Page 61 - Grasp English B1 (Grammar Book)

Jokes and Stories 10

Articles: a/an, the, zero article

a. a/an (indefinite article)
We use a/an:
• to describe a singular noun.
There’s a tree in the middle of the field.
• before professions.
I’m an architect.
• when something is mentioned for the first time.
I’ve bought a sandwich and an apple.
b. the (definite article)
We use the:

• when we are thinking of a specific thing.
I want to rent the apartment near the park. (a specific apartment)

• before the usual places the speaker goes to (i.e, bank, market, doctor, etc.).
I have to go to the market today. (the market that the speaker usually goes to)
I have toothache. I need to go to the dentist. (my usual dentist)

• when something has been mentioned before.
(I’ve ordred a roll and a lemonade.) The roll is terrible, but the lemonade is delicious.
• before services.
Should I call the police now?
• with adjectives like rich, poor, unemployed, etc, which are used to talk about groups of people.
Do you think the rich (people) should help the poor (people)?
• when there is only one of something.
The earth revolves around the sun.
• with the superlative form of an adjective.
It is the most beautiful scene I’ve ever seen.
• with well-known buildings or works of art.
The British Museum is a place you must visit.
• with rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges, and country names if the country has a political title in
its name, or if it refers to a group of states/islands.
the Amazon, the Mediterranean Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Himalayas (not the Everest), the United
Arab Emirates
• in some fixed expressions.
in the morning, the sky, the sea, the same, the radio, the cinema, in the end, etc.
• before ordinal numbers.
the fifth of June, on the second floor, in the twentieth century
• before (plural) family names (refer to the whole family).
the Simpsons
• before musical instruments.
Could you play the violin when you were in high school?

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