HowtolearnarticlesArticlesThereareonlythreearticlesinEnglish:a,anandthe.Therearetwotypesofarticlesindefiniteaandanordefinitethe.TheirproperuseiscomplexespeciallywhenyougetintotheadvanceduseofEnglish.Quiteoftenyouhavetoworkbywhatsoundsright,whichcanbefrustratingforalearner.Weusuallyusenoarticletotalkaboutthingsingeneral-thedoesn'tmeanall.Forexample:"Booksareexpensive."=(Allbooksareexpensive.)"Thebooksareexpensive."=(Notallbooksareexpensive,justtheonesI'mtalkingabout.)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indefinitearticles-aandan(determiners)Aandanaretheindefinitearticles.Theyrefertosomethingnotspecificallyknowntothepersonyouarecommunicatingwith.Aandanareusedbeforenounsthatintroducesomethingorsomeoneyouhavenotmentionedbefore:-Forexample:"Isawanelephantthismorning.""Iateabananaforlunch."AandanarealsousedwhentalkingaboutyourprofessionForexample:"IamanEnglishteacher.""Iamabuilder."Note!Youuseawhenthenounyouarereferringtobeginswithaconsonant(b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,x,yorz),forexample,"acity"and"afactory"Youuseanwhenthenounyouarereferringtobeginswithavowel(a,e,i,o,u)Pronunciationchangesthisrule.用心爱心专心Ifthenextwordbeginswithaconsonantsoundwhenwesayit,forexample,"university"thenweusea.Ifthenextwordbeginswithavowelsoundwhenwesayit,forexample"hour"thenweusean.Wesay"university"witha"y"soundatthebeginningasthoughitwerespelt"youniversity".So,"auniversity"IScorrect.Wesay"hour"withasilenthasthoughitwerespelt"our".So,"anhour"IScorrect.DefiniteArticle-the(determiners)Youusethewhenyouknowthatthelistenerknowsorcanworkoutwhatparticularperson/thingyouaretalkingabout.Forexample:"Theappleyouatewasrotten.""Didyoulockthecar?"Youshouldalsousethewhenyouhavealreadymentionedthethingyouaretalkingabout.Forexample:"She'sgottwochildren;agirlandaboy.Thegirl'seightandtheboy'sfourteen."Weusethetotalkaboutgeographicalpointsontheglobe.Forexample:theNorthPole,theequatorWeusethetotalkaboutrivers,oceansandseasForexample:theNile,thePacific,theEnglishchannelWealsousethebeforecertainnounswhenweknowthereisonlyoneofaparticularthing.Forexample:therain,thesun,thewind,theworld,theearth,theWhiteHouseetc..Howeverifyouwanttodescribeaparticularinstanceoftheseyoushouldusea/an.Forexample:用心爱心专心"Icouldhearthewind."/"There'sacoldwindblowing.""Whatareyourplansforthefuture?"/"Shehasapromisingfutureaheadofher."Theisalsousedtosaythataparticularpersonorthingbeingmentionedisthebest,mostfamous,etc.Inthisuse,'the'isusuallygivenstrongpronunciation:Forexample:"Harry'sBaristheplacetogo.""Youdon'tmeanyoumettheTonyBlair,doyou?"NoarticleYoudonotuseanarticlebeforenounswhentalkingingeneralterms.Forexample:Inflationisrising.Peopleareworriedaboutrisingcrime.(Note!Peoplegenerally,sonoarticle)Youdonotuseanarticlewhentalkingaboutsports.Forexample:Mysonplaysfootball.Tennisisexpensive.Youdonotuseanarticlebeforeuncountablenounswhentalkingaboutthemgenerally.Forexample:Informationisimportanttoanyorganisation.Coffeeisbadforyou.Youdonotuseanarticlebeforethenamesofcountriesexceptwheretheyindicatemultipleareasorcontainthewords(state(s),kindom,republic,union).Kingdom,state,republicandunionarenouns,sotheyneedanarticle.Forexample:Noarticle-Italy,Mexico,Bolivia,EnglandUsethe-theUK(UnitedKingdom),theUSA(UnitedStatesofAmerica),theIrishRepublicMultipleareas!theNetherlands,thePhilippines,theBritishIsles用心爱心专心
