62 THE I've been to the doctor, A/AN uncountable noun Have you fed the dogs? ‘There's a rat in the kitchen. | | NO ARTICLE Could you pass the salt? I need an envelope. She's afraid of rats. articles (2): basic information (A) 62 speakers of other languages If a student’s language is one (e.g. Russian or Japanese) that is not listed in paragraph 4, he or she may have more difficulty with the correct use of articles. The most important rules are explained in Section 62, and students should read this first. There is more detailed information on difficult points in Sections 64-70. articles (2): basic information (A) (This Section is for students who speak languages (e.g. Russian or Japanese) that do not have articles like English a/an and the. Students who speak languages which have articles (e.g. German or Portuguese) should read Section 63.) two basic rules e To say ‘You know which I mean’, we put the before a noun. I've been to the doctor. (You know which one: my doctor.) Have you fed the dogs? (You know which ones I mean.) Could you pass the salt? (You can see the salt that I want.) When we can’t say ‘You know which I mean’, we: ~ put a/an before a singular countable noun (see 65). There's a rat in the kitchen! I need an envelope. — put no article with a plural or uncountable noun. She's afraid of rats. I need help. Are you saying “You know which I mean?” we No singular countable noun_| | plural noun I need help. 2 four common mistakes to avoid © Don't use a/an with plural or uncountable nouns. Jolin collects stamps. (Not .. -a-stanrps.) Our garden needs water. (Nov .. -a-weter:) page 5263 64 articles (4): more about the 64 Don’t use the to talk about things in general. The does not mean ‘all’. (For exceptions, see 68.2.) Elephants can swim very well. (Not oc Iara ) Petrol is expensive. (Nor Fhe-petro... Don’t use articles together with my, this, . other determiners. my work (Not the-my-twork) this problem (Nor the this problem) a friend of mine (wot Don't use singular countable nouns alone, without an article or other determiner. We can say a cat, the cat, my cat, this cat, any cat, either cat or every cat, but not just cat. (For exceptions, see 70.) Give it to the cat. (Not Give-it-to-eat.) Annie is a doctor, (not Annie-is-doeter.) For more detailed information about articles, see the following sections. articles (3): basic information (B) (This Section is for students who speak a language that has articles: e.g. French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Greek. If you speak a language without articles - for example Russian or Japanese - read Section 62.) Articles are often used in similar ways in English and other languages, but there are some differences. The most important are as follows, talking in general In English, when we are talking about people or things in general, we do not usually use the with uncountable or plural nouns. Life is complicated. (nov Fhe-tife-is complicated.) My sister loves horses. (Not . . the-horses:} talking about jobs, types etc In English, we normally put a/an with a singular noun that is used for classifying - saying what job somebody has, what class, group or type somebody or something belongs to, what we use something for, etc. She's a dentist. (Not She’s-dentist.) I'm looking forward to being a grandmother. Tused my shoe as a hammer. For more detailed information about articles, see the following Sections. articles (4): more about the the = ‘you know which one(s)’ The usually means something like ‘you know which I mean’, We use tite before a noun (singular, plural or uncountable) when our listener/reader knows (or can easily see) which particular person(s), thing(s) etc we are talking about. Compare: - I'm going to the post office. (The listener knows which: the usual one.) Is there a post office near here? (Any post office.) - I didn't like the film. (The one that the speaker and listener saw.) Let's go and see a film. (The speaker doesn’t say which one.) > page 53