Articles

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

Articles

Let's see how much we know already. 

How many articles are in the following sentences?

The brown dog is lying on the floor in the corner of the room. It has a red collar and is eating a steak. It has a ripped-up toy laying next to it. 

The answer

The brown dog is lying on the floor in the corner of the room. It has a red collar and is eating a steak. It has a ripped-up toy laying next to it. 

That means the sentence has 6 articles in it.

Articles

Articles are placed before a noun,   In English we know two types of articles: THE (definite article) and A or AN (both INdefinite articles)

Examples: 

The book is on this shelf is mine.

I’d rather eat  a pear than an apple.

Definite article use

We use the definite article when the reader or listener understands which thing we're talking about because:

1. We've introduced it already. "The man rubs his head and says, 'Ouch! Where'd that bar come from?'"

2. There is only one in existence that matters. "We visited the Sistine Chapel when we were in Rome."

3. We describe exactly which one we're talking about. "Let's open the Chardonnay that Pam and Dale gave us for our anniversary."

Indefinite article

We use the indefinite article (a / an) when: 

1.  We talk about a thing which is new, unknown, or introduced to a listener for the first time. 

" I need a new phone" 

2.  We don't care which one exactly and talking about something in general. 

Example: I started reading a really good book yesterday. 

The articles a/an

 A is put before closed sounds: the consonants.

a pet               a teacher           a bycicle

a car                  a door               a room

 

The articles a/an

An is used for a noun with an open sound: the vowels

an ear            an investigation         an officer

an apple            an Englishman          an answer

 

ATTENTION!

So, the choice od a or an is not what you read on paper, but the sound you hear.

Sometimes you see a noun starting with -h.  However, it is not pronounced! Then you put the article AN before it:  AN hour, The -h is not pronounced(‘our)

 

More examples

an hour  (you hear our)

an honour (you hear onour)

a university (you hear juniversity)

a uniform (you hear juniform)

a European (you hear jeuropean)

a of an?
..... dog

1. a
2. an

a of an?
..... banana

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... artwork

1. a
2. an

a of an?
..... house

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... apple

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... uniform

1. a
2. an

A

AN

table

house

egg

chicken

island

phone

orange

a of an?
.... ear

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... hero

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... plant

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... commercial

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... hour

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... game

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... university

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... avatar

1. a
2. an

a of an?
.... FM-radio channel

1. a
2. an

A of AN?
.... president

1. a
2. an

Now what?

Page 32 + 33 TB. 

Exercise 1 reading aloud together. 

Last 10 minutes of the lesson: 

Irregular verbs