Article Usage

ARTICLE USAGEARTICLE USAGE

1/3/2009 Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 1

By: Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJER

http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

There are only two types of articles in the English

language:

1. Definite article; “the” and

2. Indefinite article; “a”/ “an”.

Definite Article: the

Indefinite Article: a

/ an

Articles

1/3/2009 2Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

In a broad sense, an article is a type of adjective that

gives information about a noun.

Definite Article: the

Indefinite Article: a / anWhen do

I use

them?

Which

article?

1/3/2009 3Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

It depends on what kind

of noun is being modified.

article?

• Nouns are generic, indefinite, or definite.

• Nouns are count or noncount.

• Nouns are singular or plural.

Kinds of Nouns


A generic noun represents a whole class of

things.

It is not a specific, real, concrete thing, but

rather a symbol of a whole group.

GENERIC NOUNS

Examples of Generic Nouns:


Examples of Generic Nouns:

A bird has wings.

A horse has four legs.

An apple is red.

USING A or Ø: GENERIC NOUNS

SINGULAR COUNT NOUN a) A banana is yellow.

PLURAL COUNT NOUN b) Ø Bananas are yellow.

NONCOUNT NOUN c) Ø Fruit is good for you.

A speaker uses generic nouns to make generalizations.


A speaker uses generic nouns to make generalizations.

In a) & b): The speaker is talking about any banana, all bananas,

bananas in general.

In c): The speaker is talking about any and all fruit , fruit in

general.

Notice:No article is used to make generalizations

with plural count nouns, as in b), and with

noncount nouns, as in c).

INDEFINITE NOUNS

Indefinite nouns are actual things (not symbols),

but they are not specifically identified.

Examples of Indefinite Nouns:

There is a table in the room.

I ate an apple.


I ate an apple.

The girl was wearing a hat.

Singular I ate a banana.

Plural count noun

(two, a few, several)

I ate some bananas.

Indefinite Nouns


Noncount noun

(a little, a lot of)

I ate some fruit.

USING A or SOME: INDEFINITE NOUNS

In a):

SINGULAR COUNT NOUN a) I ate a banana.

PLURAL COUNT NOUN b) I ate some bananas.

NONCOUNT NOUN c) I ate some Fruit.


In a):

the speaker is not referring to “this banana” or “that

banana” or “the banana you gave me”.

The speaker is simply saying that he ate one banana.

The listener does not know nor need to know which

specific banana was eaten.

It was simply one banana out of that whole group of

things in the world called bananas.

In b) and c):

Some is often used with

indefinite plural count nouns and

indefinite noncount nouns.

In addition to some, a speaker

might use two, a few, several, a


might use two, a few, several, a

lot of, etc., with plural count

nouns, or a little, a lot of, etc.,

with noncount nouns.

DEFINITE NOUNS

Examples of definite Nouns:

A noun is definite when both the speaker and

the listener are thinking about the same specific

thing.


Examples of definite Nouns:

Thank you for the apple you gave me.

I love to look at the moon.

The food I ate last night made me sick.

The banana I ate this morning was delicious.

I got the apples from the tree.

Singular

Plural

Definite Nouns


I got the apples from the tree.

The fruit from that market is inexpensive.

Plural

Noncount

USING THE: DEFINITE NOUNS

SINGULAR COUNT NOUN a) Thank you for the

banana.

PLURAL COUNT NOUN b) Thank you for the bananas.

NONCOUNT NOUN c) Thank you for the Fruit.


In a):

The speaker uses ‘the’ because the listener knows which

specific banana the speaker is talking about, i.e., that particular

banana which the listener gave to the speaker.

NONCOUNT NOUN c) Thank you for the Fruit.

Notice:‘the’ is used with both singular and plural count nouns

and with noncount nouns.

Use a and an when the noun is indefinite and singular. The rule is:•a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy•an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant

•a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used)

1. Indefinite Articles: a and an


'y' sound, so 'a' is used)•some + plural noun: some girlsIf the noun has an adjective, follow the same rules, BUT use the first letter/sound of the adjective:•a broken egg•an unusual problem

•a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound).

2. Definite Article: the

The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific.

INDEFINITE vs. DEFINITE

NounIndefinite

(a or an)

Definite

(the)

•a dog •the dog


Singular

•a dog

(any dog)

•an apple

(any apple)

•the dog

(that specific dog)

•the apple

(that specific apple)

Plural

•some dogs

(any dogs)

•some apples

(any apples)

•the dogs

(those specific dogs)

•the apples

(those specific apples)

is not used with noncountablenouns referring to something in a general (indefinite) sense:• [no article] Coffee is a popular drink.

• [no article] Japanese was his native language.

• [no article] Intelligence is difficult to quantify.

The is used with noncountable nouns


The is used with noncountable nouns that are specific:• The coffee in my cup is too hot to drink.

• The Japanese he speaks is often heard in the countryside.

• The intelligence of animals is variable but undeniable.

Do not use the before:names of countries

names of cities, towns, or statesnames of streets names of lakes and bays

names of continents names of islandsDo use the before:

Saudi

Arabia

√√√√

XXXX


Do use the before:

names of rivers, oceans and seaspoints on the globe

geographical areasnames of deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas

Makkah

√√√√

Article Usage

Education

Transcript of Article Usage