Units 65,66,69,70

Professor : Sarah Torabian M.A. Shiraz University

Articles
Articles can be a problem area in English for students even at advanced level, especially for those whose own language has a very different article system.

Indefinite Articles
Articles We

(a/an, the) precede nouns.

use the indefinite article (a/an) with singular countable nouns: e.g. a garage, an opinion.

a/an
When a is used before a word that begins with a vowel, it changes to an.
hour university European

Can I have _____ cup of tea? 1) an other 2) another

Definite Article
We use the definite article (the) with: 1. singular countable nouns e.g. the garage, 2.plural nouns e.g. the latest computers 3. uncountable nouns e.g. the purest water We can omit the with uncountable and plural nouns

Known and Unknown

A and the are called the articles. A is called the indefinite article, and the is called the definite article. They are used in the following ways: 1. The main use of a and the is to say whether you are talking about a noun for the first time, or whether you have mentioned it before. For a first-time mention, use a; for later mentions, use the. e.g. Mary bought a car and a bike, but she used the bike more often.

2. If you use the with a noun that you have not mentioned before, you are actually saying to your listener you know which one I mean. This is usually because there is only one example of the noun in the situation, or you have only one such example in your mind. That is why it is definite.

e.g. Have you fed the cat? (=you have only one cat)
Theres the hotel. (="that" is the hotel we have been looking for) I met him during the war. (="both" you and your listener know which war you mean) Pass the salt, please.

3.If you want to talk about something of a particular type in an indefinite way, use a. Im training to be an engineer. NOT Im training to be engineer.

I went out to buy a newspaper. NOT I went out to buy newspaper.

4.Use a when you are talking about one of several things or people and it is not important to say which one. Use the when it is clear that you are talking about one particular thing or person and there is only one.
A man I work with told me about it. (=you work with several men) The man I work with told me about it. (="you" work with only one man)

5. You must use the with singular nouns such as world, sky, or sun, because there is only one of these things in the situation that you are talking about.(They are unique.) Were going to travel round the world. Dont look directly at the sun.

6.If you are talking about buildings, places, and organizations as things which you often see or visit, use the. For example the bank, the theatre, the cinema etc.

I went to the theatre last week.

Shes at the gym.

7. Use the with the following: The top , the end, the middle, the left , the middle of, the right, the left, the same

Important point
Nouns such as church, hospital, school do not take an article if we think of their purpose, i.e. church as a place of worship, or school as a place of learning: Fewer people attend church regularly now than twenty years ago. Can children leave school at fourteen in your country? If we think of the physical place or building, we use an article: The collection for restoring the church has almost reached its target. Is there a school in the village or do the children have to go to the town?

WHEN NOT TO USE A OR THE

1. If you want to use a countable noun in the plural to talk in general about something, dont use the. Tigers are very fierce animals. Prices keep going up. 2. If you want to use an uncountable noun to talk in general about something, dont use the. There has been a big increase in crime. NOT There has been a big increase in the crime. It takes patience and skill to be a teacher. NOT It takes the patience and the skill to be a teacher.

Most names of places or people that begin with a capital letter do not have the before them. Dont use the with these names. Theyre visiting Belgium and Holland. NOT Theyre visiting the Belgium and the Holland.

However, there are some names that always have the in them, for example the United States, the Nile (="the" big river in Egypt) etc. Dont forget to put the in these names.
Hes from the United States. NOT Hes from United States.

General and specific

With

plural nouns we use either the or no article. We dont use an article when we want to refer to a group or class in general. E.g. Tourists are often blamed for changing the character of a place. (= all tourists) E.g. Did you notice what the tourists in the cathedral were doing? (= specific tourists)

Do we have to mention sth to be known?

We do not always have to mention something for it to be known to the listener.

1. something is unique E.g. We are in danger of permanently damaging the Earth. 2. Superlatives E.g. Muhammad Ali is the greatest heavyweight boxer ever. 3. the context makes it 'known E.g. Has Edward arrived yet? Yes, hes in the dining room. (= the dining room of the house we are in)

There are also many common nouns and phrases which do not use a or the. This is especially true when talking about meals, illnesses, ways of travelling, times and periods of time.
Will you have lunch with me? lunch with me? Her mother has cancer. cancer. I travel to work by bus. bus. In winter we get a lot of snow. of the snow. Its time to go to bed. NOT Will you have the

NOT Her mother has the

NOT I travel to work by the

NOT In winter we get a lot

NOT Its time to go to the bed.

