{"id":2959,"date":"2018-11-01T13:28:33","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T13:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/?p=2959"},"modified":"2019-09-06T11:39:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T11:39:09","slug":"english-articles-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/english-articles-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 6. Articles in English Does Not Have to Be Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Articles
Articles in English<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The articles \u2018a\u2019, \u2018an\u2019, and \u2018the\u2019, are important words that we use in almost every sentence in English. Articles are words that modify a noun. There are two kinds of articles: definite and indefinite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Definite Article<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Among \u2018a\u2019, \u2018an\u2019, and \u2018the\u2019, the one which belongs to definite articles is \u2018the\u2019. It refers directly to a specific object. \u2018The\u2019 can be followed by singular, plural, and uncountable nouns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When to Use the Definite Article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. When there is the only one.<\/h4>\n

The sun<\/strong> is a star.<\/p>\n

[There is only one sun in this world].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the reason why we use \u2018the\u2019 before superlative adjectives<\/u>.<\/p>\n

She is the prettiest<\/strong> girl in the town.<\/p>\n

[There is only one person that has the particular pretty than any other girls in the town].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. When we talk about something certain or specific.<\/h4>\n

Did you see the umbrella<\/strong> in my bag?<\/p>\n

[It is clear that the speaker refers to the specific umbrella that was in her bag before].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. When we have mentioned the object before.<\/h4>\n

I bought a book yesterday. The book <\/strong>is entitled \u201cThe Secrets to be Happy\u201d.<\/p>\n

[It is clear that the book entitled \u201cThe Secrets to be Happy\u201d is the book that I bought yesterday].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. When we are going to state an ordinal number.<\/h4>\n

This is the first<\/strong> time I have been here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. When you are indicating a time period.<\/h4>\n

Super Mario was one of the most popular video games in the 1990s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. When you refer to the member of a group of people.<\/h4>\n

The Robinsons<\/strong> are on a vacation.<\/p>\n

[The whole family member of Robinsons is on a vacation].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Quick Rule: <\/strong>If you think the audience knows the specific object you are referring to, use \u2018the\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Indefinite Article<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u2018A\u2019 and \u2018an\u2019 belong to the indefinite article. They indicate a general idea rather than a specific object. If the word begins with a consonant, use \u2018a\u2019. On the other hand, if it begins with a vowel, use \u2018an\u2019. The indefinite article is limited to singular nouns or a group of noun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When to Use the Definite Article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. When we say a job.<\/h4>\n

Mary is a stewardess.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. When we express unspecified singular nouns.<\/h4>\n

She invites a man<\/strong> to the party.<\/p>\n

[Both of the speaker and listener do not know what kind of man he is].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. When we use collective nouns.<\/h4>\n

I buy a bunch of<\/strong> bananas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. When we want to say quantity.<\/h4>\n

My grandmother gives me a dozen<\/strong> eggs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. When we mentioned an object for the first time.<\/h4>\n

I bought a book<\/strong> yesterday. The book is entitled \u201cThe Secrets to be Happy\u201d.<\/p>\n

[Yes, we use the same example as above to be clear. Note that \u2018a\u2019 is used to refer an object when it is mentioned for the first time].<\/p>\n

6. When you mean \u2018one\u2019.<\/h4>\n

He sang a song <\/strong>last night.<\/p>\n

[He sang one song last night].<\/p>\n

The Quick Rule: <\/strong>If you think the audience does not know the specific object you are referring to, use indefinite articles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read:\u00a0Understanding the Difference Between Which and That<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Exceptions<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In several cases, the word that started with unpronounced consonant (h) use \u2018an\u2019 instead of \u2018a\u2019. Examples:<\/p>\n

an heir<\/p>\n

an honest<\/p>\n

an honor<\/p>\n

an hour<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the same way, when the word is a vowel but pronounced as a consonant sound, use \u2018a\u2019. Although those words begin with vowels, they are pronounced as they begin with the letter \u2018y\u2019. Examples:<\/p>\n

a unique<\/p>\n

a useful<\/p>\n

a university<\/p>\n

a European<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zero Articles (\u00d8)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We do not use articles when we talk about things in general.<\/p>\n

Dogs<\/strong> are mammals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s learn English today! Join us at LingoCards<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The articles \u2018a\u2019, \u2018an\u2019, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[199],"class_list":["post-2959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","tag-articles","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2959"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3875,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2959\/revisions\/3875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}