Definite and indefinite articles

Definite and Indefinite articles

a/an and the

Anna Pilśniak

Indefinite article (a/an)

- We also use the indefinite articles to talk about our jobs:e.g. She is an architect.Tom's wife is a teacher.To

We use a/an before singular countable nouns, when we mention them for the first time:e.g. I live in a small town.Take an umbrella when you go out- it's raining.

Indefinite article (a/an)

PRONUNCIATION

The indefinite article "a" is used before a consonant sound:a dog, a pilot, a baby

The indefinite article "an" is used before a vowel sound:an elephant, an apple, an architect

Be careful: some words that start with the letter “e” or “u” are pronounced /ju/, so you need “a” before: a university /ju:.niv3:.si.ti/ ; a Euro, a unicorn

Definite article (the)

We use the definite article 'the' when we talk about sth for the second time,eg. In the picture I can see a woman. The woman is listening to music.

The definite article "the" is used when the speaker talks about a specific object that both the speaker and listener know: e.g. The cat over there is very fast.

Definite article (the) ctn.

The definite article "the" is used when the speaker talks about unique things: e.g. The sun, the earth, the moon Because there is only one: e.g. the Pope, the president of Poland

We use the definite article 'the' when we talk about specific things,eg. I like getting presents (general). The presents I received for my birthday were fantastic (specific presents).

Definite article (the) ctn.

We use the definite article 'the' when we talk about organisations, certain public insitutions, most newspapers and some magazines:eg. The Guardian, the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum

The definite article "the" is used with a superlative adjective and ordinal numbers: e.g. It is the oldest building in the town.It was the first prize in my life.

Definite article (the) ctn.

The definite article "the" is used before names of rivers/seas/oceans (but not lakes); geographical areas, names of deserts, forests, gulfs: e.g. The Vistula, the Baltic Sea, the South East, the Gobi desert

We use the definite article 'the' when we talk about the country that is plural:eg. The United Kingdom, The United States of AmericaFor other countries we don't use articles.

Exercises

Homework