Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
4.2 Grammar: Articles, THE, ZERO ARTICLE, Definite article THE, A/AN, what…
4.2 Grammar: Articles
No article is used in the following cases:
1) With uncountable nouns:
I prefer tea to coffee.
There’s snow on the ground.
An exception: if you refer to a portion, a specific unit, then you use the article:
Would you like to have a coffee?
Would you pass me the salt, please?
2) With proper names:
Hugh Grant often seems confused.
I’d love to visit Paris.
Grace lived in Monaco.
Note: in the following cases the definite article is used:
Family names in plural: Have you met the Smiths?
The names of most buildings: the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower
Titles with no person’s name in them: the Prince of Wales, the Queen
(but: Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles)
3) If we talk about things in general:
I love books! (Books in general, not any specific books)
People are often curious. (People in general, not any specific persons)
4) With many institutes or places no article is used if the focus is on action:
She was in prison.
My granny is in hospital.
Leslie goes to school.
Note: When the focus is on the building, not on the action that takes place there, then an article is used:
The school is an old brick building
I plan to visit the hospital today to greet my granny.
5) Many nouns referring to transport take no article:
by plane, by taxi, on foot
6) Many illnesses are used without an article:
he died of cancer, he suffers from diabetes
7) Sports:
Football is very popular around the world.
Kate plays tennis.
8) A noun after the following determiners takes no article:
kind of, sort of, type of, class of, variety of, species of
that kind of book
the sort of girl
my type of wedding
many species of beetles
We do not use an article before names of meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
We do not use an article before next and last + time expression (when they mean before or after now).
We don't use an article before names of languages and school subjects.
We do not use an article before names of years, months and days of the week.
Articles are little words,
a
,
an
and
the
, that are used before a noun. Which article is chosen, depends on different things:are we talking about
things in general
or about
particular example
s
INDEFINITE
something that can be
he article A/AN indicates that the noun is indefinite:
it can indicate
1) a new, indefinite object that is
mentioned for the first time
:
I saw a girl at a cafe.
This means that when a
countable noun is mentioned for the first time
and we don’t know yet exactly which member of the group it is, we choose the
indefinite article
a or an.
Remember: choosing between a or an depends on the
first sound of the next word
:
if it is a vowel, choose an.
2 more items...
if it is a consonant, choose a
22 more items...
Note also that the indefinite article is used instead of one. You only use the word one when you need to emphasise the number.
2 more items...
There is a surprise for you!
2) any member of a group:
I want to have a dog. (This can be any dog because we haven’t found the dog yet.)
Somebody call a police officer! (This can be any police officer, we don’t mean any specific person.)
3) that someone belongs to a group. This group can be an occupation, a religious group, a political group or a nationality:
Miss Thacker is a teacher.
Mizuki is a Buddhist.
Obama is a Democrat.
Pat is an Irishman.
4) The indefinite article indicates that someone/something is an example of a certain group:
He is a good friend of mine.
The movie is a good example of horror films.
5) It is used to express the measure in the expressions of time, amount or price:
INDICATING QUANTITY of THINGS
We meet once a year.
Bottled water can cost up to two pounds a litre.
The pronunciation of the
definite article
the depends on the following word:
If the following word begins with a vowel, the is pronounced [ði].
If the following word begins with a consonant, the pronunciation is [ð3].
conceptualize
road to AN
object that is
mentioned for the first time
:
if it is a vowel, choose an.
a,e,i,o,u
"An" is used before nouns that begin with vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u)
to maintain smooth and correct language flow
. I
Note also that it is the pronunciation of the next word
THE
Second mention
Specific things
Only one thing
Common place
Superlatives
Musival instruments
ZERO ARTICLE
General meaning
Meals
Years, months, days
TV
Languages, school subjects
next, last
Definite article THE
The definite article THE indicatesthat we know the noun in question, we know which
specific
individual object the speaker is referring to. This can be the case in the following situations:
1) We have already mentioned the object, we know exactly which object is meant:
I met a girl yesterday. The girl was travelling on the same train.
2) The object is defined by an of genitive or a prepositional phrase:
The roof of that house is green.
The smell of fish was lingering in the room.
The flowers in the vase are beautiful.
3) It is obvious in the situation which object is meant:
Would you please open the window? (The speaker refers to the window in the room.)
We live near the market place. (There’s only one market place in the town.)
Did you hear about the plane crash yesterday? The pilot really saved the situation! (The plane crash [that happened yesterday], the pilot of that plane that crashed yesterday)
4) There’s only one of the objects (sometimes these are opinions or world view choices):
the moon, the sun, the sky, the world, the God, the Pope, the Equator, the North Pole...
5) If the noun refers to all objects in that group:
Is the wolf a dangerous animal? (Wolf as a species, all wolves)
6) Also with adjectives to indicate the whole group:
the poor, the rich, the bold and the beautiful
7) With superlatives:
the tallest boy, the brightest day, the longest river, the best movie ever...
8) With ordinal numbers:
in the 19th century
Pete Conrad was the third man to walk on the moon.
The first prize goes to...
Please note: He came second in the race.
9) With certain words that clearly specify the noun:
the next, the following, the only, the last
Note: if the words next and last are used to talk about time (in Finnish: ensi, viime), then no article is used.
Here, a "specific"
(definite) time period
is talked about when they started late i.e. afternoon, hence 'the' will be used here.
10) With musical instruments
Sue plays the piano, Mick plays the drums.
11) Public institutions:
the army, the police, the radio
The main rule is that no article is used with proper nouns (= names). However, there are some exceptions to this rule:
1) Countries with the word kingdom, states, republic
3) Countries whose names are in plural:
4) Names of organizations:
5) Some geographical names:
6) With a noun indicating location or the point of compass:
something that is
DEFINITE
when talking about
particular example
s, are these examples definite or indefinite
The indefinite articl
e usually comes before the noun and all its modifiers (adjectives):
half, such, what, quite, rather, as, how, however, so, too
With these words,
the indefinite article
comes between these and the noun:
half an hour
such a pretty skirt
What a drag!
quite a long time
rather a long time
how important a role
However high a salary you get you are never satisfied.
too important a matter
We bought a beautiful, red car.
A/AN
First mentions
Jobs
Descriptions
what kind of a noun are we using (
countable
or
uncountable
common noun or a proper noun)
Countable words
mean that you
can count them
and they can have plurals:
a dog, two dogs, three dogs
Uncountable
words
can’t be
counted
and they don’t have plurals:
milk, honey, love, fog