Articles Robert & Atik 613

Articles The(definite article) a/an(indefinite article)

The – definite article Use ▫When something is unique  We damage the earth by polluting excessively. ▫Superlatives  Luciano Pavarotti was the greatest opera singer ever. ▫The context makes it ‘known’  Has my mother arrived yet? / Yes, she’s in the living room.

Use (continued) ▫A defining phrase makes it ‘known’  Queen is the British band that became world famous in the late 1970’s. ▫A prepositional phrase makes it ‘known’  Meet me in the café next to the underground station near my house.

But here is the exception! ▫We often use television, cinema etc. without an article to refer to the art or entertainment.  She works in television.  I’m studying film in my final year. ▫If we refer to a specific item we use the article  Don’t put flowers on the television.  Have you seen the new film by Ridley Scott?

THE is used for plural and singular nouns which the speaker specifies. ▫The elephant(s) ▫The house(s) A/AN is used for singular nouns which the speaker doesn’t specify. ▫An elephant ▫A house

A/an indefinite article Use: ▫Singular countable nouns  A garage, an opinion ▫When naming something  That’s a scarab beetle. ▫When topic is not known to listener  A new teacher has come to this school. ▫One example of class or species  An African elephant has larger ears than an Indian elephant.

A/an indefinite article ▫NO article when referring to whole class  Ruthless poachers hunt elephants for the valuable ivory of their tusks.

A/an indefinite article Jobs 1, nationalities, beliefs: ▫I am an engineer. – You’re an Austrian. – Cat Stevens is a Muslim. Numbers: ▫A hundred. – A thousand. – A dozen. Prices, speeds: ▫Two dollar a kilo. – 20km an hour. Fixed speech: ▫A lot of

A/an indefinite article Jobs 1 : ▫No art. when noun before name:  Muslim Cat Stevens makes Islamic music.

A/an indefinite article NO INDEF. ARTS. ▫Referring to group/class in general:  South African apes like to eat bananas. ▫Nouns as (when thinking of purpose) :  Church, hospital, school 2  Fewer people attend Church regularly now than before. ▫Building itself 2:  Is there a school in this village or do the children have to go to the town?

A/an indefinite article When which one? ▫Depending on following sound: ▫A  When followed by consonant sound:  A house – a cigarette – a Euro ▫An  When followed by vowel sound:  An apple – an egg – an hour