1. All singular countable nouns must be modified by a determiner.
Articles
All singular countable nouns must be modified by a determiner.
The articles a, an and the are determiners.
Other determiners are words like “this, that, my, your, his, her,..etc
That is to say; a singular countable word can not be used in a sentence without a determiner.
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2. The Indefinite Article A or An
The indefinite article “a” or “an” is used;
Before singular countable nouns to mean one. It is not used before uncountable and plural nouns.
Australia is a continent.
Turkey is a country in Asia.
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3. an hour an honourable man
An is used before a word that begins with a vowel sound ( a, e, i, o, u).
When words begin with “h” or “u”, either a or an can be used depending on the sound.
an uncle a home
a university a union
an hour an honourable man
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4. To introduce a subject that has not been mentioned before;
I saw a snake.
I caught a fish yesterday.
With an expression of a definite quantity in the singular;
A dozen a ton a half a third
A mile a thousand a hundred
A pound
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5. With some expression of quantity; a great many a great deal
a couple of a few a lot of three times a day a number of
a little a pair of fifty miles an hour
With names of professions;
He is an engineer.
When “a” or “an” means per;
Julie earns $500 a week.
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6. In exclamations with “What + a countable noun
What a lovely day! What a terrible sweater!
What a pity! What a nonsense!
Note: In some languages, one and a, an are the same word. In English a, an for the indefinite is more common.
We use one if we want to be precise, and we want to emphasize one, not two, or three, or four.
He drives a Volswagen.
She has got one Rolls-Royce, two Cadillacs and three motorbikes.
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7. The Definite Article “The”
The definite article the can be used before any noun, singular, plural, countable and uncountable when the noun is specific.
The island, the islands , the water
The definite article “the” is used;
When there is only one of the thing mentioned: (Unique objects )
The sun is shining.
The moon is full tonight.
The sky is blue. The government
The King The president
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8. Could you open the door, please?
2. When it is clear to both the speaker and the listener which thing or person is referred to;
Could you open the door, please?
(Both the speaker and the listener know which door it is.)
Pass the salt, please.
Did you read the book I gave yesterday?
Have you heard the news about them?
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9. 3. Before a noun mentioned for the second time:
A bird flew into the classroom.
The bird sat on my desk.
4. Before superlative adjectives:
The biggest island is Greenland.
The most beautiful coral island is very small.
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10. 5. Before names of musical instruments He plays the piano
I can’t play the guitar
6.Before decades and centuries:
The 1800s, the twenties, the twentieth century
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11. 7. Before expressions of time and place: The morning the future
the North the top
The afternoon the present
the South the front
The evening the past
the East the back
The West the bottom
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12. Ordinal numbers Cardinal numbers The first chapter Chapter One
8. Before ordinal numbers (the definite article is not used with cardinal numbers.)
Ordinal numbers Cardinal numbers
The first chapter Chapter One
The second day Day Two
The sixth lesson Lesson six
9. When speaking about a specific noun:
Coffee originated in Ethiopia (general)
The coffee I had this morning was Brazillian (specific)
Sugar costs 50 cents a pound (general)
The sugar that he bought last night was covered with ants.
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13. The United States of America The state of Florida / The Netherlands
** If the noncountable noun is followed by a descriptive adjective clause or phrase, we use the article ‘the’.
10.Before names of countries, states, cities, universities colleges, and schools that contain the word ‘of’ and before conutries that have a plural name or have an adjective in the name, except for Great Britain:
The United States of America
The state of Florida / The Netherlands
The city of Boston / The Philippines
The University of Texas / Texas University
The United Kingdom
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14. The European Community
11.When a proper noun is used as a modifier for another noun, the always precedes the proper noun.
The Simiths’ house
The Egyptian pharaohs
The European Community
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15. 12.The always precedes ‘same’ and ‘only’
This story is almost exactly the same as a story I read last year by a different author.
He is the only person in the office who smokes.
13.  Articles are usually not used with parts of the body or clothing when the owner of the parts of the body or clothing is known. In these cases a possesive adjective is usually used.
Julia cut her hair
I wore my best pants.
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16. . 14.National groups The British drink far too much tea.
The Turkish are known to be very brave.
15.Classes of people
The rich / the old / the educated
The poor / the young / the accused
16. Before geographical areas, but not before names of the continents:
The Middle East Asia
The Orient Europe
17. Before names of oceans, rivers, seas, gulfs, and plural names of mountains, islands, and lakes.
The Pacific Ocean The Gulf of Mexio
The Appalachian Mountains
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17. The Hawaiian Islands
The Great Lakes
The Mississippi River
The Black Sea
x Mount Everest
x Manhattan Island
x Lake Michigan
18. Before the names of ships, trains, planes, and people’s family names (the definite article isn’t used with the names of people and names of magazines.)
