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Use of Articles . Rosanna McMillin September 21, 2012 . Articles – BEFORE QUIZ . Q1 - An atheist does not believe in ....... God a the an Q2 - He never listens to ....... classical music a an the Q3 - You can pay that bill at ..... bank the a an Q4 - My flat is on ..... second floor
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Use of Articles Rosanna McMillin September 21, 2012
Articles – BEFORE QUIZ • Q1 - An atheist does not believe in ....... God • athean • Q2 - He never listens to ....... classical music • aanthe • Q3 - You can pay that bill at ..... bank • theaan • Q4 - My flat is on ..... second floor • theaan • Q5 - It was ...... excellent meal last night • theana
Who can define what articles are for? • Their grammatical function is to identify the noun as a noun rather than to describe it. • Can anyone identify the three articles that are used in English? • They are: A/AN/THE
English has 3 articlesTHE/A/ AN • The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns. • A/An are used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. • the = definite article • a/an = indefinite article
rules for “the” • The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. • The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example: • The can be used with non-count nouns, or the article can be omitted entirely. • The is typically not used in geographic terms: names of specific countries, lakes, streets, mountains etc. • The should be used for names of rivers, points on the globe, and geographical areas.
Examples • If I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. • If I say, "Let's read a book," I mean any book rather than a specific book. • The is used to refer to a specific or particular member of a group. • "I just saw the most popular movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use the.
rules to remember for a/an • Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So... • a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog • an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan • a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle • an + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour • a + nouns starting with a pronounced "h": a horse
Examples • "A/an" is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. • "I would like to go see a movie." Here, we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking about any movie. There are many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in mind.
After quiz • Fill in the correct article: • I am ______ teacher. • Brian is ____ Irishman. • Seiko is _____ practicing Buddhist. • “____ dog that bit me ran away." • "I was happy to see _____ policeman who saved my cat!" • "I saw _____ elephant at the zoo. • "I love to sail over _____ water.” • "He spilled the milk all over __the__ floor.”