Hello students! Congratulations on completing Years 1 and 2 of American English. Now that you are better prepared and that your American English is stronger, during years 3, 4, and 5 of your American English studies with Maestro Sersea, you will receive a different English grammar lesson each week.
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Lesson 3.36.3: Year3
Everyday grammar, Introducing Articles, ‘A/An and ‘The.’
in the conversation.
The only articles in Englis are ‘The’ and ‘A/An. Yet the tricky part is that we use them differently and sometimes not at all we call ‘The’ definite article and ‘A/An’ the indefinite article.
‘A/An’ is used when referring a nonspecific noun. ‘A/An’ are both indefinite articles in English. They a are used to modify a noun. The main difference between the two is ‘A’ is before a noun that starts with consonant sound, while ‘An’ is used before a noun that starts with a vowel sound.
We use ‘a” before words like,’ a book, a cat, pencil, a glass of water, because they start with consonant sound. sound We use ‘an’ before words like apple, egg. elephant, because they start with a vowel sound.
The is used when referring the specific noun.
, for example,” I saw the cat that scratched me. Children are enjoying the chills and thrills of winter.
Dear teacher,
Grammar lesson today’s “ article “
What is an article?
The article is a tiny word that precedes a noun and indicates whether it is singular or plural form, in specific instances or unspecific ones.
Ex: I need a phone. — Not a specific phone, any phone.
Please give me the phone on the table. — One specific phone that the listener can see on the particular table.
There are three articles in English: a, an, and the. “A/an” called the indefinite article, “the” is the definite one. Let’s see these two types in more details.
As you can see, “a” and “an” are used in the same way. But when to use a or an? The rule is simple:
“a” goes before a word beginning with a consonant sound: a cucumber, a rabbit, a pen;
“an” goes before a word beginning with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u): an apricot, an antelope, an idea.
When the definite article is needed.
Ex: She is a pop star.
Ex: It is an orange.
– The definite article is never used with the names of person, country, language, months and specific places.
Ex: Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany.
Ex: Joanne The definite article is never used with
Ex: She is the doctor I came to see.
Ex: My bag is still in the car. I’ll get it.
Ex: Could you shut the door, please?
Ex: Do you know where I left the car keys?
we’ve already mentioned the noun we’re referring to in a previous sentence;
Ex: There is a book in my bag. The book is about war.
Thank you.