General English Language Instructor: Dr. Mohamed Fathi

General English Language Instructor: Dr. Mohamed Fathi King Faisal University e- Learning Deanship & Distance Education 1

Articles: a/an/the

UsingArticles • Whatisanarticle? Basically, anarticleisa determiner. Articlesspecifythereference of a nounwithrespect to beingdefiniteorindefinte. • English has twoarticles: the and a/an/0. Theisused to refer to specificor particular nouns; a/anare usedto specify non-specificor non-particular nouns. Wecallthethedefinitearticle and a/antheindefinitearticles. • the = definitearticle • a/an = indefinitearticle • Forexample, if I say, "Let'sreadthebook," I mean a specificbook. If I say, "Let'sreadabook," I mean anybookratherthan a specificbook.

Here'sanotherwaytoexplainit: • Theisused to refer to a specificorparticularmember of a group. • Forexample: • I justsawthemost popular movie of theyear. • Thereare manymovies, butonlyone particular movieis • themost popular. Therefore, we use the.

"A/an" • "A/an" isused to refer to a non-specificornon-particularmember of thegroup. • Forexample, "I wouldlike to go to seeamovie." Here, we'renottalkingabout a specificmovie. We'retalkingaboutanymovie. There are manymovies, and I wanttoseeanymovie. I don'thave a specificone in mind.

a/an • Generally, we use a/anto refer to somethingforthefirst time. • Forexample, “Wewent to amuseum in Paris. We ate at themuseumtoo”.

IndefiniteArticles: a and an • "A" and "an" signalthatthenounisindefinite, referring to anymember of a group. Forexample: • "My daughterreallywantsadogfor Christmas." Thisreferstoanydog. Wedon'tknowwhichdogbecausewehaven'tfoundthedogyet.

"Somebodycallapoliceman!" • Thisreferstoanypoliceman. Wedon'tneed a specificpoliceman; weneedanypolicemanwhoisavailable.

"When I was at the zoo, I sawanelephant!" • Here, we'retalkingabout a single, non-specificthing, in this case anelephant. There are probablyseveralelephants at the zoo, butthere'sonlyonewe'retalkingabouthere.

Remember:usingaorandependsonthesoundthatbeginsthenextword. So... • a + singular nounbeginningwith a consonant: aboy; a car; abike; a zoo; adog • an + singular nounbeginningwith a vowel: anelephant; anegg; anapple; anidiot; anorphan • a + singular nounbeginningwith a consonantsound: auser (soundslike 'yoo-zer,' i.e.beginswith a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' isused); auniversity; aunicycle

Ifthenounismodifiedbyanadjective, thechoicebetweena and andependsontheinitialsound of theadjectivethatimmediatelyfollowsthearticle: • abrokenegg • anunusualproblem • aEuropean country (soundslike 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e.beginswithconsonant /j/ sound)

Remember, too, that in English, theindefinitearticles are usedtoindicatemembership in a group: • I am ateacher. (I am a member of a largegroupknown as teachers.) • Brian isanIrishman. (Brian is a member of thepeopleknown as Irish.) • Sam isapracticingmuslim.

DefiniteArticle: the • Thedefinitearticleisusedbefore singular and plural nounswhenthenounisspecificor particular. Thesignalsthatthenounisdefinite, thatitrefersto a particular member of a group. Forexample: • "Thedogthat bit me ranaway." Here, we'retalkingabout a specificdog, thedogthat bit me.

"I washappytoseethepolicemanwhosaved my cat!" • Here, we'retalkingabout a particularpoliceman. Evenifwedon'tknowthepoliceman'sname, it'sstill a particular policemanbecauseitistheonewhosavedthecat.

"I sawtheelephant at the zoo." • Here, we'retalkingabout a specificnoun. Probablythereisonlyoneelephant at the zoo.

Countable and NoncountableNouns • The can beusedwithnoncountnouns, orthearticle can beomittedentirely. • "I lovetosailoverthewater" (somespecificbody of water) • or • "I lovetosailoverwater" (anywater).

"He spilledthemilkalloverthefloor" (somespecificmilk, perhapsthemilkyouboughtearlierthatday) • or • "He spilledmilkalloverthefloor" (anymilk).

"A/an" can beusedonlywithcountnouns. • "I needabottle of water." • "I needa new glass of milk.“ • Most of the time, youcan'tsay, "Shewants a water," unlessyou'reimplying, say, a bottle of water.

Geographical use of the • Do not use thebefore: • names of mostcountries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however,theNetherlands, theDominicanRepublic, thePhilippines, theUnitedStates • names of cities, towns, orstates: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami • names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St. • names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erieexceptwitha group of lakeslikethe Great Lakes • names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fujiexceptwithranges of mountainslikethe AndesortheRockiesorunusualnamesliketheMatterhorn • names of continents(Asia, Europe) • names of islands(Easter Island, Maui, Key West) exceptwithislandchainsliketheAleutians, theHebrides, ortheCanaryIslands

Do use thebefore: • names of rivers, oceans and seas: theNile, thePacific • pointsontheglobe: theEquator, the North Pole • geographicalareas: theMiddle East, the West • deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, thePersianGulf, the Black Forest, theIberianPeninsula

Don’tforgetto use THEwiththefollowing: • The centre, the top, the middle, the bottom, the left, the right, the end of, the beginning of… • The same, the best, the worst… • The sun, the moon, the world, the sky, the sea, the ground, the country… • The police, the fire brigade, the army… • The piano, the guitar, the trumpet, the flute… • The radio (but television, without the) • The doctor, the toilet, the bank, the theatre, the post office, the dentist, the cinema…

Do notuse THEwiththefollowing: • Breakfast, lunch, dinner • Gotowork, gettowork, be at work, startwork, finishwork… • Gottoschool, be at school, startschool, leaveschool… • Gotouniversity, be at university… • Gotochurch, be in chuch (ormass) • Gotobed, be in bed • Goto hospital, be in hospital • Gotoprison, be in prison • Go home, get home, arrive home, come home, walk home, leave home, be at home, stay at home

Omission of Articles • Somecommontypes of nounsthatdon'ttakeanarticle are: • Names of languages and nationalities:Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian • Names of sports:volleyball, hockey, baseball • Names of academicsubjects: mathematics, biology, history, computerscience • OrGeneralization • Mothers are kindtotheirkids, • Infants are innocent.

In each of the sentences below, you will see a blank. Please choose one of the following articles for each sentence – a, an, the or leave it blank. • 1. My father’s car is considered to be ______ piece of art. • 2. _______ (B/b)eauty is fleeting (short-lived). • 3. _______ (A/a)ir in the room was stifling (hot). • 4. The doctor told me that I needed ______ operation tomorrow. • 5. ______ (I/i)nformation I received was extremely important. • 6. ______ (A/a)ir is made up of millions of atoms. • 7. My parents could not believe that their dog had peed on ______ carpet. • 8. ______ (A/a)pple a day keeps the doctor away. • 9. In some cultures ______ dogs are considered man’s best friend. • 10. My sister decided to cut her hair with ______ scissors. • 11. I was bitten by _______ mosquito in the Caribbean. • 12. When the horn honked, it scared me and I dropped ______ glass on the floor. • 13. In ancient Egypt _______ cat was considered sacred. • 14. Is _______ water in Lake Erie safe to drink?

A, An, The, Zero Article • 1. Could you please give me _____ piece of cake? • a. an b. two c. a d. many • 2._____ dog is ______ animal. • a. An/a b. An/an c. A/an d. A/a • 3. I visited ________ Ahmed last week. • a. an b. the c. a d. Zero Article • 4. The capital of Saudi Arabia is_______Riyadh. • a. Zero Article b. an c. a d. the • 5. I finished _______ unit in English language course. • a. an b. a c. three d. few • 6. I take ______ umbrella when it rains. • a. a b. an c. two d. several

بحمد الله

General English Language Instructor: Dr. Mohamed Fathi