不定冠词A与An与定冠词the的用法25条.docx

不定冠词A与An与定冠词the的用法25条.docx

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不定冠词A与An与定冠词the的用法25条

不定冠词A与An与定冠词the的用法25条

USE1

Thearticle A isusedbeforesingular, countablenouns whichbeginwith consonant sounds.

Examples:

∙Heis a teacher.

∙Shedoesn'town a car.

∙Isaw a bearatthezoo.

USE2

Thearticle AN isusedbeforesingular, countablenouns whichbeginwith vowel sounds.

Examples:

∙Heis an actor.

∙Shedidn'tget an invitation.

∙Isaw an eagleatthezoo.

USE3

Rememberthat A（AN） means"one"or"asingle".Youcannotuse A（AN） withpluralnouns.

Examples:

∙Isaw a bearsinYellowstoneNationalPark. NotCorrect

∙IsawbearsinYellowstoneNationalPark. Correct

USE4

Ifthereisanadjectiveoranadverb-adjectivecombinationbeforethenoun, A（AN） shouldagreewiththefirstsoundintheadjectiveortheadverb-adjectivecombination.

Examples:

∙Heis an excellentteacher.

∙Isaw a reallybeautifuleagleatthezoo.

USE5

Use A beforewordssuchas"European"or"university"whichsoundliketheystartwithaconsonantevenifthefirstletterisavowel.Alsouse A beforelettersandnumberswhichsoundliketheybeginwithaconsonant,suchas"U","J","1"or"9".Remember,itisthesoundnotthespellingwhichisimportant.Forexample,"1"isspelledO-N-E;however,itispronounced"won"likeitstartswitha"W".

Examples:

∙Shehas a euro. Soundslike"yu-ro".

∙Thatnumberis a "1". Soundslike"won".

USE6

Use AN beforewordssuchas"hour"whichsoundliketheystartwithavowelevenifthefirstletterisaconsonant.Alsouse AN beforelettersandnumberswhichsoundliketheybeginwithavowel,suchas"F"or"8".Remember,itisthesoundnotthespellingwhichisimportant.Forexample,"F"ispronounced"eff"likeitstartswithan"E".

Examples:

∙Ionlyhave an hourforlunch. Soundslike"au-er".

∙Doeshisnamebeginwith an "F"?

 Soundslike"eff".

USE7

Somewordssuchas"herb"or"hospital"aremorecomplicatedbecausetheyarepronounceddifferentlyindifferentEnglishaccents.InmostAmericanaccents,the"h"in"herb"issilent,soAmericansusuallysay"anherb".InmanyBritishaccents,the"h"in"herb"ispronounced,somanyBritishsay"aherb".InsomeBritishaccents,the"h"inhospitalissilent,sosomeBritishwillsay"anhospital"insteadof"ahospital".

USE8

InEnglish,somenounsareconsidereduncountablesuchas:

information,air,advice,saltandfun.Wedonotuse A（AN） withtheseuncountablenouns.（Learnmoreabout countableanduncountablenouns.）

Examples:

∙Shegives a goodadvice. NotCorrect

∙Shegivesgoodadvice. Correct

USE9

A and AN arecalledindefinitearticles."Indefinite"means"notspecific".Use A（AN） whenyouaretalkingaboutathingingeneral,NOTaspecificthing.

Examples:

∙Ineed a phone. Notaspecificphone,anyphone

∙Markwants a bicycle. Notaparticularbicycle,abicycleingeneral

∙Doyouhave a driver'slicense?

 Ingeneral

Use A（AN） whentalkingaboutathingwhichisnew,unknown,orintroducedtoalistenerforthefirsttime.Alsouse A（AN） whenyouareaskingabouttheexistenceofsomething.

Examples:

∙Ihave a car. Thecarisbeingintroducedforthefirsttime.

∙Tomis a teacher. Thisisnewinformationtothelistener.

∙Isthere a dictionaryinyourbackpack?

 Askingabouttheexistenceofthedictionary

Similarly,use A（AN） tointroducewhattypeofthingwearetalkingabout.

Examples:

∙Thatis an excellentbook. Describingthekindofbook

∙Doyoulivein a bighouse?

 Askingaboutthekindofhouse

∙Iate a thick,juicysteak. Describingthekindofsteak

REMEMBER:

Youcannotuse A（AN） withpluralnounsbecause A（AN） means"one"or"asingle".

Examples:

∙Isaw a bearsinYellowstoneNationalPark. NotCorrect

∙IsawbearsinYellowstoneNationalPark. Correct

USE10

THE iscalledadefinitearticle."Definite"means"specific".Use THE whentalkingaboutsomethingwhichisalreadyknowntothelistenerorwhichhasbeenpreviouslymentioned,introduced,ordiscussed.

Examples:

∙Ihaveacat. The catisblack.

∙Thereisabookinmybackpack. The bookisveryheavy.

∙DoyouknowwhereIleft the carkeys?

 Thelistenerknowswhichspecificcarkeysyouaretalkingabout.

∙Doyouownacar?

Is the carblue?

 Youassumetheydohaveacarafteraskingaboutitinthefirstsentence.

∙Nobodyliveson the Moon. TheMoonisknowntoeveryone.

IMPORTANT:

Youcanuse THE withbothsingularnounsandpluralnouns.

Examples:

∙Isaw the bearinYellowstoneNationalPark. Correct

∙Isaw the bearsinYellowstoneNationalPark. Correct

USE12

A（AN） canbeusedliketheword"per".

Examples:

∙Applescurrentlycost$1.30 a pound.

∙Cheetahscanrun60miles an hour.

∙Youwant$150 a personforthetour?

USE13

Use THE withnounsmodifiedbyrankingororderingexpressionssuchas"thefirst","thesecond","thethird","thenext","thelast","theprevious","thefollowing","thepenultimate",etc.