No Articles

proper names: James, Chris Graham, Mr Jones names of most countries, mountains, lakes: Japan, Mount Everest, Lake Victoria substances, liquids and gases: Cooking oil is simply liquid fat. materials: This blouse is made of silk. political or business roles: Lagos became President of Chile in 2000. transport: We're going by rail to London, then by plane. times and seasons: at night, in summer, at dusk4 meal(time)s: Have you had breakfast? See you at lunch. sports: She plays both tennis and squash very well. illnesses: He's got lung cancer. She's had German measles.

THE
some

geographical names: plurals (the United States, the US), areas (the West), mountain ranges (the Pyrenees), oceans or seas (the Pacific Ocean, the Black Sea), rivers (the Rhone) musical instruments: She plays the violin. the media: All our family work in the theatre. We often use television, cinema, etc. without an article to refer to the art or entertainment form: She works in television. Im studying film in my final year. If we refer to a specific item we use the article:
Dont

put flowers on the television. Have you seen the new film by Ridley Scott?

 in

some comparative phrases: the more the merrier, all the better in front of superlatives and first, last, only, same, right, wrong: the most dangerous profession, the last time, the only one in measurements: You can buy saffron by the gram. physical environments: I prefer the town to the country.

Singular and Plural

noun

countable

uncountable

concrete

abstract

Nouns can be countable or uncountable ,and concrete (table, child, station, food, storm) or abstract (hope, responsibility, anger, efficiency, consternation).

Nouns: singular and plural

Most countable nouns have both a singular and a plural form, showing the difference between one and more than one.

REGULAR PLURALS
1.The regular way of changing a noun from singular to plural is to add -s at the end. This is true of nouns which end in most consonants dog - dogs, chair - chairs, difference - differences 2.For nouns ending in -y, you drop the -y and add -ies to form the plural. dictionary - dictionaries, opportunity - opportunities

3.For nouns ending in -o, you add -es to form the plural.

tomato - tomatoes, potato - potatoes

IRREGULAR PLURALS
There are also several irregular ways of forming a plural. 1. With seven nouns you change the vowel. They are: man - men foot - feet mouse - mice louse - lice woman - women goose - geese tooth - teeth

IRREGULAR PLURALS
2. With a few nouns you change the final -f to -v before adding the -s ending. They include: knife - knives wife - wives

leaf - leaves half - halves

Some nouns in this group have a regular plural as well: scarfs and scarves, hoofs and hooves. Both possibilities are correct.

IRREGULAR PLURALS
3. With three nouns you add -en. They are: ox - oxen, child - children, brother-brethren (only in the religious sense) 4. A few nouns have no plural ending, but you can still use them in a singular or plural way: they include the names of some animals (such as sheep, deer, fish) The sheep was making a noise. The sheep were making a noise.

NOUNS WHICH ARE ONLY PLURAL

Several nouns are used only in the plural.

1.A few nouns are related to things consisting of two joined parts. They include jeans, binoculars, trousers, glasses, scissors, pajamas etc. To talk about these in the singular, you use a pair of. Your jeans are in the wash. NOT Your jeans is in the wash. I need to buy another pair of jeans. NOT I need to buy another jeans. NOT I need to buy another jean.

NOUNS WHICH ARE ONLY PLURAL

2. A few nouns express the idea of groups of people. They include people, police.
The police are outside. NOT The police is outside. NOT The polices are outside.

NOUNS WHICH ARE ONLY SINGULAR

Several nouns are used only in the singular. 1. Proper names - names of particular people, places, times, occasions, events, and so on. John, Robinson, Christmas, Tuesday You can use these in the plural only if you think of them in a countable way. This is especially common with proper nouns expressing time. On Tuesdays I go swimming. Are the Robinsons coming to the party? We stayed with Mary three Christmasses ago.