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THE DEFINITE ARTICLE. INDEFINITE ARTICLE to talk about: a person/thing in a general way. ( I’m looking for a job ) Something/someone for the first time ( There’s a man waiting to see you ) A person/thing-one of many ( He’s a director [ he’s 1 of many ]). DEFINITE ARTICLE to talk about:
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INDEFINITE ARTICLE to talk about: a person/thing in a general way. (I’m looking for a job) Something/someone for the first time (There’s a man waiting to see you) A person/thing-one of many (He’s a director [he’s 1 of many]) DEFINITE ARTICLE to talk about: a person/thing in a specific way (the job advertised in the paper) The same thing/person for the second time (It’s the man I told you about) A person/thing –only one in that context (He’s the director [there’s only 1 in this company]). COMPARISON
What job someone does (I’m a teacher) Singular, countable nouns Sth /sb -clear in a particularcontext (I’ve come about the job. [it’s a particular job]) All nouns (singular, plural and uncountable) Comparison cont’d
When to use THE: PEOPLE in plural (e.g. the Smiths, the Smith family) TITLES with “of” ( The Prince of Wales) LANGUAGES (The French language) COUNTRIES in plural (The USA, ) Periods of time: the nineties, the weekend When not to use THE: PEOPLE in singular (e.g. John Smith TITLES (Prince Charles) LANGUAGES ( French, Italian, English) COUNTRIES in singular (Italy, France, Spain) ACADEMIC SUBJECTS (English, geography etc.) THE DEFINITE ARTICLEwith names
When to use THE: Geographical regions: the north,the coast Mountains (plural) (The Alps) Oceans /seas: (the Pacific) Rivers: ( the Nile) not to use THE Months, days Lakes :( Lake Garda) Mountains (sing.) Mont Blanc THE DEFINITE ARTICLEwith names
When to use THE: School, hospital, prison, church(not used in proper function) Radio, television, cinema, theatre The superlative not to use THE School, hospital, prison, church, work Sports By + transport The more ……the less THE DEFINITE ARTICLE