2. Articles in English
There are only three articles in English: a , an
and the. Besides the usage of those three
ones we have to be aware of the use of no
article (ᴓ).
3. Indefinite articles
They are a and an.
They are used before singular count nouns or
adjective + count nouns;
“an” is used for nouns that begin with vowel
sond. Remember that “h” and “u” can be
tricky. Ex: an hour and a university.
* The use of “a” and “an” is determined by the
sound not the spelling.
5. Definite article
We use “the” when we are talking about
something specific;
When the speaker and the listener are
talking about the same specific item;
For the second and all other references to
the same noun;
With the superlative form of an adjective;
6. Definite article
For the name of countries that look
plural, ending in -s or with the words
united, union, republic or kingdom;
Parts of something (except for body parts);
Most bodies of water (except individual
lakes);
With geographic parts of the globe and
geographic areas, deserts and peninsulas.
7. No articles
• Before plural and noncountable nouns when talking about
things in general:
“I like potatoes.” / “Milk is good for you.”
• Before
countries, towns, streets, languages, magazines, meals, airp
orts, stations, and mountains:
“I had dinner with John.” / I bought Cosmopolitan at South
Station.”
• Before some places and some forms of transport (at
home, at/to school, at/to work, in/to bed, by bus, by
train, by car, by plane, on foot):
“She goes to work by bus.” / “I was at home last night.”
• In exclamations with what + a noncount noun:
“What beautiful weather!”
8. Common ELL mistakes
No use of a singular count noun without an
article (or other determiner)
Example: job instead of a job
Use of a with a noun that begins with a vowel
sound
Example: a heir instead of an heir
No use of the with a plural count noun that
refers to the whole category
Example: I dont trust politicians.
Not I don’t trust the politicians.
9. Common ELL mistakes
• Use of the with with abstract nouns and
ideas.
Example:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Albert Einstein
Not
The imagination is more important than the
knowledge.
10. Common mistakes Portuguese
native speakers make
The definite article is used for specific things
as in English, but it is also used when
referring to the whole group .
The definite article must be used with
abstract nouns.
Unlike English, Portuguese has singular and
plural forms of their indefinite and definite
articles.
19. Watch the video and complete the sentences
with articles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO6LF54ByhM
1. ____ commercial is about ____ brand of beer.
2. In ____ scene, there is ____ girl and ____
man, who is drinking ____ beer.
3. They are in ____ bar. ____ bar is empty.
4. At ___ end of ____ commercial, ____ man calls
____ waiter because ____ beer was over.