The Article I

The Indefinite and Definite Article

THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

The indefinite article is 'a' before a singular noun beginning with a consonant sound and 'an' before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound.

EXAMPLE: There is a book on the table. There is an apple on the table.

A and an are not used before uncountable nouns.

EXAMPLE: There is sugar on the table.

A and an have no plural form

EXAMPLE: There are books on the table. There are apples on the table.

The word some can be used before uncountable nouns and countable nouns in the plural.

EXAMPLE: There is some sugar on the table. There are some books on the table. There are some apples on the table.

EXERCISE: In the space provided, copy the following sentences, putting a, an, or some in place of the blanks. All necessary punctuation.

1. Im drinking ______________ coffee

2. Im reading ______________ book

3. Im buying ______________ shirts

4. Johns studying _____________ English book

5. Marys buying _____________ new dress

6. Teds singing _____________ old songs

7. Ellens talking to _____________ old friends

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

The definite article is the. It has several uses in English. We are going to study two of them now. The definite article is used with unique and identified things.

EXAMPLE: There is a book on the table. The book is new.

The table in the first sentence is unique. It may be the only table in the room. At least, it is the only table the speaker of the sentence is speaking about. In the second sentence the book is identified. The speaker identified it in the previous sentence, so it changes from a book to the book.

EXAMPLE: There is a pen in my hand. The pen is red.

Again, we say the pen in the second sentence, because it is not only a pen, it is the same pen that is in the first sentence. It is now identified.

EXAMPLE: There are two windows in the room. The windows are open.

The windows are identified and unique. How?

EXERCISE: In the space provided, copy these sentences and put either a, an, the, or some in the blank spaces. Add all necessary punctuation.

1. there is __________ hat on Jane's head __________ hat is pretty

2. there is __________ girl in __________ first seat __________ girl is pretty

3. there is __________ sign on __________ wall __________ sign is large

4. there is __________ man in this picture __________ man is handsome ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. there are __________ pictures on my wall __________ pictures are pretty

2. there are __________ pens in Johns pocket __________ pens are red

3. there are __________ cats in the living room __________ cats are crying

4. there are __________ cookies in that jar __________ the cookies are delicious ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. there is __________ coffee in this pot __________ coffee is hot

2. there is __________ beer in my refrigerator __________ beer is cold

3. there is __________ candy in my pocket __________ candy is good

PART II MODEL PARAGRAPH

Mrs. Brown is working in her kitchen. She is working at a large table. There is a bowl on the table. There are some eggs on the table. There is a bag of flour on the table. There is a carton of milk on the table. There is some butter in the bowl. Mrs. Brown is mixing the butter and the sugar together and adding the flour and the eggs. What is Mrs. Brown making

EXERCISE: Cover the Model Paragraph with a piece of paper. Copy the following paragraph. Fill in the blanks with a, an, the or some. Add all necessary punctuation.

mrs brown is working in her kitchen she is working at ________ large table there is ________ bowl on ________ table there are ________ eggs on ________ table there ________ box of flour on ________ table there is ________ carton of milk on ________ table there is ________ butter in ________ bowl mrs brown is mixing ________ butter and ________ sugar together and adding ________ flour and ________ eggs what is mrs brown making

Rainsbury, Robert. Written English An Introduction for Beginning Students of English as a Second Languauge. Lesson 9. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1977, pp. 41-3.