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<\/a><\/p>\n\u2022 Golden rule number 1: Never use a countable singular noun <\/strong> without an article! (NOT <\/strong>: I saw _ kangaroo in the zoo. CORRECT <\/strong>: a kangaroo) Golden rule number 2: Never use plural nouns with indefinite articles! (NOT: <\/strong> I saw a kangaroos in the zoo(?!?). CORRECT: <\/strong> O kangaroos). Use a <\/strong> before nouns beginning with consonants (for example: a book, a dog, a picture). Use an <\/strong> before nouns beginning with vowels (for example: an apple, an orange, an egg).<\/p>\n\u2022 We use the indefinite article when we do not know which one <\/strong>. For example: Give me a <\/strong> chair! (I need any <\/strong> chair, or one <\/strong> chair, I'm not interested in any particular chair.) If we say, for example, Give me the <\/strong> chair!, it means that I know exactly which chair I need. \u2022 We use the indefinite article when we introduce a noun into a context for the first time, that is, that noun is not mentioned before <\/strong>. (for example:A <\/strong> man came to my office.) If we continue talking about the man, we will use the <\/strong>:The <\/strong> man was looking for you.) \u2022 We use the indefinite article when we describe people's professions. For example: My mother is a<\/strong> teacher, my brother is an <\/strong> engineer. Let's go on! Now we will focus on the red branch. As the name of the zero article (O) <\/strong> suggests, we will not use articles here: \u2022 We do not use indefinite articles with uncountable nouns <\/strong>(examples of uncountable nouns: water, sand, money, rice etc.) So, we do NOT <\/strong> say: I eat a rice every day (?!?). CORRECT <\/strong>: I eat rice every day. \u2022 We do not use any articles when we talk about things in general <\/strong>. For example: People like O <\/strong> music. \u2022 We do not use articles when we talk about languages <\/strong>. For example: I like English and French. BUT <\/strong> we say:the <\/strong> English language, the <\/strong> French language.<\/p>\n\u2022 We do not need articles when we talk about magazines <\/strong>. For example: My sister likes reading O<\/strong> Cosmopolitan. BUT <\/strong> newspapers take the <\/strong>. For example: My uncle reads the <\/strong> Times every morning. \u2022 When we talk about meals <\/strong> we do not use articles: What did you have for O <\/strong> lunch? \u2022 We do NOT use articles with the names of countries, continents, cities <\/strong>, states, mountains and lakes <\/strong>! For example: Serbia (NOT: the Serbia ), Asia (NOT: the Asia ), Berlin (NOT: the Berlin ), Idaho (NOT: the Idaho ), Everest (NOT: the Everest), Michigan (NOT: the Michigan ). \u2022 We do NOT use articles with names of people and places\/regions <\/strong>! For example: Catherine (NOT: the Catherine), Central Europe (NOT: the Central Europe ) \u2022 We do not use articles with names of streets, roads, squares <\/strong> and parks <\/strong>. For example: Oxford Street (NOT: the Oxford Street ), Victoria Road (NOT: the Victoria Road ), Trafalgar Square (NOT: the Trafalgar Square ), Hyde Park (NOT: the Hyde Park ). \u2022 We do not use articles with the names of shops and restaurants <\/strong>. For example: Harrods (NOT: the Harrods), McDonalds (NOT: the McDonalds) And, finally, let's analyze the light blue branch with most of the rules of the definite article (the) <\/strong>! To begin with, the<\/strong> is the short form of this\/that <\/strong> or these\/those.<\/strong>\u2022 We use the <\/strong> with both countable and uncountable nouns, both singular and plural forms, when everybody knows which noun we are referring to! For example: Will you, please, pass me the <\/strong> salt? Or:The <\/strong> news passed quickly through the <\/strong> crowd outside the <\/strong> palace. \u2022 As we have already pointed out, we use the <\/strong> when we go on talking a person\/thing\/event etc. for the second time, that is, it was mentioned before. For example: I saw a <\/strong> dog in the schoolyard yesterday. The <\/strong> dog was dangerous.<\/p>\n\u2022 We use the <\/strong> when the noun is defined by a phrase that follows, that is, there is a post-nominal modifier which makes the noun familiar to the listener. For example: Can you give me the <\/strong> bag that's on the floor by your feet? (The underlined post-nominal modifier makes definite which bag the speaker wants.) \u2022 We use the <\/strong> with OF <\/strong> phrases. For example:The <\/strong> advantage of <\/strong> living alone is that you can do what you like. Or:The <\/strong> beginning of <\/strong> the month was very difficult. (Please note that there are always exceptions in a language). \u2022 We use the <\/strong> when we talk about inventions and musical instruments: Who invented the <\/strong> telephone? The<\/strong> guitar is my favorite instrument. \u2022 We use the <\/strong> when we talk about republics and kingdoms. For example:the <\/strong> Dominican Republic , the <\/strong> United Kingdom , etc. \u2022 We use the <\/strong> when we use plural names: I like to watch the <\/strong> Simpsons. She lives in the <\/strong> States. \u2022 We use the <\/strong> with theatres, cinemas, hotels, galleries, museums:the <\/strong> Palace theatre;the <\/strong> Odeon Cinema;the <\/strong> Hilton hotel;the <\/strong> Tate gallery;the <\/strong> British museum, etc. \u2022 We use the <\/strong> with mountain ranges (BUT: we do not use the <\/strong> in front of mountains!), for example:the <\/strong> Alps , BUT:O <\/strong> Old mountain. \u2022 We use the <\/strong> with the names of oceans, seas, rivers and canals (all water areas except lakes!). For example:the <\/strong> Atlantic Ocean , the <\/strong> Black Sea , the <\/strong> Danube , the <\/strong> Suez Canal , BUT:O <\/strong> Lake Ohrid .<\/p>\nTo sum up, there are many rules which we must apply if we want to speak correctly. When we talk about the use and non-use of articles, it is a never-ending story. But, don't give up! Draw the map for yourself and stick it on a visible place in your room or working place and relax! You will adopt the rules gradually when you watch the map and do lots of exercises! So, don't hesitate and start using the articles!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Don't get discouraged when you see the panic-stricken face of the man with the question mark in the mind map! He is terrified at the thought of not knowing which article to use with the apple he is looking at. The bad news is: there are many rules! The good news is: you can print<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-corner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tt-group.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}