ARTICLES

THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

a/an

1. Using the indefinite article to introduce something. -we use it when we are introducing a particular thing or person into a conversation. After weeks of looking, we eventually bought a house. if we can assume that people will know what we are talking about, then we usually introduce the thing using the definite article.

2. Referring to any thing or person of a particular type

-we also use the indefinite article when we are not referring to a particular thing or person, but just to any thing or person of a particular type. I had never owned a pet. ( any pet, not specified)

3. Using the indefinite article to describe things and people -we use the indefinite article when we are saying what someones job or profession is. He is a teacher. She is a doctor. 4. Using the indefinite article to express rates -the indefinite article is used between two noun groups to express rate or ratio. We can talk about prices, salaries, and speeds in this way. ......as fast as 500 km an hour. ..... rising by 1 per cent a year. .... a thousand pounds a week. She worked 14 hours a day. We have expressions such as: a piece of, a bit of, a loaf of.....

5. Using the indefinite article with abstract uncount nouns When using adjective + abstract noun, we use the indefinite article to specify certain kind: ..... a passionate hatred of feminists. ..... working up a passing anger.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE the

1. We use the definite article when something is mentioned for the second time or is known I bought a cat. The cat is so cute...... 2. Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase of clause: The girl in blue, the man with the banner the place where I met him 3. Before superlatives and first, second, etc. the first ( week), the best day 4. the + adjective represents a class of persons: the old= old people in general

WITH

THE

NO THE
1. personal names John Smith 2. Names of festivals Christmas, Easter ( Easter is a great time in Poland.) 3. Names of streets and roads Broadway, Oxford Street 4. Schools, Universities Cambridge University but The University of Zagreb 5. Stations and airports Heathrow, Orlie 6. Churches, cathedrals Westminster Abbey 7. Continents Africa, Europe 8. Bays and lakes Lake Michigan, Plitvice Lakes ( He sails on Lake Michigan.) 9. Individual mountains Mount Everest, Mont Blanc 10. Illnesses flu, measles but I have a headache. 11.There are certain establishments in human society used without an article when we think of them as institutions: prison, hospital, church, jail court, college, school 12. Countries: France, Germany, China, Italy but the UK, the USA, the Netherlands, the Phillipines

1. Media and communication the news, the radio, ( I have just heard her talking on the radio) 2. Means of transport the underground, the train but by bus, by train ( I dont often travel by bus) 3. Forms of entertainment the movies, the opera, the theater ( Lets go to the movies) 4. Shops and other businesses the dentist, the bank, the pub ( He is at the dentists) 5. Musical instruments the guitar, the piano 6. Geographical oppositions the desert, the forest, the town (She went to the town) 7. Seasons the summer, the fall, the winter, the spring 8. Group of islands The Channel Islands 9. Mountain ranges and groups of hills the Alps, the Rockies 10. Deserts the Sahara, the Gobi desert 11. Rivers, canals the Thames, the Nile, the Suez Canal

12. Seas and oceans The Indian Ocean, the Black Sea

13. Hotels, restaurants and pubs the Ritz, the Esplanade 14. Museums and galleries The British museum 15. Names of ships, trains the Titanic, the Orient Express 16. Names of political institutions the Senate, the Foreign Ministry 17. There are some things which are said to be unique in that only one example of them exists. (the devil, the sky , the the moon , the north pole, the planets, the pope, the sky, the sun, the the universe, the weather)

earth world,