TEACHER: FONSI ARCOS BOULEVARD ENGLISH CENTER

1

Indefinite and Definite Articles

Indefinite Articlesa, an (singular countable nouns): when referring to something for the first time

ANused before singular countable nouns beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), vowel sound or voiceless h: an apple, an elephant, an issue, an orange, an honest man

Aused before singular countable nouns beginning with consonants (other than a, e, i, o, u) or voiced h: a stamp, a desk, a TV, a cup, a book, a hotel.

Definite Articlethe (singular and plural, countable and non-countable noun)

WHEN TO USE THE:

Use the before superlatives and ordinal numbers: the highest , the last chapter , the tallest ,the third time

Use the with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people: The French, the elderly, the poor, the rich

Use the with decades: the seventies, the 1820's.

Use the with clauses introduced by only: the only person he will listen to//The only tea I like is black tea.

Use the with names of geographical areas, rivers, mountain ranges, groups of islands, canals, and oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Nile, the Rocky Mountains would be difficult.

Use the with countries that have plural names: the Netherlands, the Philippines.

Use the with countries that include the words "republic", "kingdom", emirates or "states" in their names: the United States, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Arab emirates.

Use the with newspaper names: the Guardian, the New York Times.

Use the with the names of famous buildings, works of art, museums, or monuments: the Vietnam Memorial, the Louvre, the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower, the Globe.

Use the with the names of hotels & restaurants, unless these are named after a person: the Hilton on 6th street, the Golden Lion.

Use the with the names of families, but not with the names of individuals: the Smiths, The Browns.

WHEN NOT TO USE "THE" (also known as zero article )

Do not use the with names of countries (except for the special cases above): Germany, Zimbabwe.

Do not use the with the names of languages: French, English, Indonesian

Do not use the with the names of meals: Lunch, breakfast, dinner

Do not use the with people's names.

Do not use the with titles when combined with names: Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth's son.

Do not use the after the 's possessive case: Peter's house is over there.

Do not use the with professions: Engineering is a well-paid career.

Do not use the with names of shops: I'll get the card at Smith's/ can you go to Boots for me?

Do not use the with years: 1948 was a wonderful year/ He was born in 1995.

Do not use the with uncountable nouns: Rice is a dairy food in Asia/ Milk is often added to tea in England/ War is destructive.

Do not use the with the names of individual mountains, lakes and islands: Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in Alaska/ She lives near Lake Windermere/ Have you ever visited Long Island?

Do not use the with most names of towns, streets, stations and airports: Victoria Station is in the centre of London/ She lives in Florence/ They're flying into Heathrow.

Do not use the when referring to something general and the nouns that we are using are either plural or uncountable: I really like funfairs. (Funfairs' in general; I have no specific funfair in mind.)/ It's brought us nothing but trouble (uncountable noun).

Do not use the with certain time expressions - next year, last month, this week, on Friday, at five o'clock.

Do not use the when you mention an institution - he's in prison, I'm at school next week, do you go to university?.