SECTION 11 articles: a/an and the ® grammar summary A/an shows that we are talking about one person or thing.. We often use a/an: e in descriptions She’s an interesting person.. counta
Trang 1SECTION 11 articles: a/an and the
® grammar summary
A/an shows that we are talking about one person or thing We often use a/an:
e in descriptions
She’s an interesting person He’s got a loud voice
e when we say what something is, or what somebody’s job is
This is a return ticket I’m an engineer
The usually means ‘You know which one(s) I’m talking about.’
Can | use the phone? (The hearer knows that this means ‘your phone’ )
Nouns used without articles often have a special meaning
| dislike cats (This means ‘all cats’.)
Most Western European languages have articles So if you speak (for example) French, German, Spanish or Greek, you will not have too many problems with a/an and the: they are used mostly in the same way as
your articles There are a few differences: see pages 150-155 If you speak a non-Western-European language
(for example Russian, Polish, Arabic, Chinese, japanese), you may find articles more difficult Study all of this
Section, especially pages 148-149
@ pre-test: which units do you need?
Try this small test It will help you to decide which units you need The answers are on page 283
@ Correct (⁄) or not (x)?
Pp aday“ pm adays% ilabook 2amilk 3a films
© No article (-), the or a?
> Where did you put thé butter? » I speak .20 French 1] often listen to music
2 phone” downstairs in kitchen 3 Canada is big country
4 My sister’s hairdresser 5S She's got nice face and blue eyes
6 This table is made of glass
oO Correct (“) or not (x)?
1 She’s from the Texas 2 I’m at Oxford Station 3 He was in the bed at 10.00
An Englishman, an Irishman, Shut the door and turn We've got offices in
a Scotsman and a Welshman went off the lights when you Australia, Canada and
He’s a doctor and Pll meet you at the He’s got a very nice smile
she's an engineer Palace Hotel in Clark
Trang 2a and an; pronunciation of the
We use a before a consonant sound (for example, the normal sound of 5, c d, f g, h)
abook acoat ahouse alketter anew idea
We use an before a vowel sound (for example, the normal sound of a, e, i, 0, u)
an address anegg anidea an old house
@ Put in a or an
> 2 ticket > av, afternoon 1 bicycle 2 airport 3 shop
4 holiday 2 exercise 6 day 7c American 8 student
We choose a or an because of pronunciation, not spelling
e a house, a hand, a head BuT an hour /aua/ (the h is silent, so hour is like our)
e an uncle, an umbrella, BUT @ university (pronounced ‘you-niversity’), a European (pronounced ‘you-ropean’),
a uniform (pronounced ‘you-niform’), a useful book
® an orange, an opera, an office BUT @ one-pound stamp (pronounced ‘wun .’)
© Put in adjectives
P a car (expensive) AWS CAPEWSLVE CAY 5_ an uncle (rich) «
P an address (new) 4./+w.addr£ss 6 a job (6đ§y) ĂccccccccsSa
1 a friend (of) .- «<s 7 an exercise (Ìard)
2 an apple (Dig) . nhe re 8 a language (Furopcd!) Ăiicằc
3a child (uthqppV) nành, 9a ĐOOk (§0mdÌÏ) s.ccs2
4 a train (£qrÌW) cv ee
Before a consonant sound we pronounce the as /ða/ (like the end of mother)
Before a vowel sound we say /ði/ (it rhymes with see)
© Pronounce:
the beginning the woman thechild thetime the place the house the horse
theend theold man the office the address the American
the hour theone theuniversity the European’ the uniform
4) GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY: seven useful things
Complete the sentences with words from the box Use a or an
alarm clock Y calculator torch envelope hammer knife tin-opener /
m You use 2.tunr opener , to open tins 3 You can see at night with
b> Áo aLArr2+.,cLocE W@ak€S YOU UD he
LT YOU CAM use when youU
 cu nh re is useful for mathematics cutting things
146 ARTICLES: A/AN AND THE
Trang 3countable and uncountable a car, cars; petrol
Countable nouns are words like car, book, chair They are the names of things
singular (a cat, one book) or plural (two chairs, lots of books) LX
can’t count: you can say ‘smoke’, but not ‘erne-smoke’ or “twe-rices’ or ‘three-waters’ ) Uncountable nouns are only singular (For more information, see page 190.) #
“
0 ill in the table with the words from the box
eee e eer eet esas eee rece remeree ees awe tener ene errerreeseoneeneesnes 8 8 ®8944 0496096426999 09 00-066 661v n8 nợ sre reeserereeeeeeeseeee seesaw eene = = = wea ceenererrnerenerrssvecceunces etme ee rere res eee sr esensesccvvene Pee ee ese w ee eetee eer eee eeseeneees eae eecareenccrcceeenerenereeneeos Oo ee ee ee oe eee e meee etee eer eeee ree eeeeeee mmm ree m ccm c cee ce ee eseesserenee meer corer errr wesc esetetere dua e emcee reer bees eeeesseeerseeres ea meeenereseceseseresenscesseeess gab meemeesarerereenrccsreesereeres
We use a/an only before singular countable nouns
(A/an is a bit like one: you can’t say one-houses or -one-aif.)
