ARTICLES

Teaching Articles to English Language Learners.

Lara Botelho Neiva da Cunha

BibliographyIntermediate Grammar – From Form to Meaning and Use

Susan Kesner Bland Oxford University Press

Grammar for English Language Teachers – With exercises and a KeyMartin ParrotCambridge University Press

Keys to Teaching Grammar to English Language LearnersA Practical HandbookKeith S. FolseMichigan Teacher Training

Articles

Let me ask you a question!!!How articles are used within your native

language?

Articles

• Some languages have no articles at all: Chinese, Japanese, and Russian.

• Arabic has a definite article.• Some languages have articles that appear to

be equivalent to the articles in English, but usages do not overlap exactly: French, German, Spanish.

Articles

• So a common error for some language groups learning English is to omit all articles because their language have no articles.

• There is a very important rule in ENGLISH:

Use an article of any kind before a singular count noun.

Reviewing COUNT NOUNS AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

Do you know the difference between COUNT and NON-COUNT nouns Let's see some examples to review.

• Nouns that name things you can count are called count nouns. Count nouns can be singular or plural.

a house some housesa book ten booksmy cousin my cousinsone reason reasons

Reviewing COUNT NOUNS AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

* Nouns that cannot be counted are called non-count nouns.FOODS: sugar, rice, flour, salt, mustard...LIQUIDS: milk, water, juice, coffee, oil...IDEAS and FEELINGS: honesty, importance, intelligence, peace, wisdom, love, hate (abstract nouns)...NATURE: snow, scenery, thunder, sunlight, hail...COLLECTIVE WORDS: luggage, furniture, advice, research, homework, clothing, fruit, vocabulary makeup, money... The word fruit is generally non-count, but the word vegetable is count. Homework is non-count, but assignment is count. There seems to be no way to predict whether a given word is count or non-count.

Articles in English

• Articles belong to the wider class of 'determiner', words or phrases that come at the beginning of a noun phrase.

• Articles tell us something about quantity.

THE ARTICLES ARE• Indefinite article: A or AN• Definite article: The• No articles

Articles in English

• a book an uggly elephant • a beautiful girl an egg• a car an old astronaut• a rectangular table an apple • the United States the clouds• the Pacific Ocean the umbrellas• the Earth the red books• the Mississipi River the animals

Articles in English

• Articles signal whether the information is new or familiar.

I ordered a steak and a salad. The steak was great but the salad was awful.

I bought a shirt and a pair of pants. The shirt is blue and the pants are gray.

I take my child to a park every afternoon. Most of the times, I take him to the park nearby.

Articles in English

• Articles signal whether the information is general or specific.

All of us have an umbrella. (general)The umbrella next to the door is not mine.

(specific)

Articles in English

• Every time we use a noun we have to decide whether or not to use an ARTICLE, and if we decide that an article is necessary, we then have to decide which one.

• Sometimes no article is used:I don't like coffee, but I love chocolate.We are having ice cream for dessert.

• These choices are based on a complex interaction of factors including meaning, shared knowledge, context and whether the noun is singular, plural or uncountable.

GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONIndefinite Articles A and AN.

The indefinite articles A and AN are used ONLY before singular count nouns that are not specific and are being mentioned for the first time. Something unexpected or something that our listener or reader is unaware of.

Generalizations with A or AN plus a singular count noun often take the form of definitions. They are used to classify people, animal, and things.• A locksmith is a person who makes and repairs locks and keys.• A penguin is a small black and white bird that lives in the Antartic.• An igloo is a dwelling that is made of ice.

• A tulip is a flower that grows from a bulb.

Indefinite Articles A and AN

• Use A before a noun or an adjective + noun that begins with a consonant sound.

a boya tall boy

• Use AN before a noun or an adjective + noun that begins with a vowel sound.

an intelligent boy an idea an absurd idea

Important observations!Remember that words begining with the letters h or u can be

problematic. The use of A and AN depends on the begining sound of the word, not its spelling.

• a hat • a house Observe that the words begin with the consonant sound h.• a heroe• a hospital

• an hour Observe that the word begins with a vowel sound because de letter h is silent.• an honest person

• a university Observe that the words begin with the consonant sound y.• a unique name

• an umbrella Observe that the words begin with a vowel sound.• an honest man

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

There are several different situations in which we use the definite article THE in English.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

1) Use THE when you are talking about something specific.• We decided to buy a car.• The car we bought was red.• The book that is on sale is on the counter.• Please pass the pepper.

The listener can identify the nouns if the noun is unique (there's only one).

• The earth revolves around the sun every twenty-four hours.

• The capital of Italy is Rome.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

2) Use THE when the speaker and the listener are talking about the same specific item.

• There are several packages in the car. I need some help.

• I'II take one. Can you carry the others?

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

3) Use THE for the second and all other references to the same noun.• Jane would like to buy a new book. (First

reference) But the book she had chosen is very expensive. (Second reference)

• James and I bought a new computer last month. (First reference) The computer lets us access the Internet really quickly. (Second reference)

ARTICLES

Complete the sentences with the correct article (A, AN or THE):• There is ____ football game and ____ concert

on Sunday. What time is ____ football game going to start It is raining. You will need ____ raincoat and _____ umbrella. Where did you put ____ umbrella?

• Do you have _____ baby-sitter? How much do you pay _____ baby-sitter?

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

4) Use THE with the superlative form of an adjective, which means with the word most or with the ending -est.

Superlative• In a jewelry store, diamonds are the most

expensive item.• My boss gets the most mail in our office.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

5) Use THE with the names of countries that look plural, including countries that end in -s or have the words united, union, republic, or kingdom.

the Philippinesthe Netherlands

the United States

the Soviet Unionthe Dominican Republicthe Republic of Angolathe United Kingdomthe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

6) Use the for the parts of something.• General: In a Kitchen, there is a stove, a

refrigerator, and a clock.• Parts: I went to Mary's new house last night.

Her kitchen is beautiful. The refrigerator is silver, the stove is black, and the clock above the door has really big numbers on it.

EXCEPTION: In general, we do not use THE for body parts.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

7) Use THE with most bodies of water except individual lakes.

the Mississipi Riverthe Pacific Oceanthe Mediterranean Seathe Great Lakes (but Lake Michigan)

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

8) Use THE with geographical parts of the globe, and geographic areas, deserts, and peninsulas.

the equatorthe Middle Eastthe Gobi Desertthe South

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE: The

9) General statements with THE are frequently used to refer to musical instruments.• I used to play the piano, but now I only play

the violin.

NO ARTICLE

In English there are few situations in which we do not use any article with a noun.

In these cases, many other languages require the use of THE, so a common ELL error is overuse of THE.

NO ARTICLE

RULES1) When you want to talk about a category or group in

general, use no article.General: Cats can be great pets.Specific: The cats in the pet store are expensive.

Sometimes we use a noun to make a general statement about a whole class or group of objects, events, or nouns. The noun represents all other nouns of its classs or group. No articles are used with them.

Spiders are insects.I like rice.

NO ARTICLE

2) Use no article before abstract nouns such as feelings or ideas.

Patience is a virtue.3) General statements made with plural

count nouns without articles or noncount nouns can express opinions, likes, and dislikes.

Opinion: Dogs make good pets.Likes: I like spiders.

Dislikes: I don't like rice.

THIS TABLE SHOWS THE CHOICES WE CAN MAKE

SINGULAR NOUNS PLURAL NOUNS UNCOUNTABLE

NOUNS

A or AN a bookan egg

No article [] books[] universities

[] rice[] water

THE the book the books the rice