COUNTABLE & UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

 

& part 2:

ARTICLES (2): A(N), THE & ZERO

 

ARTICLES (1): A(N), THE & ZERO

- All posts about ARTICLES-HERE.

INDEFINTE ARTICLE - A(N)

+ info on 'A(N)'

DEFINITE ARTICLE - THE

+ info on 'THE'

PREPOSITION 'ON' + DAYS & DATES

Basic: preposition ON + day of week or date, but with no article.

TYPES OF ARTICLES

SPELLING ARTICLE 'A(N)': RULE & EXCEPTION

This chart shows the rule to spell the article 'A' or 'AN' and the exception.

USE OF ARTICLE BASIC CHART

Posting today a basic chart about the use of articles in English, together with a practice exercise. All from the British Council web.
All about articles & determiners on this blog in this link: HERE.

ARTICLE 'THE'+GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

Chart showing the use of article 'THE' before geographical names.

More on the use of articles on previous posts here:

- USE OF ARTICLE 'THE'

- USE OF ARTICLES 'A(N)' & 'THE'

TYPES OF DETERMINERS

ZERO ARTICLE vs THE

ARTICLE EXERCISE CORRECTION

USE OF ARTICLES A(N), THE

A and An =  indefinite articles (not a specific object; not everyone knows what you’re talking about)

• Eric has a dog.
• I’d like an apple.
• She works at a school.

The= definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking AND the listener know)

• The dog that lives next door is nice.
• I’d like the apple that is sitting on the table.
• She works at the school where my children go.

More on the use of article 'THE', HERE.

A few basic rules:

• The first time you speak of something, use  A or An.  The next time you repeat that object, use The.

I saw a mouse in my house.  The mouse was trying to run behind my refrigerator. 

We saw a movie last night.  We invited my friend to the movie, but she couldn’t join us. 

• DO NOT use an article with names of countries, states, cities, counties, lakes, sounds, falls, or mountains, EXCEPT when it’s a collection of states (such as the United States) or collection of mountains/lakes (the Cascade Mountains, the Great Lakes)

               I live in Bellevue, near Lake Washington. (NO articles)

               She lives in Issaquah, near the Cascade Mountains, close to Lake Sammamish.

               My son hiked Mt. Rainier last summer. (NO article)

• DO use a definite article with oceans, seas, and rivers.

               He lives near the Baltic Sea.

               We visited the Snoqualmie River.

• DO NOT use an article when speaking about things in general.

               I like Turkish tea.

              Jonny likes reading books about whales.

• When talking about schools or colleges, we generally DO NOT use an article (Bellevue College, Seattle University, Clyde Hill Elementary)  EXCEPT when the word College, University, or School comes FIRST (The University of Washington, The College of Connecticut, The School of Teaching ESL).

• We generally DO use a definite article for places/building that we generally know, such as the library, the mall, the grocery store, the bank, the post office.

• DO use a definite article when talking about superlatives (the most delicious cake, the longest road)

Exercise: Check this text for the correct use of articles:

See correction to this exercise practice in this LINK.

A / AN / SOME / ANY

USE OF ARTICLE 'THE'

Here's a chart with the always confusing uses of article 'THE', which don't always coincide with Spanish. Remember that there's also the ZERO article possibility, already seen in a previous post HERE.

REVIEWING: 8 MISTAKES YOU SHOULDN'T DO

Here's a list of mistakes you should try to avoid:

8 Mistakes You Must Correct:

1. 1

   Problems with Subject-Verb Agreement

   Some of the most painful things teachers have to hear are “she have”, “he don’t” or “people doesn’t”. Ouch! This is such a typical mistake. Because this is something you repeat and are used to repeating, you may “listen” to our correction but often don’t take the time to really let it sink in. If you are students who make the same subject-verb agreement mistakes, take the time to stop and really pay attention to it.
2. 2

   Incorrect Verb Tenses

   These mistakes crop up again and again. If there’s one thing students need to focus on as they review for a test is the tenses they’ve learned, whether they are simple or advanced. Help by providing plenty of comparative charts – graphic organizers or timelines.
3. 3

   Missing or Extra Articles

   Some students add an extra “the” when they shouldn’t (“The children play the Angry Birds.”) or omit an article that should be there (“I ate piece of toast for breakfast”). If you make lots of mistakes with articles, be sure to get a good review.
4. 4

   Repetitive Use of False Friends

   Lots of languages, if not all, have “false friends” with the English language. For example,embarazada means “pregnant” in Spanish not “embarrassed” (and this confusion can make for some pretty funny classroom situations). There are examples like this one in many other languages. If you are students who resort to false friends, or even like to make up words, no matter how funny it may seem, you should try to use words you are sure are correct because you’ve learned them.
5. 5

   Pronunciation of Silent Consonants

   If you have students who still pronounce the silent b in “comb” or “bomb”, you need to take a minute to write these down on the board and show them exactly which letters they need topronounce. The same goes for words like “Wednesday” (when the student pronounces the first d) or “muscle” (when the student pronounces the c as a “k”).
6. 6

   Speaking through Literal Translations

   Everything seems to be going well in your classroom. Your students are very attentive and no one is speaking their native language. But then someone says, “I have 20 years.” If you, like this student, are also a native Spanish speaker, you’ll know for a fact your student just did a literal translation in his/her head. Students will do this, you can be certain of that, but it’s something you need to correct right away, lest they keep doing it.
7. 7

   Wrong Prepositions

   This is one of the hardest mistakes to correct. There are so many uses for so many different prepositions, it’s hard for students to keep track of them all. One of the best ways to help out students who perpetually use the wrong preposition is to organize them into contexts, for example prepositions of place. We say we are “at school”, “at work”, “at home”, but “in the living room”, “in the bedroom” (“in” a particular room). We may also point out the difference between saying “at the bank” (in a bankingsituation) and “in the bank” (literally inside the building as opposed to outside).
8. 8

   Countable/Uncountable Mix-ups

   Students in all levels will get countables and uncountables mixed up and incorrectly use “a little”, “a few”, “many”, “much”, etc… Again, charts and graphics are very helpful in this case, to help students see exactly what they’re doing wrong. You can use the classic two-column list to contrast (“a few cars” vs. “a little traffic”) or any of these strategies.

ZERO ARTICLE

We say ZERO ARTICLE when no article is needed. Many mistakes are made using the article when it's not needed, Below when we don't need one:

Below a chart where you can see examples of when ZERO ARTICLE is used:

Compare in the chart below when to use ZERO ARTICLE and ARTICLE THE: