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Article Usage. Explanation and Practice. Nouns: Count or Non-Count?. Determine if the noun is countable or not. Cat -C Water - NC Oil - NC Olive- C Boy -C. Cat Water Oil Olive Boy. Countable Nouns: Singular or Plural?. Determine if the noun is singular or plural. A cat -S
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Article Usage Explanation and Practice
Nouns: Count or Non-Count? • Determine if the noun is countable or not. Cat -C Water - NC Oil - NC Olive- C Boy -C Cat Water Oil Olive Boy
Countable Nouns: Singular or Plural? • Determine if the noun is singular or plural. A cat -S Olives - P A boy -S Cat Olives Boy Cat -S Olives- P Boy -S • If the noun is singular, it must have an article in front of it!
Countable Nouns – Definite or Indefinite? • Determine if the countable noun is definite or not. • To make this decision, is the noun known to both the writer/speaker and the reader/listener? • If it is known to both, use “the” (for singular or plural). The cat that lives under our front porch is skinny. A boy is walking along the street. ___cat that lives under our front porch is skinny. ____boy is walking along the street.
Countable Nouns – Definite or Indefinite? • Determine if the countable noun is definite or not. • To make this decision, is the noun known to both the writer/speaker and the reader/listener? • If it is known to both, use “the” • If it is unknown to both and SINGULAR, use an indefinite article. • If it unknown to both and PLURAL, no article is necessary.
Countable Nouns – Definite or Indefinite? • Examples: ___cat that lives under our front porch is skinny. ____boy is walking along the street. ____cats make good companions. ____ boys that live next door are rambunctious. The cat that lives under our front porch is skinny. A boy is walking along the street. Cats make good companions. The boys that live next door are rambunctious.
Non-Count Nouns – Definite or Indefinite? • If the non-count noun is indefinite (in general), no article is necessary. • If the non-count noun is definite (known), use “the” ___ water covers the earth. ____water in the tea kettle is hot. ____traffic on my way home is annoying. ____traffic is annoying. Water covers the earth. The water in the tea kettle is hot. The traffic on my ride home is annoying. Traffic is annoying.
Geographical Uses of The • Do not usethebefore: • names of countries (Italy, Mexico, Bolivia) except the Netherlands and the US • names of cities, towns, or states (Seoul, Manitoba, Miami) • names of streets (Washington Blvd., Main St.) • names of lakes and bays (Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie) except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes • names of mountains (Mount Everest, Mount Fuji) except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn • names of continents (Asia, Europe) • names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands • Do use the before: • names of rivers, oceans and seas (the Nile, the Pacific) • points on the globe (the Equator, the North Pole) • geographical areas (the Middle East, the West) • deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas (the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula) From the OWL at Perduehttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/esl/eslartEX1.html
Practice Exercises Directions: Fill in the blank with the appropriate article, a, an, or the, or leave the space blank if no article is needed. • 1. I want ____ apple from that basket. • 2. ____ church on the corner is progressive. • 3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese. • 4. I borrowed ____ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens. • 5. One of the students said, "____ professor is late today." • 6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball. • 7. I bought ____ umbrella to go out in the rain. • 8. My daughter is learning to play ____ violin at her school. • 9. Please give me ____ cake that is on the counter. • 10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town. • 11. Albany is the capital of ____ New York State. • 12. My husband's family speaks ____ Polish. • 13. ____ apple a day keeps the doctor away. • 14. ____ ink in my pen is red. • 15. Our neighbors have ____ cat and ____ dog. From the OWL at Perduehttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/esl/eslartEX1.html