Grammar / Articles - Definite and Indefinite
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Definite
and indefinite articles: a, an, the
Indefinite article (a, an) |
Definite article (the)
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Indefinite articles (a, an)
With jobs, professions e.g. he’s a lecturer, she’s an architect.
Before some nationality nouns (those ending in –an e.g. an Australian, a German, an Indonesian, a Malaysian, a Singaporean (but notice, a Chinese person, a Japanese person).
When we use an adjective to describe a noun e.g. there’s a beautiful cat next door.
With one of a group of things e.g. let’s choose a restaurant for tonight; she’s getting a pizza for lunch.
Meaning per e.g. She was driving at 140 km an hour; car rental costs around $50 a day
Definite articles (the)
When there is only one of something e.g. the sun, the moon, the earth
With rivers, oceans & seas
With deserts & forests, e.g. The Sahara, The Amazon
With geographical areas e.g. the Equator, the north, the south, the east, the west, the Middle East
With nationality groups (not ending in –an) e.g. the British, the Japanese, the Chinese, the French
When shared knowledge makes something specific e.g. where’s the cat? (We both know which cat). It’s in the garden (we know which garden)
When something is made specific by adding extra information e.g. did you see the book I bought today? (I bought today makes reference to the book specific and identifiable)
With adjectives to describe a class or group e.g. the rich, the poor, the unemployed
With superlatives – the best, the biggest, the most interesting
No Article
Before:
Uncountable nouns when talking generally e.g. Petrol has gone up a lot
Plural countable nouns when talking generally e.g. People are living in better conditions nowadays
Abstract nouns e.g. love, hate, peace, war (unless referring to a specific example e.g. The First World War)
Most countries (exceptions include: the USA, the UK, island groups e.g. the Philippines, the Maldives
Nationalities and languages
Names of cities
Names of streets
Continents
Names of sports
Names of academic subjects
With names of meals when talking generally
Problems with articles
In some cases it is hard to decide which article to choose or whether to put in or omit an article as the choice is grammatically important and may change the meaning.
Examples
There’s a noisy dog in my street. (General)
The noisy dog in my street annoys all the neighbours. (Specific)
Dogs can be very annoying. (General, plural)
A dog is a man’s best friend. (Indefinite – any dog, any man)
The dog is an example of friendship between animals and humans. (Definite – a generic representative of all dogs)
Compare:
There’s a dog that keeps biting everyone (the dog is not specified, or identified)
There’s the dog that keeps biting everyone (we know which dog specifically)
Articles with school, university, hospital, prison, church
With these words the article changes the meaning.
Without an article, we are referring to the place for its main purpose e.g. a place of study, punishment, healing or worship.
With an article, we are referring to a particular location or place known by both speakers.
Compare:
Discipline was much stricter when I
was at the
school
The school I went to was quite small.
My friend has been taken to the
hospital
with a broken leg.
I’m going to the hospital to see my friend who has broken her leg.
“What do you do?” “I’m
studying at the
University.”
I went into the university yesterday to collect some books.
He was sent to prison for drunk driving
I’m going to the prison to visit him next week.
For further practice and information on articles, see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/esl/eslart.html
http://www.better-english.com/grammar/the3c.htm