ARTICLESsummary_Vince 22, Murphy 72-78
A/AN
1. Something we refer to for the first time
I have just had a great idea.
2. One of a group of things
Shall we choose a book from this catalogue?
3. Jobs
My friend is a truck driver.
But:
Jim is a doctor. x I have to go to the doctor. (=my doctor)
Caroline is a dentist. x I went to the dentist last week. (=my dentist)
4. Singular fractions, group nouns, large numbers
One and a half kilos, a dozen eggs, a hundred emails
5. Meaning per
She earns 45,000 a month. Three times a day.
6. When we use an adjective to describe a noun
Cairo is a very big city. It’s a beautiful day.
THE
1. Something we mentioned previously
I work on a new project. The project is international and we cooperate with 3 other
countries.
2. It is clear what/who we are talking about
Can you pass the salt? Would you like to live in the country (=countryside)?
3. There is only one of sth (and it is clear what we are talking about)
The moon is full tonight. We looked up at the stars in the sky.
x
The planet has a small moon. (not the Earth)
4. Noun is followed by a descriptive phrase
the Tower of London, the man I told you about
5. National groups
The British drink a lot of tea.
The French/ the Spanish/ the Czechs/ the Europeans/ the Americans/ the Swiss/ the
Poles/
6. Classes of people
The rich give a lot of money to charity these days.
The young/the poor/ the old/ the elderly/ the blind/ the disabled/ the dead/ the
homeless/ ...
7. Individual items which represent a class
The giraffe is the tallest of all animals. The dollar is the currency of the USA.
8. Names of musical instruments
I can’t play the piano but I can play the guitar.
9. Organisations
the BBC, the Red Cross, the European Union, ..
10. Superlatives, ordinals, the same, the only
This is the best. You are the first. This is the only one.
11. Parts of a day
in the morning, in the afternoon x at night/in the night
12. Plural countries or when the name contains a noun
the Netherlands, the United States, the Czech Republic, the Philippines, the Canary Islands
13. Some geographical names = oceans, seas, rivers, canals, deserts, mountains and
lakes in plural
The Pacific (Ocean), the Mediterranean (Sea), the Amazon, the Suez Canal, the Sahara
(Desert), the Alps, the Dolomites
14. Newspapers
the Washington Post, the Mirror, the Sun, the Financial Times
ZERO ARTICLE (no article)
1. Uncountable nouns and plurals
I hate wasps. All he talks about is cars. Football is life. Give peace a chance.
2. Company names
She works for Lufthansa. Fiat/Sony/IBM/, British Airways, ...
3. Buildings named after people or places
Brown’s Restaurant, Lloyds Bank, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Prague Castle, London
University, Sydney Harbour
4. Years, months, days, special times of the year or day
In 2013, in January, on Monday, at Easter, at night
5. Unique jobs and roles
Sean is (the) chairman of the company. Zeman became President last year.
6. Means of transport when talking generally + by
We went there by car/by bus. x We went there in a car/on a bus.
7. Some geographical names = continents, most countries, one mountain,
one lake, cities
Africa, Sicily, Switzerland, Mount Everest, Lake Como, Paris
8. Some more geographical names = parks, roads, streets, squares, bridges, palaces,
castles, cathedrals, stations, airports
Hyde Park, Fifth Avenue, Times Square, London Bridge, Prague Castle, Canterbury
Cathedral, Victoria Station
Buckingham Palace x the Royal Palace (royal is an adjective, not a proper name)
9. Breakfast, lunch, dinner
What do you like for breakfast? What time is dinner?
10. Before noun + number
Go to page 45. Our train leaves from Platform 5. We stayed in room 203.
11. Magazines
Elle, Marianne
12. Some phrases and collocations
in stock, on average, be out of danger, be in pain, give money to charity
13. After a type/make/species/kind/sort/class of
this type of manager, a make of car, a strange species of mammal, a delicious kind of
dessert, a sort of person, a class of automobile
TRICKY AND CONFUSING
media
I went to the cinema. What’s on the radio? x What’s on TV?
space
There are millions of stars in space (=universe). x I couldn’t park the car because the space was
too small.
School/prison/hospital/university/college/church
Thomas is eleven and he is at school at the moment. x His mother went to the school to speak to
his teacher.
Ken’s brother is in prison for robbery. x Ken went to the prison to visit him.
Joe had an accident and went to hospital. He’s still in hospital. x Yesterday Jane went to the
hospital and brought him some chocolates. She visited him at the hospital.
Sally’s father goes to church every Sunday. x Some workmen went to the church to repair the
roof.
bed/home/work
It’s time to go to bed. Do you ever have breakfast in bed? x I sat down on the bed.
go home, be at home, get home, arrive home, come home
go to work, be at work, start work, finish work
sea
Paul works on ships. He’s at sea most of the time. x I’d like to live near the sea. It can be
dangerous to swim in the sea.
most
most people(=almost all), most books, most hotels x the most expensive hotel
General x specific
Children learn from playing. x We took the children to the zoo.
I couldn’t live without music. x The film wasn’t very good but I liked the music.
Sugar isn’t very good for you. x Could you pass the sugar, please?
I like working with people who are lively. x I like the people I work with.
Do you drink coffee? x Did you like the coffee we had after lunch?
Singular x plural
Lake Ontario x the Great Lakes, Mont Blanc x the Alps
north x northern
the north of Spain x northern Spain
The south-east of Brazil x south-eastern Brazil
North America, South Africa
Groups in plural form
the Social Democrats, the Rolling Stones
x
Pink Floyd, Queen
part
part of that building x a part of that building (=1 part)