The use of

articles

GRAMMAR

LEVEL NUMBER LANGUAGE

Intermediate B1_1042G_EN English
Goals

■ Learn about the use of

articles in the English
language and when a/an/the
or no articles are used
■ Practise using articles
■ Review tenses in the past
and questions

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 Are you looking forward to a great
lesson?

Ensure you are focused and prepared and

you are sure to do an excellent job.

Let‘s learn about the use of articles in the

English language!

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Discuss

What articles do you already know?

Summarise them for your teacher.

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Articles

■ Articles are used in English in order to define nouns as either specific or not
specific.

■ After a poor night of sleep, a ■ After the poor night of sleep, the cup of coffee
cup of coffee can be very was very useful.
useful.
With the use of the article the, the sentence refers to
This sentence uses the article a. It a specific cup of coffee on a specific morning.
is not specific. It could be any
night and any cup of coffee.

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Review: a

We use the article a in the following circumstances:

■ It comes before a noun beginning with a consonant.
■ When we do not know or it is not important which thing we are referring to.
■ With jobs and occupations.
■ When talking about objects for the first time.

Do you mind passing me a folder from the shelf?

Jeremy is a pilot.
I bought a suit last week.

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Review: an

The article an is used in the same way as a, with one important difference:
■ When the object referred to starts with a vowel we use an.
■ Nouns beginning with the letters eu are pronounced with a y sound and therefore
use a, rather than an.
■ Some words have the y sound but are spelt with a U – such as university.

Would you mind passing me an orange from the fruit bowl?

Jeremy is an actor.
I bought an iron last week.
She goes to a university in London.

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Review: the

The article the is used in the same way as a, with one important difference.
■ When there is only one unique object.
■ When the object is already known or has been referred to earlier.
■ With countries that are groups of islands or states.

The present I got from Georgia was so good.

Did you see the cake I left in the kitchen?
Pablo comes from the United States.

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Add the correct article to these sentences

1. Can you get me _______________ Can you get me the book over
book over there? there?

______________________________________________________
2. Do you have _______________
idea? __________________________________________________

3. David is one of _______________ ______________________________________________________

best students in _______________ __________________________________________________
class.

4. ________________ company’s ______________________________________________________

newest model is also its most __________________________________________________
expensive.

______________________________________________________
5. Have you ever visited
________________ UK? __________________________________________________

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No article

Some things require no article for correct expression in English.

■ For most towns, cities, countries and continents (there are some exceptions to this –
see example below).
■ To talk about people or things in general.
■ For some public places when we talk about what they are used for. In these cases we
can use the to talk about specific buildings.

■ I visited Texas last week.

■ I come from a small town in the north of the UK (here is an exception to the first rule).

■ Amber was a very gracious host!

■ Camping trips are always so relaxing.

■ Hyde Park is a great place for a picnic.

■ The Sydney Opera House is the focal point of Circular Quay.

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Leaving out articles

Certain words leave out the article altogether. While the article is not present it is
implied – this can be found in:
■ Nouns which are more abstract. Some examples include traits, subjects of
knowledge, sports in a general sense, languages and nationalities.

■ Would you like to go out for dinner?

■ That student is blessed with creativity.

■ You study English with Lingoda.

■ Paula is Argentinian.

■ I love playing soccer.

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No article or article?

Have a look at the sentences below. Can you spot the mistakes?

1. Let’s go out for a dinner.

2. My trip to the Germany was amazing.

3. Did you go on motorbike tour in the highlands?

4. That band is full of the creativity.

5. I studied the English with Lingoda.

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Articles

Add or remove articles from the sentences below, as necessary.

1. It’s bird. It’s plane! 5. He’s extremely funny guy.

6. Computer I bought last week is

2. I would like apple.
amazing.

3. June is doctor with the Red Cross. 7. Director is a very interesting person.

4. Extreme weather lashed the coast 8. I went to the Manchester last

of UK. week.

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The definite article

We use the word the as the definite article in English. The definite article specifies one
particular thing in a sentence. If you ask could you pass me the apple, please? to your
friend, the use of the definite article refers to a specific apple that you both know about.
■ You can use the definite article with single, plural and uncountable nouns in the
same way.

■ Did you see the match last night?

■ Please pass me the blue pen.

■ It is the only country warm enough at that time of year.

■ Put the record on; it’s the only one I can listen to at this hour.

■ The film could have been better.

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The indefinite article

In contrast, the indefinite article can take the form of the articles reviewed earlier; a and
an. A is used when the word begins with a consonant, while we use an when it starts
with a vowel.
■ We use the indefinite article when indicating that a noun is referring to something
in general rather than a specific thing.
■ The indefinite article is only used with singular nouns.

■ I had an apple for my breakfast.

■ You’ve got a good job.

■ Celine is a performer.

■ I’d love to fly a helicopter one day.

■ Have you ever seen an elephant?

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Categorise

Categorise the sentences and fragments according to whether they use the
definite or indefinite article.

Remember to bring The giraffe was so Do you have a Remember to bring

a gift tomorrow. beautiful… hammer? the gift tomorrow.