Examples:

∙Thisis the fifthdayofourconference.

∙I'llpay the nexttimewehavedinner.

∙Don'tforget the followingrule.

USE14

Use THE withsuperlativessuchas"thebest","thebiggest","themostimportant","theleastinteresting",etc.

Examples:

∙Thisis the bestdayever.

∙Thatis the mostexpensivehotelroomI'veeverheardofinmylife.

∙Hetold the funniestjoke!

Comparativeforms,suchas"bigger","better","more"canbeusedwithboth A（AN） and THE andfollowgeneralarticleusage.

Examples:

∙Ilike the biggerrollercoaster.

∙Hehas a moreexpensivecarthanIdo.

HOWEVER:

 THE isoftenusedwithcomparativeforms（bigger）ratherthansuperlativeforms（biggest）whencomparingonlytwothings.Thisiscommonlyusedinphrasessuchas"thebiggerofthetwo".

Examples:

∙JessieandShaunaarebothsmart.ButIthinkShaunais the smarterofthetwo.

∙BetweenJason'ssonandhisdaughter,hisdaughteris the betterathlete.

USE15

Donotusearticleswhengeneralizingabout uncountablenouns andplural countablenouns.

Examples:

∙Curiosity isagreattrait. Uncountable

∙Water isanimportantresource. Uncountable

∙Vegetables aregoodforyou. Pluralcountable

USE16

Englishspeakersoftenuse THE plusasingularnounwhentheytalkaboutormakegeneralizationsaboutcertaintopics,including:

∙musicalinstruments（thepiano,theguitar,theflute）

∙plants（thecoconutpalm,thesaguaro,thebaobab）

∙animals（theleopard,theelephant,thelowlandgorilla）

∙inventions（thesteamengine,theplane,thelightbulb）

∙currencies（thedollar,theeuro,theyen）

∙bodyparts（thehead,theeye,theear）

Examples:

∙Iplay the piano.

∙The sequoiatreeisnativetoCalifornia.

∙The dolphinisaveryintelligentanimal.

∙TheWrightbrothersinvented the airplane.

∙Rightnow, the euroisstrongerthan the dollar.

∙Cherylgotpokedin the eye.

Ingeneral,Englishspeakerschoosetouse THE inthiswaytogivethenounamoreabstractorconceptualsound.Wechoosetosay"thepiano"tomakeitsoundmorelikeanabstractartform.Similarly,"thedolphin"soundsmorelikewearereferringtothespecies.Moreover,"theplane"hasamoreconceptualsoundthatconveystheideaofinvention.Butremember,youcanalsomakegeneralizationsaboutthesetopicsusingpluralsasinUSE15.

USE17

Theexpressions"afew"and"alittle"mean"some"andexpresstheideathatyouhavemorethanexpected.

Examples:

∙Healwayscarries afew dollarsforemergencies.

∙Hehad alittle difficultywithhishomework.

∙Shehas afew friendswhocanhelphermove.

HOWEVER:

Theexpressions"few"and"little"（withoutanarticle）mean"notmuch"andexpresstheideathatyouhavelessthanexpected.

Examples:

∙Unfortunately,Ihad little timetoenjoyNewYorkbecauseIhadtoworksomuch.

∙Sadly,hehas few peopleinhislife.

∙Theyhave little money,sotheirdaughtercannotpayhertuition.

BUTREMEMBER:

Whenthewords"only"or"just"areused,"afew"and"alittle"alsoemphasizethemeaning"notmuch".

Examples:

∙Unfortunately,I only had alittle timetoenjoyNewYorkbecauseIhadtoworksomuch.

∙Sadly,he just has afew peopleinhislife.

∙They only have alittle money,sotheirdaughtercannotpayhertuition.

USE18

Generally,articlesarenotusedwiththenamesofillnessesordiseases.

Examples:

∙Dr.Smithvisitsschoolsanduniversitiestoeducatestudentson AIDS.

∙Oncologistsaredoctorswhospecializeintreating cancer.

∙Thereareseveralmedicationsthatcanbeusedtotreat malaria.

HOWEVER:

Therearesomeillnesseswhichrequire THE.

∙themeasles

∙theflu

∙themumps

∙thebubonicplague

MOREOVER:

Thereareafewhealthconditionsorillnesseswhichcanbeusedwithboth A（AN） aswellas THE andfollowgeneralarticleuse.Thiscategoryincludesmostaches,pains,growths,andattacks.

∙acold

∙aheartattack

∙astroke

∙awart/tumor/growth/etc.

∙asorethroat/soreback/sorefoot/etc.

∙aheadache/toothache/backache/etc.

REMEMBER:

Thislastcategoryfollowsgeneralarticleuse.Studytheexamplesbelow.

Examples:

∙Johnhas a cold. The coldwasprettybad.

∙Nancyhad a heartattack. The heartattackseriouslyweakenedherheart.

∙Debhad a sorethroat. The sorethroatmadeithardtotalk.

USE19

Ifadirection（north,west,southeast,left,right）directlyfollowsaverb,donotuseanarticlewiththedirection.

Examples:

∙Weneedtowalk south.

∙Theydrove north allday.

∙Atthestopsign,turn left andwalkthreeblocks.

HOWEVER:

Ifadirectionfollowsapreposition,youmustuse THE.

Examples:

∙Weneedtowalkto the south.

∙Ourhouseisin the north.

∙Thegrocerystoreison the right.

MOREOVER:

Use THE withcompassdirectionswhenreferringtothemasspecialgeographicorculturalregions.

Examples:

∙Welove the South.

∙Haveyouevervisited the East?

∙The Westhasbetternationalparks.

USE20

THE can