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The problem is that the noun 'boy' (the subjects) cannot be used without an article. We could say, for example, 'The
boy', 'A boy' or 'My neighbour's boy'. Generally, the articles a and the are used with nouns.
"The teacher I spoke to at the school was very friendly." - Here we are talking about one specific teacher (the one I
spoke to).
"I want to buy a new car." - There are many types of car. It does not matter yet which type I want.
"I want to buy the car we looked at yesterday." - We use the here because we are talking about a specific car (the
one we looked at).
Plural Nouns
"Boys like soccer." - This sentence is ok because we are talking to boys in general (all boys).
"The Boys in my school like soccer." - This is ok because we are talking about specific boys (the ones in my school).
Uncountable Nouns
"Pollution is a problem." - Pollution is an uncountable noun (a mass noun).
"The pollution in my town is a problem." - This is ok because we are talking about a specific location.
"There is some pollution in my town." - This is ok because some tells us about the amount of pollution.
"There is a pollution in my town." - This is NOT ok because a is only used with countable nouns (a car, a boy) and
pollution is uncountable. Water, traffic and snow are other examples of uncountable nouns.
Real Nouns
Don't use articles with real nouns i.e. the names of people or places.
a
(no article needed)
the
8 - Let's eat out at ___ restaurant tonight. What type shall we go to?
(no article needed)
the
a
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