USE OF ARTICLES( A, AN, THE)

INSTRUCTOR: M. ZAIN UL ABADIN

RULE NO.1

 Use “a” before a consonant sound

 Use “an” before a vowel sound

 A cat, a dog, a desert, a fish, a king a field, a football

 An umbrella, an icon, an engineer, an eye, an elephant

Exercise (choose from an, a)

 1:----- car
 2:----onion
 3:-----Basket
 4:----spinach omelet
 5:--- teacher
 6:----interesting story
 7:----university
 8: ----European tour
 9:----hour
 10:----MA in English
Rule no.2 (Use a/an only with
countable nouns)

Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

An Elephant Coffee
A car Love, equipment
A teacher Air , furniture
An onion Milk
An interesting story Sugar
A European tour Anger
An hour Knowledge
A spinach Omelet Darkness
A case study Literature
An effective solution Food
Identify the errors

 A cell phone
 A doctors
 An easy question
 An advice
 An idea
 A pretty woman
 An easy question
 A happiness
 A water
Rule no.3

 Use “a” or “an” to talk about a person or thing unknown to your listener

 Use “the” about a person or thing known to your listener:

 My sister has two computers: a PC and a laptop. The PC is quite old and
the laptop is brand new.
 I planted --- tree last year. --- tree has now grown big.
 I planted--- trees last year. ----trees have now grown big.
Rule no.3

 Sometimes listener already knows about the noun

 Example: Can you please open the window?
 I need to go back to back home. I think I left the door open.
 The man in the blue suit is my boss.
Rule no.4

 We use a or an for non-specific things or people:

 Do you have a pencil?
 Do you have the pencil that Kathy gave you?
 I want to buy a house.
 I want to buy the house that we visited.
Rule No.5

 Use “a” or “an” to mention the category or type of a person or thing:

 Insert “a” or “an” :
 My car is Ford Fusion.
 He worked as accountant for two years.
 I’m instructor.
 He is European.
 Jim’s daughter is intelligent girl.
 I’d like to be member of your family.
Rule No.6:

 Generalize with plurals or uncountable nouns with “no article”.

 Identify all plural or uncountable nouns:
 Teachers should be friendly to students.
 Dolphins are intelligent.
 I hate to watch horror movies.
 Does Pablo like coffee ?
 Education is very important in life.
 Exercise is good for health.
Rule No. 7

 Use no article in these situations:

 Proper nouns: names of people, places
 Ali, Sana, Zainab, New York, Paris, Manchester
 However, some proper nouns have “the” as a part of their name, for
example, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Himalayas, the West
Indies, the Middle East, the Netherlands
 Names of games or languages
 Cricket, Hockey, Football Arabic, Persian, French, Spanish, Tamil, Hindi
 Exception for nations-use of “the”
Cont.

 Fixed expressions:
 At home, at work, go to bed, church, school, school, college, university,
jail, travel by bus, car, plane, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Tuesday, Friday, Saturday
Exercise

 Fill in the blanks with “a”, “an” , “the” or no article:

 1: She is– vegetarian. So, she doesn’t eat---chicken or ---fish.
 2: Can I use your phone to send– email? Sure, be quick ---- battery is low.
 3: I heard there was ---robbery in our neighborhood last night. ---police
think that ----local criminal gang may have been involved in ---crime.
 4: Mr. Ali is ---experienced English teacher. He has taught --- English to
hundreds of---undergraduate students but he also enjoys teaching----
children.
Exercise

 5: Do you have ---ink eraser? I need to remove some pen markings.

No, sorry. But I have---whitener if you want.
 6: Who’s that woman there talking to--- Ayesha? You mean---one in the
blue dress? That’s ---CEO of our company.

 7:-----money is important but it cannot buy ---happiness. Other things like ---
family,---lasting friendships and ---satisfying job are far more important in –
life.
Use of “The” in detail

 1: To talk about a person or thing known to your listener.

 Can you answer the phone ?
 This is the watch that my sister gave to me on birthday.
 2: Use with unique things
 The sun, the moon, the sky, the universe, the world
 Ali traveled around the whole world.
 Everybody uses the internet today.
Use of The

 3: With some words referring to nature or environment generally

 The countryside, the beach, the seaside, the weather, the mountains, the
tropics, the hurricane, the typhoon, etc.
 I love the weather in Swat.
 4: With some objects of common experience
 The park, the gym, the newspaper, the shower, the toilet
 I met a man at the park yesterday.
 Do you read the newspaper daily
 Will you help me move the TV?
 I saw a movie on TV
Use of The

 5: Time expressions (some)

 The morning, the afternoon, the evening, the day before yesterday, the
day after tomorrow, the summer, the winter, the spring, the fall, the future,
the 18th century, the present , the autumn, the past, the future , the sixties,
 Kids hate getting up early in the morning .
 This house was built in the sixties.
 We love to go to the mountains in the summer.
Use of The

 No article before these time expressions:

 (at)noon, night, today, yesterday, tomorrow, everyday, day, week, month,
year, night, specific days, months, years (ex: Sunday, August, 1985)

 6: In superlative form of adjective

 The best, the worst, the biggest, the tallest
 7: With these numbers when they are used as adjectives (to describe
nouns)
 The first, the second, the previous, the following, the next, the last, the
same, the only
Use of The

 Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon

 When are the next elections in Punjab and KPK ?

 8: With names of musical instruments

 The guitar, the violin, the piano, the saxophone
 He plays the guitar
Use of The

 9: With names of scientific inventions

 The internet, the telephone, the telescope
 The telephone was invented by Graham Bell
 The internet is the most revolutionary invention of the last century

 8: With names of body parts(only when something bad happens) the nose,
the leg, the arm, the back, the foot
 The suspect was shot in the head
 There is no pain in my hand
Use of The

 11: with names of only some places

 The Middle East, the USA, the UK, the Balkans, the Netherlands, the
Philippines, the Arab World, the Baltics
 Rivers( the Rhine, the River Thames)
 Mountain ranges (the Himalayas, the Alps)
 Island groups ( the West Indies, the British Isles)
 Deserts( The Taklamakan, the Tharr, the Sahara, the Kalahari)
 Hotels (The Ritz, the Plaza )
 Museums (the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts)
Use of The

 12: the Family names

 The+ family name in plural
 The Wattoos, the Rajpoots, the Sheikhs, the Syeds, the Ansaris

 13: To generalize (to talk about people or things generally)

 The + single countable noun that represents a group
 The blue Whale is the largest animal on the planet / Blue Whales are the
largest animals on the planet.
Exercise (Use of The)

Inset “the”, wherever necessary:

1: I always go to gym in morning; I never have time for it in morning
2:Piano is only instrument that I can play
3:Government is expected to announce more welfare measures for poor
soon.
4: Where’s Ali? Is he in kitchen?
No, he is in bedroom. I think he is talking to someone on phone.
5: I don’t like to surf internet on my smartphone. But I do enjoy listening to
radio on it sometimes, especially when I’m on bus.
Exercise (Use of The)

 6: K2 is highest mountain in Pakistan.

 7: Maya bought a Honda Civic but sold car just two months later to buy a
truck! And now I hear she is selling truck.

 8: Did you see email that I sent you yesterday?

 No, sorry . But I will today.