It is the most
I would love a hot Where did you put Have you ever seen
delicious curry I
dog. the hammer? a giraffe?
have ever tried.

definite article indefinite article

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Rewrite these sentences using the correct article

1. It was a extremely ____________________________________________

uncomfortable experience.
____________________________________

2. The Shaun put his gym bag in ____________________________________________

the locker.
____________________________________

3. A Pope greeted the crowd of ____________________________________________

pilgrims.
____________________________________

4. I saw an ghost walking down ____________________________________________

the corridor!
____________________________________

5. The Fraser Island is the largest ____________________________________________

sand island in the world.
____________________________________

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Using articles with pronouns

Possessive pronouns can also perform the function of referring to specific or general
things in the same way as articles.
■ Avoid combining possessive pronouns with articles.
■ Common possessive pronouns include her, his, my, our, their and its.

■ Did you eat some of the my cake?

This sentence has used both the definite article and the possessive pronoun my. It is
confusing. Better alternatives include:

■ Did you eat some of the cake?

■ Did you eat some of my cake?

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Possessive pronouns

Replace the possessive pronouns with articles in the sentences

below.

Have you seen I arrived at my

our house? yoga class.

The sun set over Its dress code is

his garden. very strict.

Her face was Their adventure

one I won’t came to a sad
forget! end.

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Indefinite articles and uncountable nouns

Some things are difficult or impossible to quantify. We call these things uncountable
nouns. This includes nouns you cannot touch (air, oxygen, etc), liquids and things that are
too large or difficult to count.
■ The indefinite articles a and an can not be combined with uncountable nouns.
■ Indefinite articles are only used with singular nouns.
■ Some examples of uncountable nouns are music, water, money and sand.

■ Can I have a milk?

In order to use the indefinite article in this sentence we need to attach it to something
that is countable.

■ Can I have a carton of milk?

A carton can be counted. The indefinite article can be used in this case.

Some nouns can be either countable or uncountable, depending on the context.

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Modifying uncountable nouns

■ You can use indefinite articles with uncountable nouns which have been modified
with the word some.

■ Please give me a sand.

As sand is an uncountable noun it

should not be used with the indefinite
article. It is correct when modified with
the word some.

■ Please give me some sand.

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Explain

Explain the correct use of each of the following forms of article to

the teacher.

indefinite article

definite article

uncountable nouns

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Writing

Write about a time you forgot or lost something very important.

Feel free to use the images below if you can’t think of your own idea.
Try to make the correct use of the definite and indefinite articles in your
writing.

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Get ready to listen

The next few slides will focus on

training your listening comprehension

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 Listen to your teacher reading the extract

Correct the mistakes in the

transcription, inserting the correct
articles where necessary.

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Let’s talk!

Describe what is happening in each of the pictures using the

knowledge you have gained in this lesson.

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Use of articles

Explain to your teacher why accurate

use of articles is necessary for clear
English.

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Reflect on the goals

Go back to the second slide of the lesson and check

if you have achieved all the goals of the lesson.

yes no

_______________________________ _______________________________
_______________________________ _______________________________

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Reflect on this lesson

Think about everything you have seen in this lesson.

What were the most difficult activities or words? The easiest?

+ _______________________________
_______________________________

+ _______________________________
_______________________________

– _______________________________
_______________________________

– _______________________________
_______________________________
If you have time, go over
the most difficult slides again

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30 www.lingoda.com
Exercise p. 9
2. an; 3. the, the; 4. the; 5. the
Exercise p. 12
1. Let’s go out for dinner.
2. My trip to Germany was amazing.
3. Did you go on a motorbike tour in the highlands?
4. That band is full of creativity.
5. I studied English with Lingoda.
Exercise p. 13
1. It’s a bird. It’s a plane!
2. I would like an apple.
3. June is a doctor with the Red Cross.
4. Extreme weather lashed the coast of the UK.
5. He’s an extremely funny guy.
6. The computer I bought last week is amazing.
7. The director is a very interesting person.
8. I went to Manchester last week.
Answer key (1/2)
31 www.lingoda.com
Exercise p. 16
Definite article:
The giraffe was so beautiful…
Remember to bring the gift tomorrow.
Where did you put the hammer?
It is the most delicious curry I have ever tried.
Indefinite article:
Remember to bring a gift tomorrow.
Do you have a hammer?
I would love a hot dog.
Have you ever seen a giraffe?
Exercise p. 17
1. It was an extremely uncomfortable experience.
2. Shaun put the gym bag in his locker.
3. The Pope greeted the crowd of pilgrims.
4. I saw a ghost walking down the corridor.
5. Fraser Island is the largest sand island.
Answer key (2/2)
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Exercise p. 25
I went to the very interesting presentation yesterday. The speaker was talking about the
importance of the internet privacy. He talked about a advantages and disadvantages of
sharing so much information online. Some people post so many pictures of their lives
on social networks and do not consider a potential risk this can pose to their privacy.
Speaker then went on to talk about impact of the social media on news and the
journalism. News can come from so many sources on an internet that it can be hard to
tell what is a reliable piece of journalism and what is not. A speaker then mentioned the
importance of knowing the source of the information you read on social media. Who
has shared the news? It is necessary to be the critical reader.
Transcription
Homework

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A or an?

gorilla afternoon ukulele effort

image turtle eagle orange

flower wheel alley European

A An

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I had an amazing weekend!

Write to your friend and tell them what you did last weekend. Try
to use as many definite and indefinite articles as possible.

– □ ×

myfriend@lingoda.mail

Subject: Last weekend

Dear Lucy,

I had an amazing weekend, I…

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