A, An or The?When do we say "the dog" and when do we say "a dog"? (On this page we talk only about singular, countable nouns.)

The and a/an are called "articles". We divide them into "definite" and "indefinite" like this:

ArticlesDefinite Indefinite

the a, anWe use "definite" to mean sure, certain. "Definite" is particular.

We use "indefinite" to mean not sure, not certain. "Indefinite" is general.

When we are talking about one thing in particular, we use the. When we are talking about one thing in general, we use a or an.

Think of the sky at night. In the sky we see 1 moon and millions of stars. So normally we would say:

I saw the moon last night. I saw a star last night.

Look at these examples:

the a, an The capital of France is Paris. I have found the book that I lost. Have you cleaned the car? There are six eggs in the fridge. Please switch off the TV when you

finish.

I was born in a town. John had an omelette for

lunch. James Bond ordered a drink. We want to

buy an umbrella. Have you got a pen?

Of course, often we can use the or a/an for the same word. It depends on the situation, not the word. Look at these examples:

We want to buy an umbrella. (Any umbrella, not a particular umbrella.) Where is the umbrella? (We already have an umbrella. We are looking for

our umbrella, a particular umbrella.)

This little story should help you understand the difference between the and a, an:

A man and a woman were walking in Oxford Street. The woman saw a dress that she liked in a shop. She asked the man if he could buy the dress for her. He said: "Do you think the shop will accept a check? I don't have a credit card."

We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definite article and when we don't.

without the definite article with the definite article

general words (indefinite) general words (definite)Life is too short.I like flowers.

I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.I like the flowers in your garden.

names of persons on the singular, relatives family names in the pluralPeter and John live in London.Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles. The Smiths live in Chicago.

public buildings, institutions, means of public buildings, institutions, means of

transport (indefinite) transport (definite)Mandy doesn't like school.We go to school by bus.Some people go to church on Sundays.

The school that Mandy goes to is old.The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.The round church in Klingenthal is famous.

names of countries in the singular; summits of mountains; continents; towns

names of countries in the plural; mountain ranges; regions

Germany, France;Mount Whitney, Mount McKinley;Africa, Europe; Cairo, New York

the United States of America, the Netherlands; the Highlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps; the Middle East, the west of Australia

single islands groups of islandsCorfu, Bermuda, Sicily the Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canariesparks; lakes; streets name with of-phrase; oceans; seas; rivers

Central Park, Hyde Park;Lake Michigan, Loch Ness; 42nd Street, Oxford Street

the Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London), the Isle of Wight; the Atlantic (Ocean);the Mediterranean (Sea); the Nile, the Rhine, the Suez Canal

months, days of the week (indefinite) months, days of the week (definite)The weekend is over on Monday morning.July and August are the most popular months for holidays.

I always remember the Monday when I had an accident.The August of 2001 was hot and dry.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.in summer or in the summerThe American English word for autumn >fall< is always used with the definite article.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watch the following example:

The student goes to school.The mother goes to the school.In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes to school for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for a different reason. That's why we use the definite article in the second sentence.

ENGLISH HELP. “INGLÉS A TU MEDIDA”

PRACTICE: THE

Student name: ______________________________________________ Key: ____________Professor Oscar Neyra Date: ___/ ___ / 2014

Grade

Decide whether to use the definite article “the” or not. If you do not need the article “the”, use “x”.1) My grandmother likes ______ flowers very much.

2) I love _______ flowers in your garden.

3) See you on ______ Wednesday.

4) I always listen to _____ radio in the morning.

5) Alex goes to work by _______ bus.

6) Don't be late for ______ school.

7) Listen! Dennis is playing ______ trumpet.

8) We often see our cousins over ______ Easter.

9) She has never been to Alps before.

10) What about going to Australia in ____ February?

11) Last year we visited _______ St. Paul's Cathedral and _____ Tower.

12) _______ Mount Everest is _______ highest mountain on earth.

13) _______ Loch Ness is ______ most famous lake in Scotland.

14) ________ most children like ______ sweets.

15) _______ summer of 1996 was hot and dry.

16) _______ Plaza Hotel is on the corner of ______ 59th Street and 5th Avenue.

17) My sister often stays at _____ Uncle Tim's in Detroit.

18) Our friends _____ Millers moved to Florida last August.

19) _______ smog is a problem in ______ big cities.

20) Our children go to ________ school by ______ bus.Hi John,

I arrived in   USA last Monday. We left   Rome, flew over   Alps and made a quick stop in   

London. There we went shopping in   Harrods, visited   Tower and enjoyed a sunny afternoon in   

Hyde Park. On the following day we left for   New York.   time on board wasn't boring as there were

two films to watch on   monitor.   people on   plane were all   Italian. Before we landed

at   JFK airport, we saw   Statue of Liberty,   Ellis Island and   Empire State Building.   

hotel I stayed in was on   corner of  42nd Street and   5th Avenue. I don't like   hotels very

much, but I didn't have   time to rent an apartment.Please say hello to Peter and Mandy.

