ELL Grammar Key 7: ArticlesNeyane, Lilian and Bárbara

Grammar explanation

There are two types of article, the INDEFINITE (He was a teacher of English) and the DEFINITE (He was listening to the radio).

Folse also uses a topic to talk about NO ARTICLE – which discusses when we do not use an article at all (People will have to go looking for work).

Grammar explanation

We use a before a singular count noun (or adjective + count noun) which starts with a CONSONANT (a door, a native speaker);

We use an before words th at starts with a VOWEL-LIKE SOUND (an idea, an honor).

The use of the Indefinite Articles

Grammar explanation

With something specific (the idea that changed his life) or a noun that has already been mentioned before (Then he remembered a friend of his. The friend had done a teacher training course);

When we are talking about something unique (The president);

When we talk about a group of people who are clearly plural (The unemployed);

With country names that give the idea of plural (The United States; The Netherlands).

The use of the Definite Article (The)

Grammar explanation

When talking about abstract concepts and uncountable nouns in general (Life is beautiful);

A category or group in general (Cats can be great pets).

Using No Article

Native Language Interference

Articles in these languages are only used before nouns whose meaning is restricted

This restriction may be caused by the context or by an adjective

A common ELL mistake in this case would be to omit the article in the following case: “My mother is a teacher”, because the meaning of the noun is not specified.

Romantic languages, like French, Spanish and Portuguese, have definite and

indefinite articles. Unlike in English, they have plural and singular forms.

Native Language Interference

Definite articles in these languages are also used with abstract nouns and when making a general statement.

A common ELL mistake in these cases would be to add the article in the following cases:

“The honesty is important”

”The football is a little box of surprises."

Romantic languages, like French, Spanish and Portuguese, have definite and

indefinite articles. Like in English, definite articles are used for specifying nouns.

a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonantsShe has a dog.I work in a factory.

an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects)Can I have an apple?She is an English teacher

the = definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know)The car over there is fast.The teacher is very good, isn't he?

The first time you speak of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that object use "the". I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good..

Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas - My country borders on the Pacific Ocean

DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general I like Russian tea.She likes reading books.

DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transportHe has breakfast at homeI go to university.He comes to work by taxi.

DO NOT use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier.They live in northern British Columbia

A, An, The &

No article

Simple rules to use "A, An, The or no article":