oxford practice grammar

articles (1): a, an, or the

#49
first, lets compare
a and an
oxford grammar practice #49
 a
we use before words
which begin with
consonants
(b,c,d,f)

oxford grammar practice #49

a doctor a big car
a girl
oxford grammar practice #49
 a
we also use before u
when it sounds like the
word you and before eu
oxford grammar practice #49
 sounds like you
starts with u = university
a university
oxford grammar practice #49
 sounds like you
starts with = eu
a European city
oxford grammar practice #49
we usean before words
which begin with
vowels (a,e,i,o,u)

oxford grammar practice #49

 an apple
an interesting film
oxford grammar practice #49
we also usean before
words that begin with a
silent h
oxford grammar practice #49
silent h = hour
an hour

oxford grammar practice #49

hard h = house
a house

oxford grammar practice #49

next, lets compare
a/an and the
oxford grammar practice #49
Mary: I boughta CD player
and a TV yesterday.

Joe: Wasthe CD player

expensive?
oxford grammar practice #49
 we usually use a/an
with a noun to talk about a
person or thing for the first
time

oxford grammar practice #49

a CD player

oxford grammar practice #49

 the
we usually use when
we talk about the person
or thing again

oxford grammar practice #49

the CD player = the
one that Mary bought

oxford grammar practice #49

however, there are some
special uses of
a/an and the
oxford grammar practice #49
we use a/an with prices,
frequency and speeds

oxford grammar practice #49

 prices
It costs 2 a litre

oxford grammar practice #49

 frequency
I drink about three cups of
coffee a day
oxford grammar practice #49
 speeds
Youre driving at ninety
miles an hour
oxford grammar practice #49
 we usea/an before
hundred, thousand, and
million

oxford grammar practice #49

a hundred people
a thousand days
oxford grammar practice #49
we use a/an for talking
about jobs

oxford grammar practice #49

Im a bank manager

oxford grammar practice #49

we use the when there
is only one of something

oxford grammar practice #49

May I turn on the TV?

oxford grammar practice #49

 Wheres Mary?
Shes in the kitchen.

oxford grammar practice #49

we use the with musical
instruments

oxford grammar practice #49

 I playthe guitar.
Jane plays the violin.

oxford grammar practice #49

works cited
Coe, Norman, Mark Harrison, and Ken Paterson. Oxford
Practice Grammar Basic with Answers. Oxford,
England: Oxford University Press, 2006.