The Browns The Mayflower Micheal Keaten
The Orient Express The Titanic Newsweek
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18. SUMMARY ARTICLE 1. On the radio 2. Newspapers (the Times)
3. The whole family (the Smiths)
4. Title without name
The Queen
The President
5. Plural names of mountains, islands, and lakes;
The Canary Islands
The Himalayas
The Great Lakes
6. Well – known buildings
The Eiffel Tower
The World Trade Center
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19. 7. Well – known buildings The Eiffel Tower The World Trade Center
8. Zoos
The London 200
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20. 10. The ---------- language
9.Names of fields of study when they contain the word ‘of ’
The history of the United States
The literature of the Sixties
10. The language
The English language
11.The / university , college / of
The university of Michigan
The university of London
12. Names of meals in a specific sense
The dinner was delicious.
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21. I like x orange juice / Give x peace a chance X Milk is good for you
NO ARTICLE (x)
 There is no article:
1.before plural and uncountable nouns when talking about things in general. (plurals not previously mentioned and not post-modified)
I like x orange juice / Give x peace a chance
X Milk is good for you
2. before most proper names
We live in x France
I will see you in x January
3. before names of meals
It’s time for x lunch
What is for x dinner?
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22. 4.With prepositions of place, when the place plays an important role;
Sally is in x prison (She’s a prisoner)
Sally is in the prison (A visitor to the building)
Similar are; church, hospital, school, university, home, work, bed
5.Before general means of transportations:
We went there by / x car, x train , x bus
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23. I bought x Cosmopolitan at x Haydarpaşa Station.
6. before countries, towns, streets, languages, magazines, airports, stations:
I bought x Cosmopolitan at x Haydarpaşa Station.
X Spain is a Mediterrean country.
X Turkish isn’t easy to learn.
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24. 2. Maganizes (x Fountain,x Newsweek)
NO ARTICLE
1. On x TV
2. Maganizes (x Fountain,x Newsweek)
3. Personal names (x Mike Harrison)
4. Title and name
X Queen Elizabeth
X President Clinton
5.Singular mountains, islands, lakes
X Mount Ağrı
X Coney Island
X Lake Van
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25. 10. Name + college / university X London University X Boston College
6. Streets and Avenues
X Madison Avenue
X Wall Street
7. Parks
X Central Park
8. School Subjects
X History,
X Biology
9. Languages
X English
x French
10. Name + college / university
X London University
X Boston College
11.Names of meals in a general sense
X Dinner is my favourite meal
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26. Exercises
Fill in the blanks with the correct article a, an, the or x (nothing)
Islands make up entire land area of some countries, including Japan and Philippines.
The, x , the
Florida Keys are coastal islands built on coral reefs.
.The
Mackinac Island in Lake Michigan is lake island.
.x, x, a
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27. Kilauea is ..... most active volcano in .....state of........Hawai.
.... City of Montreal, in Canada,is built on large river island.
The, x, a
.... Aleutian Islands, part of .....Alaska,are string of coastal islands that were built by volcanoes.
The, x, a, x
On big island of Hawai is one of World’s greatest volcanoes, Manua Loa.
.the, the, x
Kilauea is most active volcano in .....state of Hawai.
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28. The early settlers of. Pacific Islands,. Polynesians, always carried
The early settlers of Pacific Islands, Polynesians, always carried coconuts with them in their canoes.
.the, the, x
In Indonesia is huge lizard, Komondo Dragon, that eats deer and attacks people.
.x, a, the
......dodo, a giant bird now extinct, lived on island of Mauritius, in Indian Ocean.
.the, the, the
......watt is named after James Watt, British engineer who developed steam engine in … s.
.the, the,the, the
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29. Methane is. Odorless burning gas and is. main ingredient of
.....Methane is Odorless burning gas and is main ingredient of natural gas.
.x, x, the, x
.....alcohol acts as narcotic on nervous system and brain.
.x, a, the, the
Zachary Taylor was .....first president to be elected from a state west of .....Mississippi River.
.the, the
......barnacles, which are related to lobsters, shrimp, and crabs, make strongest glue.
.x, x, x, x, the
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30. In. 1860s Louis Pasteur discovered that. bacteria in air caused
In s Louis Pasteur discovered that bacteria in air caused perishable food to go bad.
.the, the, the,x
It is interesting book. It gives wonderful picture of what..... life was like in Victorian times.
an , a , x ,x
18. I have noticed that English people do not seem to shake hands as much as people do in Turkey.
x, x, x
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31. 19. As soon as J’m got home from. school he went straight to
19. As soon as J’m got home from school he went straight to since he felt as if he had flu.
x, x, the
20. On thirty-first of December, thousands of people gather in Times Square,New York, to celebrate coming of New Year.
the, x, the, the
universities of Oxford and Cambridge are two of most famous universities in Europe.
the, the, x
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32. 22. In ......... office where I work ......... most people have
a degree in English,but my boss, who is nicest
person I’ve worked for, has a PhD in astronomy.
the, x, x, the, x
23. Stephen has seminer on Saturday morning,
so we are not able to go to ski-slopes until Sunday.
a, x, the, x
Detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant,
Doctor Watson, solved number of mysteries.
x, x, a
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