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ENGLISH ARTICLES
"A, An, The"
definite and indefinite articles in English
Read the
following description
I am from
Winchester, Hampshire. Winchester is a city in the United Kingdom. I live
in a town called Taunton which is on the River Tone. I live in a house in
a quiet street in the countryside. The street is called "Hudson Street"
and the house is old - more than 100 years old! I am an English lecturer
at a college near the centre of the town. I like books, music and taking
photographs. I usually have lunch at college. I usually go home by car. We
have all kinds of food in England. I like Polish food very much. Sometimes,
I go to a Polish restaurant in Bath. The restaurant is called "Magda's".
Polish food is delicious!
Here are
the basic rules for when to use "A, An or The":
- a = indefinite article
(not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with
consonants
Eric has a dog.
Gregory works in a factory.
- an = indefinite article
(not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with vowels
(a,e,i,o,u)
Can I have an apple?
Donata is an English teacher.
- the = definite article
(a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know)
The car over there is fast.
The teacher is very good, isn't he?
- The first time you speak
of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that object use "the".
I live in a house. The house is quite old and has two bedrooms.
I ate in a Vietnamese restaurant. The restaurant was not very clean.
- DO NOT use an article
with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains
except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United
States".
My uncle lives in Cumbria near Lake Windermere.
They live in Bristol.
- Use an article with
bodies of water, oceans and seas -
I live on a small island in the Baltic Sea.
- DO NOT use an article
when you are speaking about things in general
I like Indian tea.
Simon likes reading books about linguistics.
- DO NOT use an article
when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport
He has breakfast at home.
I go to university.
Magda comes to work by taxi.
EXERCISE
1
(Pre-Intermediate)
Fill in
the gaps. Click on the arrow to see the answer. Don't look back at the
original text!
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