ARTICLES

Aline Bacelar de Araujo

Lívia Modesto Coutinho

TDC 1 – Teacher Frank Couto

INDEFINITE The indefinite articles a and an are used before

singular count nouns that are not specific and are being mentioned for the first time.

a - before a noun or an adjective (+noun) that begins with a consonant sound.

Ex.: a house / a white housean - before a noun or an adjective (+noun) that begins with a vowel sound.

Ex.: an elephant / an orange elephant

Be careful with the letters h or u! The use of a and an depends on the beginning

sound of the words.

DEFINITE – THEDIFFERENT SITUATIONS IN WHICH WE USE THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

1- When you are talking about something specific. Ex.: the crayons on the table are mine.

2- When the speaker and the listener are talking about the same specific thing. Ex.: Frank, don´t forget to turn off the light.

3- For the second and all other references to the same noun. Ex.: I bought a new house. The house needs to be painted.

4- With the superlative form of an adjective (with the word most or with the ending –est). Ex.: John is the most popular boy at school.

5-For the names of countries that look plural, including countries that end in –s or have the words united, union, republic, or kingdom. Ex.: the Bahamas; the Czech Republic.

6- For the parts of something. (Exception: We do not use the for body parts.) Ex.: I went to Mary´s house. The garden was really beautiful.

7- With most bodies of water except individual lakes. Ex.: the Ipiranga River.

8- With geographic parts of the globe and geographic areas, deserts, and peninsulas. Ex.: the Antartic Continent.

NO ARTICLEIN SOME SITUATIONS WE DO NOT USE ANY ARTICLE WITH A NOUN

- When you want to talk about a category or group in general. Ex.: teachers are great warriors.

2- before abstract nouns such as feelings or ideas. Ex.: love is in the air.

 

A flower,A flower,A tree,A tree,

A bumblebee.A bumblebee.An apple,An apple,An egg,An egg,

An elephant´s tag,An elephant´s tag,A nose,A nose,

A mouth,A mouth,A rose!A rose!An ear,An ear,An eye,An eye,

An elegant dear!An elegant dear!