noun we change the article to fit with the first sound of the adjective.
an egg – a big egg a tree – an enormous tree
Some – Some is an indefinite article that we use with plural nouns and uncountable nouns
some milk – any milk some cities – any cities some operas – any operas
some universities – any universities some men – any men
Task 2
Put these nouns into the groups that they belong
A |
An |
some |
|
|
|
ape income unicorns children whale hour
eagles users onion chain shoes fire umbrella |
Definite Article – The good news is that there is only one definite article in English – ‘the’ which we can use for singular and plural nouns and it is not affected by vowel sounds.
the ape the income the unicorns the children the whale the hour
the eagles the users the onion the chain the shoes the fire
When and why we use is more difficult. ‘Definite’ means ‘certain’ – one particular thing in a group.
When to Use ‘The’ –
The is used each time you have mentioned it once
A dog came towards me, I tried to run but the dog bit me
And also:
when a noun refers to something unique
the Sun the Moon
with uncountable nouns that are made more specific by a limiting modifying phrase or clause
the water in my bottle the sand on that beach
with names of rivers, oceans and seas
the Thames the Atlantic
with points on the globe
the Tropic of Cancer the South Pole
with geographical areas
the North West the Orient
with deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas
the Gobi the Mexican Gulf the Forest of Dean the Malay Peninsula
with island chains
the Philippine islands the Greek Islands
with ranges of mountains
the Brecon Beacons the Alps
with a group of lakes
the Great Lakes
The is not used with:
names of countries
Thailand New Zealand Columbia
names of cities, towns, or districts
Sydney Church Village California
names of streets
Perth Street Banbury Road
names of lakes and bays
Lake Victoria Golden Bay
names of mountains
Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Doom
names of continents
Africa Europe
names of islands
Fraser Island Ko Samui Cook Island
No article is used with:
Names of languages and nationalities
Mexican English French Portuguese
Names of sports
football boxing basketball
Names of academic subjects
maths science physical education music
