How to Use Articles in English 2

In our last post, How to Use Articles in English 1, we learned 3 grammar rules about articles:

Rule 1: We use a/an when referring to someone’s job or occupation.

Rule 2: We use a, an or the (or another determiner like my, your, our etc.) for singular countable things.

Rule 3: We do NOT need an article to talk about things in general, that are usually true all the time.

In this post, we look at 3 new rules NOT talked about in the last post.

Rule 4: We do not use articles for certain special places.

Examples: 

1. I want to go home.
2. I am at university right now.
3. I do not want to go to jail / prison.
4. I am in bed; call me later please.

Note: Other special places include work, church & hospital, plus others.

Rule 5: We do not use articles for modes of transportation.

Examples:

1. I came by bus.
2. I will go by train.
3. You can get there by foot.
4. I went by motorcycle.

Rule 6: We do not use articles with country names, unless if the country name includes a common noun.

Examples:

1. Country without common noun in name: America
2. Country with common noun in name: The United States of America
3. Country without common noun in name: China
4. Country with common noun in name: The People’s Republic of China

For additional explanation of this rule reference our blog: Using Articles with Country Names.

Lastly,

Here is a quick summary of today’s post:

Rule 4: We do not use articles for certain special places.

Rule 5: We do not use articles for modes of transportation.

Rule 6: We do not use articles with country names, unless if the country name includes a common noun.

Like I said, there are many rules about articles, but try to remember the rules from parts 1 & 2 of How to Use Articles and you will have far fewer mistakes. That is for sure.

If you would like to improve your English in grammar, reading, writing or any other reason, please book a free trial class with ETO today!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By Luke

ETO American English teacher

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How to Use Articles in English 1

There are many rules about how to use articles. We will not try to cover ALL grammar rules about articles; but we will cover the 3 most common rules you need to know. These 3 rules will represent most mistakes that most ESL speakers make.

Rule 1: We use a/an when referring to someone’s job or occupation.

Examples: 

1. He is an English teacher.
2. He is a policeman.
3. She was an actress.

Rule 2: We use a, an or the (or another determiner like my, your, our etc.) for singular countable things.

Examples:

1. I want to try a class online.
2. Do you want a glass of milk?
3. I loved the good English class last night.  (Note: We use the to talk about specific countable singular things)
4.  I ate a piece of the chocolate cake. (Note: We use the to talk about specific countable singular things)

Rule 3: We do NOT need an article to talk about things in general, that are usually true all the time.

Examples:

1. Dogs are good pets. NOT The dogs are good pets.
2. Ice melts in the hot sun. NOT The ice melts in the hot sun.
3. Cows eat grass. NOT The cows eat grass.

Lastly,

Like I said, there are many rules about articles, but if you can remember these 3 rules, you will have a good start:

Rule 1: We use a/an when referring to someone’s job or occupation.

Rule 2: We use a, an or the (or another determiner like my, your, our etc.) for singular countable things.

Rule 3: We do NOT need an article to talk about things in general, that are usually true all the time.

Please be sure to read the next post called How to Use Articles in English 2

If you would like to improve your English in grammar, reading, writing or any other reason, please book a free trial class with ETO today!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By Luke

ETO American English teacher

 

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Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

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