SINGULAR COUNTABLE PLURAL COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE
@ house houses (NOT qa-heuses) đir (NOT -g'f®-gi)
We often use an uncountable noun (without a/an) to say what something is made of
Q Put in a/an or nothing (-)
1 Inever drink milk 6 Mv room has got teally big window
2 Jane is old friend 7 That child wants new shoes
3 Their house is made of wood 8 She was wearing orange skirt
4 I often listen to music 9 The table is made of glass
We use one instead of a/an when the exact number is important Compare:
Can | have a cheese sandwich? (NOT €en+heve_-one-cheese-sandwich? )
No, | asked for one sandwich, not two! ! only want one sandwich
9 Put in a/an or one
> She’s only got OME coat 4 She5 only got child
2 No, Isaid egg, not two 6_ girlfriend is enough
ARTICLES: A/AN AND THE 147
Trang 4the and a/an Let’s see a film I didn’t like the film
We use the, not a/an, to talk about somebody or something, when the speaker and hearer both know
about this person or thing; when they both know which one(s) In other cases we use a/an
Can | borrow the car? i've just bought a new car
(You know which door.) (| don’t mind which window.)
(You know which one - the one near here.)
Can | use the phone? ( = ‘your phone’) Have you got a phone?
! didn’t like the film (= ‘the one that we saw’) Let’s go and see a film
(You know which room - I'm telling you.)
(You know which train - I’m telling you.)
(You know which coat — I’m telling you.)
0 Put in a/an or the
> | walked up to her house, rang thể, bell Š _ Where teacher? She’s very late
and opened .t4¢ door 6 IwWant long holiday in sun
P He lives in .4 small village 7 Who's man in your office?
1 Look - that’s John walking across street 8 I’m leaving on 4.30 bus
2 Can luse bathroom? 9 ‘Which is your coat?’ ‘ green one.’
3 Ineed English-French dictionary - 10 Ann’s looking for new job
4 Iknow good restaurant - shail I 12 LIl meet you at 4.30 at bus stop T€S€TV€ table for tonight? outside police station
We use the before only, first, second etc; and superlatives like oldest, most (see page 208)
