Articles. Everything there is to know about articles!

1. Articles

Everything there is to know about articles!

2. Overview

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Grammar Intro
Definite Article
Indefinite Article
Omit Article
Practice

3. Grammar

• Articles (determiner) define a noun as specific or non-specific.
• EX.
• Before the holiday, the girl from work was very tired.
• Before the holiday, a girl from work was very tired.
• #1 – before a specific holiday, a specific girl was tired.
• #2 – before a specific holiday, an unspecified/unknown girl was tired.

4. Definite Article

1.
Use “the” for specific nouns (singular, plural, or uncountable):
1.
2.
3.
2.
Use “the” when there is a type or group of places:
1.
2.
3.
3.
The United States
The Republic of France
The Kuril Islands
Use “the” with uncountable specific nouns:
1.
2.
4.
The President of France.
The person out front is bothering me.
The tea on the counter is cold.
The water was tasty.
The music was way too loud.
Use “the” when both parties know the specific instance of the noun being mentioned:
1.
Person 1: “There’s a special school for wizards called Hogwarts.”
Person 2: “Where is the school located?”

5. Definite Article: Locations Special Rule

• “the” can also change the meaning of some words or sentences:
• EX. He is going to the church VS. He is going to church
• #1 – There is a specific church he is going to. Emphasis is on the fact of where he is going.
• #2 – He is going to church in order to perform an expected function there, i.e. praying or
attending a service.
• EX. They are going to the school VS. They are going to school
• #1 – There is a specific school they are going to. It’s not clear they are going there in
order to study.
• #2 – They are going to school probably because they are students who are studying.

6. Indefinite Article

1. Use “a/an” when referring to an unspecified object:
1. A girl is coming over after school.
2. There is a strange smell coming from that room.
3. He waited all day for an answer.
2. Use “a/an” when introducing something that the listener or reader
is not familiar with:
1. Person1: My dad just bought a new car.
Person2: Is the car Red?

7. A vs. An

• A with consonant and An with vowel.
• A towel
• An apple
• The pronunciation is more important that the spelling!
• An honest person
• The h is silent and therefor we use “an”.
• A uniform
• The “Y” sound is considered a consonant and therefor we use “a”.

8. Omit Article

1.
Proper Place names, titles(books, movies, bands, songs), nationalities, and languages:
1.
We went to Ireland.
1.
2.
Queen is my favorite band.
1.
3.
4.
2.
He is Ukrainian.
They speak German.
He believes that piety will save him.
Hate is a never-ending cycle.
1.
3.
The breakfast was delicious (Here there was specific food eaten)
General ideas (plural)
1.
2.
I-phones are the worst, androids are better.
Books are better than movies.
General concept with uncountable nouns:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The hate that the actor is getting from his fans is terrible.
What is for breakfast (general idea of a meal, not specific food)
1.
4.
The bible is a Christian religious text. (religious books exception)*
Abstract Ideas:
1.
2.
3.
The Eifel tower is in Paris. (Landmarks exception)*
I like music.
Do you eat a lot of sugar?
*** A cup of sugar – You can add a noun to make the uncountable countable.
*** Can you get me a water – This is acceptable because a water refers to a bottle of water.
See Definite Article locations rule for omitted article meaning.

9. Practice (What articles can you use? How does the meaning change?)

1. Did you see ___ owl in the tree? It was really big!
2. I only eat ___ bread with cheese.
3. I will only eat ___ bread with cheese.
4. ___ piece of bread was stale.
5. We visited ___ Scottish Highlands last month.
6. I really want to go to ___ university next year.
7. Are they at ___ football (practice) right now?
8. ___ happiness is the key to a good life.
9. ___ life of Albert Einstein was very interesting.
10. ___ life is given and ___ life is taken.