grammar: definite and indefinite articles · the indefinite article use the indefinite...
TRANSCRIPT
Grammar: Definite and Indefinite Articles
Identifying articles
Howmanyarticles canyousee?
Julie
I had a sandwich and an apple for lunch.
The sandwich was not very nice, but the apple was lovely.
Lucy
Julie
Using articles
Four…WhydoesJuliestartwitha/an andthenusethe?
I had a sandwich and an apple for lunch.
The sandwich was not very nice, but the apple was lovely.
Lucy
Julie Lucy
Definite and Indefinite articles
Because…
I had a sandwich and an apple for lunch.
The sandwich was not very nice, but the apple was lovely.
…thisisthefirst timeshetalkedaboutthesandwichandtheapple
…Lucynowknows whichsandwichandwhichappleJulieistalkingabout
Definite and Indefinite articles
I saw . . . . cat. . . . . cat was sitting on
. . . . fence. . . . . fence was painted
green. . . . . cat jumped off . . . . fence
when it saw . . . . ant. . . . . ant ran into
. . . . hole when it saw . . . . cat so . . . .
cat didn't catch . . . . ant.
Using articles
Usetheindefinitearticle (a/an)if:
› Youthinkthepersonreadingyouressaydoesn’tknowthe‘identity’ofthenoun
› Youarewritingaboutsomethingingeneral(notunique,non‐specific)
Usethedefinitearticle (the)if:
› Thepersonreadingyouressayknows the‘identity’ofthenoun
› Thenoun wasmentionedearlierinyoursentence/paragraph/essay
› Thenoun being‘identified’isobvious(واضح)orunique(فريد)orspecific (محدد)
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Definite and Indefinite articles
I want to watch . . . .film tonight.
. . . . romance film or
. . . . comedy film?
No, I think I want to watch . . . . action film.
What about . . . . one with Bruce Lee?
Good idea, that is . . . . best film ever!
The Indefinite Article
Usetheindefinitearticle (a/an)
› Torefertosomethingforthefirst timee.g.:“Ihada sandwichandan appleforlunch.”
› Tosaywhatjob somebodydoese.g.:“Mybrotherisan engineer.”“Mymotherisa doctoratTiwam hospital”
› Wecanonlyusea/an withsingularcountablenouns e.g.:
Iliketoeatan appleeveryday. IliketoeatØ appleseveryday.
IliketodrinkØ water. IliketoeatØ rice.
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The Definite Article
Usethedefinitearticle (the)
› Ifthereaderknows thenounyouarewritingaboute.g.:The tablebelowshows…The secondeffectIwilldiscussis…The firstkeyreasonIwillfocusonis…
› Withsuperlatives e.g.:the bestthe longestthemostbeautifulthe worst
› Whenthenoun isobvious(واضح)orunique(فريد)orspecific (محدد) e.g.:the sunthe Governmentthe Presidentthe worldthe 1970s
› Withsomepropernouns e.g.:Nationalitiesthe Britishthe Emiratis Somecountriesthe UKthe UAE
Riversthe Nilethe GangesSeas/Oceansthe Arabianseathe Indianocean
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The Zero Article
Usethezeroarticle(Ø i.e.nothing)
› Withpluraland uncountablenounsandalso,whenwritingaboutanouningeneral:“ØGold isexpensivethesedays”“ØScientists areclever”
› Withcertainpropernouns e.g.:Continents Europe,Africa MostcountriesJapan,Germany,SaudiArabia,Kuwait
Cities,EmiratesandTowns London,Tokyo,NewYork,Doha Fujairah AlAin
MountainsEverest,JebelHafeet
CompaniesToyota,Nissan,Etisalat, Apple,Samsung
(Butnot specificcompanyproducts:the NissanPatrol,the SamsungGalaxySIII)
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Fill in the gaps using, ‘the’ or ‘a’/‘an’ or ‘Ø’
[Please use capitals when necessary.]
.....tablebelowprovidessomefactsandfiguresontwocars,they
are.....NissanPatroland.....ToyotaLandcruiser.InthisreportIam
goingtocompareandcontrast .....similaritiesand.....differences
betweenthem.
Fill in the gaps using, ‘the’ or ‘a’/‘an’ or ‘Ø’
[Please use capitals when necessary.]
Mybrother,whois.....accountant,saidtomysister,who
is.....companydirector,thathisfriendfrom.....Tunisiareadavery
interestingbook......bookwascalledWarandPeace.However,my
friendfrom.....NewZealand,wholivesherein.....UAE,said
that.....bookisactuallyquiteboring!
Fill in the gaps using, ‘the’ or ‘a’/‘an’ or ‘Ø’
[Please use capitals when necessary.]
TherearemanymountainsinEurope.....tallestis.....MountBlanc.
.....PicoDeEuropais.....highestmountaininSpain......river
Danube,in.....Germanyislongerthan.....riverThamesin.....UK,
butshorterthan.....Voga river......Voga riveris.....longestinall
of.....Europe.
&c. articles are very common in English
“the”isthe5thmostcommonwordintheEnglishlanguage
“a”isthe6thmostcommonwordinEnglish[“an”is32nd]
› use“a” ifthenoun startswithaconsonant
› use”an” ifthenoun startswithavowel[a,e,i,o,u]