She’s the only woman for me I live on the second floor
It’s the oldest restaurant in Glasgow _—_ He bought the most expensive one
f
\ @ Put the beginnings and ends together, and put in a/an or the
1 Sarah's thé A cup of coffee?
2 J’ve got we B first train tomorrow morning?
3 John% C hottest day of the year
4 What time Is D most intelligent person in our family 4
5 Yesterday was E only boy in the class
6 \Vouid vou like F present for you
148 ARTICLES: A/AN AND THE
Trang 5We often use a/an to talk about a person or thing for the first time; and the when we talk about the
person or thing again
Aman walked up to a policeman, The man took out a map and asked the policeman
0 Put in a/an or the
A BAG IN A BAG
This is ® 4 true story Last year I went into 1 big sports shop because I wanted
2 icceseees sports bag 3 assistant came up to me, and I told him what I wanted 4
assistant brought me three different bags I chose S smallest one and paid for it 6
assistant put 7 bag in 8 large plastic bag I told him one bag was enough, and asked
him to take 9 bag out Of 10 other bag He did so, but he looked very unhappy as |
walked out of 11 shop
Remember: we don’t use a/an with plurals We can use the with plurals
She's wearing black shoes (NOT .-@-blaek-shees.) She bought the shoes last week
@ crammar AND VOCABULARY: animals, birds and other creatures
Make sure you know the words in the box Use a dictionary if necessary Then look at the
groups of pictures and complete the sentences Put in a/an or the
GROUP A
> This isa camel It’s thE, biggest animal in 0%¢ group
1 This is [S smallest animal in group
2 This is Its Most intelligent ÔÔÔÔÔÔÔÔÔÔÔÔÔ
GROUP B
3 This iS ItS fastest bird in group
4 This is [tS only blue and yellow ẨT cc.c coi
5 Thìis is ItS smallest ee 20191111111 T111 X9 kg 00 v6 2 08t 8g ti,
GROUP C
6 This iS ItS only creature with eight legsin
7 This is [tS .cc ve creature with sỉx legSÌn c c.ecc
8 This is I WIth NO ̀BS .ceeHHe He
green creature
ARTICLES: A/AN AND THE 149
Trang 6q/an Shc5 q docfor
We use a/an when we say what something is, or what Job somebody does
A pony is a small horse Canada is a big country My sister is an electrician
Remember: we don’t use a/an with plurals
Ponies are small horses (NOT .-a-smeat-herses-)
@ Say what these people’s jobs are Use the words in the box
builder cook dentist doctor “_—_ driver hairdresser
musician photographer shop assistant teacher
2 5 990260 209026^20060906096000600906 000900900906 vn tớ
9A 9096946900600040000400200400400606 0 ese6eee60 s66
“Nn > ®
@ Complete the sentences with your own ideas
ÌÏ Sex is a good film
Về Q Q QQQQQQQUQQ Ung is a terrible singer
Bele nhe is an interesting book
¬ - are beautiful animals
HH ke ÍS Aa/A' HH,
GRAMMaR AND VOCABULARv: kinds of things
Look up these words in a dictionary if necessary:
building, (musical) instrument, vehicle, tool, container
Now change these to true singular sentences
b Cars are buildings À.€8x,1š.4.V€Ì0(2LÉ, Lc HH ngư
Hammers ar€ COntẠR€TS -.-QQQQ HH0 HH nHn nh cánh Pianos are buildings - - «ng ng ng xxx
Buses are tOỌS - QQ Q9 HH HH nen nh
kq (2900/2617) (si) An .ẦẦ
Guitars are †OOÌS -LẶ SG Q SG nnnn HH HH ng nen Boxes are iNstruMentS 200.00 ec cecccccceccasssseeeeeeeeeeesseesscceeesecesesasnssseeseees Hotels are Vehicles cccccccsscscesccccsseccceaneececensesccececuseeseccucecsseeseess
150 ARTICLES: A/AN AND THE
Trang 7a/an: describing people S/e% gof q Hicc SHHÌc
We often use a/an in descriptions
She's got @ quiet voice (NOT the-qutet-voice.) He got a friendly face
Remember: we don’t use a/an with plurals or uncountable nouns
She's got blue eyes (NOT œ-blue-eyes:) He’s got long hair (NOT -e4eng-heit)
0 Look at the pictures and complete the sentences Use the words in the box, and add
a/an if necessary
—
> He's got 4.0(2.1~0§É
I She” gO( Ă cv
2 He5 got e
3 She*S gOI Ỉihre
4 He got Hee
8 Here are two descriptions of the same person Put in a/an or nothing (-)
A ‘My name’s Sandra 1’m tall and slim I’ve got PB blue eyes, » 4 small nose, 1 big
mouth and 2 dark hair I think I’ve got 3 nice smile I wear 4 glasses.’
B ‘Sandra’s got ! very friendly face with 2 big smile She’s got 3 Jong dark hair and
4 blue eyes She’s got s long legs, and she’s very pretty She’s wearing 6 blue dress
today She’s got 7 nice voice.’