Yours,Peter

RESPUESTAS

Connected speech 2Submitted by TE Editor on 28 February, 2005 - 12:00An advanced student of mine speaks both clearly and usually correctly, but can often sound over formal and at times stilted. He has learnt his English "through the eye" and has trouble interpreting the utterances of native speakers who do not monitor their output. His delivery is an attempt at a precise version of every sound. With native speakers, articulatory precision is a stylistic device, a conscious choice if we want to emphasize a point, be insistent or threatening. In normal social interaction though, this is not usually the case and articulatory imprecision is the more natural and functional option.

Aspects of connected speech Intrusion and linking Elision Working on connected speech Integrating work on connected speech Conclusion

 

Aspects of connected speechSpeech is a continuous stream of sounds, without clear-cut borderlines between them, and the different aspects of connected speech help to explain why written English is so different from spoken English.

So, what is it that native speakers do when stringing words together that causes so many problems for students?

Intrusion and linkingWhen two vowel sounds meet, we tend to insert an extra sound which resembles either a / j /, / w / or / r / , to mark the transition sound between the two vowels, a device referred to as intrusion. For example:

Intruding / r/The media / r /are to blame.Law(r)and order.

Intruding / j /I / j / agree.They / j /are here!

Intruding / w/I want to/ w/eat.Please do/ w/it. 

Word boundaries involving a consonant and a vowel are also linked, as we tend to drag final consonants to initial vowels or vice versa. For example:

Get on. ( geton ) Not at all. ( notatall ) It´s no joke. ( snow joke)

 

ElisionAs I have mentioned, a native speaker's aim in connecting words is maximum ease and efficiency of tongue movement when getting our message across. In minimizing our efforts, we weaken our articulation. If articulation is weakened too much, the sound may disappear altogether, a process known as elision. It is the vowels from unstressed syllables which are the first to be elided in non-precise pronunciation.

Common sound deletionsA syllable containing the unstressed "schwa" is often lost. For example, 

o int(e)rest,o sim(i)lar,o lib(a)ry,o diff(e)rent,o t(o)night. / t / and / d /

With consonants, it is / t / and / d / which are most commonly elided, especially when they appear in a consonant cluster. For example,

o chris(t)maso san(d)wich

The same process can occur across word boundaries, for example,o mus(t) beo the firs(t) threeo you an(d) meo we stopp(ed) for lunch / h /

The / h / sound is also often deleted. For example,o you shouldn´t (h)aveo tell (h)im.

 

Working on connected speechIf your learners have not worked on these forms before, you might wish to set some lesson time aside to work specifically on these features of connected speech. One way of introducing them to sound deletions could be to write a few short phrases on the board. For example:

That´s an interesting idea. Are you coming out tonight? It´s the tallest building. You must tell him.

 

Try if possible to use language you have recently been working on in the classroom. Then ask the class to count the number of sounds in each word, and write the numbers which they give you on the board above the words, like this:

3

You

4

must

4

tell

3

him

Now play a recording of the phrases, or read them yourself, and ask the learners to listen again and write down how many sounds they hear. Prompt them if necessary, asking if, for example, the "t" is really pronounced twice between "must" and "tell", or only once.

Drill the phrases then ask the students to practise these phrases themselves.You could also read out the phrases, once using the elided forms, then again in a more clipped, emphatic manner.

Ask the learners which sounds more natural. Highlight that the features of connected speech not only make the phrase more natural sounding but that it is also easier to pronounce the words in this way. 

Exercises like this help to show learners the differences between written and spoken English, and they highlight the importance of listening to words rather than relying on their written forms.

Integrating work on connected speechIt is a good idea to try and integrate work on connected speech into everyday lessons. When studying grammar for example, don´t focus solely on the form of the words, draw attention to the way they are pronounced in natural conversation.

Superlatives, for example, provide practice of sound deletions. You could write a few phrases on the board:o The Nile is the longest river in the world.o The Vatican is the smallest country in the world. Ask the students to listen to the sounds while you repeat the phrases a few times and see if they can spot the

disappearance of the "t" on the superlative adjective. Drill the phrases, chorally and individually. Students might like to write their own general knowledge quiz, using

questions such as, "Which is the tallest building in the world?". As they read their questions, make sure they elide the final "t" (unless of course, the next word begins with a

vowel).

Such exercises provide practice of both grammatical form and pronunciation, and the repetition helps students to begin using these features of connected speech in a natural manner. 

Anything which you have recently been working on in class can be used as a basis for pronunciation work. For example, a useful way of practising the intruding sounds / r /, / w / and/ j / is when studying phrasal verbs.

Do/ w /up lay / j / upGo/ w /awayGo / w / out

Drill the verbs chorally and individually before providing a more personalized practice activity in which students ask each other questions using the verbs you are focusing on.

Phrasal verbs can also be used to show how we tend to link final consonants and initial vowels across word boundaries.

Get out ( getout ) Put on ( puton )Come out ( cumout )

Conclusion

Students often find pronunciation work fun and stimulating, as well as valuable. However, they will need time and confidence in order to assimilate the features of connected speech and to make them their own. Research

does suggest though, that by simply drawing students' attention to these forms, you are giving them considerable help towards making sense of the language they hear. 

Further readingSound Foundations by Adrian UnderhillPronunciation by Dalton and SeidlholferHow to Teach Pronunciation by Gerald KellyTeaching English Pronunciation by Joanne Kenworthy

Vanessa Steele