a/an

• There are two main functions of the indefinite article in English

1. It signals the ideas expressed by the noun following it as in

• Once upon a time, there was a king

• 2. it semantically holds the sense of any

• The earth is like a ball

Non-specific noun reference

• I am looking for a book on computer technology (generic)

• A guest came to visit us last night

• (specific)

a/an

• Used for sg countable nouns to refer to a countable noun that has neither been mentioned earlier nor identified

• There was a queen named Elizabeth

• We have a cat and a dog

• I am reading a good book

a/an

• Indicates a class relationship

• A cat can be beautiful

• The noun pre-modified by an adjective is preceded by the indefinite article

• Christine is becoming a nice girl

Professions and adjectives of religion

• He is a teacher

• I am a Muslim

Quantity expressions

• A pair of (shoes) a little a couple a few a hundred a thousand three tablets a day

• Exclamation

• With what + countable noun

• We use the a/an with the proper noun to refer to the characteristics of the person who holds that noun but not the person himself

• He is not a Napoleon

Some time expressions

• He sat for a while

• With greetings and good swishes

• Have a nice time

• With similes after as/like

• He fought as a lion

THE

• Articles in English are invariable. That is, they do not change according to the gender or number of the noun they refer to, e.g. the boy, the woman, the children

'The' is used:

• 1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned.

• Example: An elephant and a mouse fell in love.

• The mouse loved the elephant's long trunk, and the elephant loved the mouse's tiny nose.

• 2. when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not been mentioned before.

• Example: 'Where's the bathroom?'

• 'It's on the first floor.'

• 3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object:

• Examples: The man who wrote this book is famous.

• 'Which car did you scratch?' 'The red one.

• My house is the one with a blue door.'

• 4. to refer to objects we regard as unique:

• Examples: the sun, the moon, the world

• 5. before superlatives and ordinal numbers

• Examples: the highest building, the first page, the last chapter.

• 6. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people:

• Examples: the Japanese (see Nouns - Nationalities), the old

• 7. with names of geographical areas and oceans:

• Examples: the Caribbean, the Sahara, the Atlantic

• 7. with names of geographical areas and oceans:

• Examples: the Caribbean, the Sahara, the Atlantic

• 8. with decades, or groups of years:

• Example: she grew up in the seventies

Zero article

• Nouns preceded with verbs of go in constructions like go to bed, went to school, go to jail

• Before names of disease, cardinal numbers or letters in a list

• Could you read number 1 please?

• B, C and D are incorrect

• To refer generically to all members of a class

• Dogs are domestic animals

• I like cats

• To distinguish one class from another

• She likes cats not dogs

• With plural nouns after “be”

• Most of my friends are teachers

With set of prepositional phrases

• At war at peace at rest at sea

• In danger in need in tears in love in difficulty

• On purpose on fire on time on sale

• Proper nouns, days, months, seasons, games, abstract nouns and materials

• Before uncountable nouns:

• In exclamations which consist of plural countable nouns:

• * What dirt!

• * What flowers!

• * What clouds!

• Before "few" and "little" - then it indicates negative meaning, that is scarcity or lack of

• something:

• * The foreigner spoke little English, so we couldn't communicate.

• * She has few friends. (almost no friends)

• * There is little sugar left. (almost no sugar)

• . When a singular countable noun is used after be/become and indicates a unique

• profession:

• * Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope.

• * George W. Bush is President of The U.S.

• When a noun occurs after "turn":

• * He turned musician and made a great career,

• * Benedict Arnold turned traitor when he joined British during the Civil War.