© Write a short description (two or three sentences) of a friend of yours Use some words
from Exercises 1 and 2
Án Án Án HC ĐC ĐIÊG92000 000G 000600090860600000060%90006090600 00 0S 00960009400666000096000026000000600000002 0600400000000 0000060090 4026 006000200000400022ả 00 60046609040020 94 t0 0660600 ke Á6
Ẻ 9E 9024909000242 0666 60000404622600000060000066 6094906000 0000009006600 600060 000 0600000006060006000000006066009600606000606000000904200080600699060600090920600206400004002000259 0600966 eeeeeee°e 1> HA 6P 96000606606020240056690020000%60600040000000600909000000000000 9606022000000 0 000 000026 006000000 006 00060 06094000000000900004240600004006000000000002400224400640402004000094 006 6ee 1A ke &6
lh Sd plans hairwt down te her forchoad Annis
always happy and che makes a really good sriend
ARTICLES: A/AN AND THE 151
Trang 8talking in general without the People are funny
We do not normally use the to talk about people or things in general The does not mean ‘ail’ We use the
to talk about particular people or things (see page 148)
GENERAL PARTICULAR
People are funny The people in that house are funny
I like music The music’s too loud - can you turn it down?
Sugar is fattening Could you pass the sugar?
She‘s interested in dogs and horses ‘Why are the dogs barking?’ ‘There’s somebody outside.’
0 Make some sentences from the words in the boxes
Students Teachers
BR ODS AOA TU GA 2 aeeneeaee A ceccesececescseacscsesavsvavsteccscassesssssesvavacessusaesusaescasaees
II iescescsscesevecsscsseesseseeceeceeessevsevesevsesevnenseeseeaseaseas II
@ circle the correct forms
> The old people / (Old peoplèoften forget the things | things»
> I like talking to‘the old ladies / old ladies who live in that house
1 The books / Books are expensive in my country
2 ‘Where shall I put the books / books?’ ‘On the floor.’
3 Japanese is a difficult language for the English people / English people
4 The flowers / flowers are beautiful Thank you very much!
The life / Life is sometimes hard
I don’t understand the words / words of that song
The food / food in this restaurant is very expensive
The water / Water turns into the ice / ice at O°C
Why are the windows / windows open in this room?
© Here are some common sayings about men and women (not all true!) Complete the
sentences with words from the box, and give your opinion
> Men never ask the way when they're L0§F TRUE / NOT TRUE
1 Men are better than women TRUE / NOT TRUE
2 _Women are more careful with than men TRUE / NOT TRUE
3 Women -«- men Men don't - women TRUE / NOT TRUE
4 Women that men will change, but they don’t TRUE / NOT TRUE
S Men đont - that women will change, but they do TRUE / NOT TRUE
6 Men pay too much for -.- that they want Women buy
that they don’t want because they’re cheap TRUE / NOT TRUE
Trang 94) Read the two texts and then write one yourself
I love snow
I like poetry, art and walking
I don’t like football, big dictionaries or hot weather
I hate telephones, banks, vegetable soup, pop music and small dogs
I hate writing letters
I don’t like swimming or opera
I like children, apples, sport, television and cheese
I love computers, history, dancing, cats, nice clothes and shopping
"“ a -a-a.—-_-.-
ĐÐ 0A PpưdeosebesosỞ0e000802bpb%ep90900900002090800000000000000000000000000004000000600%0000000000090096000090096609 969
Ô Áo Bo on HP G0 0 niên ĐĐ 9 0000000 00080 00 000 0 0000099000 00060000009069/0/0004 260020 6000940900/94 06/0994 00/000940/09090/090099/00.9 600% 0099/0600 696 1ợ 996.966
Ắ eer
© crammar AND VOCABULARY: interests
Choose some words from the box to complete the sentences Use a dictionary if
necessary Don’t use the!
poetry politics (singular) skating swimming tennis travel
1 Ilike -
2 1 don't like
3 Ilike - better than .-. -
4 I[ÌOVe - - , bụt Ï hate -.<-
Š TenjOoy -«ee-
6 Ithink c«« is interesting, but ~- 1s boring
8 Im good at , buụt m not sO gOOd at
9 [prefer - VO SH,
10 m not interested in -
11 Most people are interested in . -
12 Not many people are interested in