Using English articles (#5), by more English
Using English Articles (#5)
Because the English articles (a, an, the) are often verychallenging for learners of the language, the next severalHints will provide guidelines on their usage.
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The Definite Article The
The definite article the is used in several different waysin English.
One use of the is with nouns (singular or plural, countableor uncountable) that are specifically identified because thelistener or reader knows (or can assume) that only onespecific noun is being talked or written about.
Another use of the happens when a non-specific nounis mentioned more than one time.
A third use is related to the second: when a plural nounis non-specific, either some, a number or other quantifier,or no article is used when the noun is mentioned the firsttime, but the is used after the first time.
Examples:
Celina is wearing earrings. The earrings are small andround and made of gold.
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Someone sent Anna flowers yesterday. The flowerswere delivered just before noon.
George and Helen have three children. The children arestudying at universities in Missouri.
I bought a pair of shoes yesterday. I couldn't resistbuying the shoes because they were on sale for half price.
Betsy showed us some some photographs of Switzerland.The photographs were taken on Betsy's vacation last year.
Julia bought a skirt and some shoes. The skirt and theshoes are both navy blue.
She knew that we had questions about her report.She asked us to send her the questions by e-mail.
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Special Note:
Uncountable nouns can also be used in a way that is similarto what was noted above:
There's water all over the kitchen floor! I think the wateris coming from the bottom of the refrigerator!
I see a lot of smoke. Do you think the smoke is froma forest fire?
Fred bought several packages of graph paper. He'll usethe graph paper in his geometry class.
I bought two quarts of ice cream. We'll have the ice creamfor dessert this evening.
If your sauce is too thin, add one or two teaspoons ofcornstarch. The cornstarch will make the sauce thicker.
Next: more on articles
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