FLORA YAP ZHI YING Articles (a/an/the)

PPISMP PEM/MT/BI SEM3

There are two types of articles: 1. indefinite 'a' and 'an'. 2. definite 'the'. Indefinite articles - a and an (determiners) A and an are the indefinite articles. They refer to something not specifically known to the person you are communicating with. A and an are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before: A and an are also used when talking about your profession: For example: For example: "I saw an elephant this morning." "I ate a banana for lunch." "I am an English teacher." "I am a builder."

You use a when the noun you are referring to begins with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y or z), for example, "a city", "a factory", and "a hotel". You use an when the noun you are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u). Pronunciation changes this rule. It's the sound that matters, not the spelling. If the next word begins with a consonant sound when we say it, for example, "university" then we use a. If the next word begins with a vowel sound when we say it, for example "hour" then we use an. We say "university" with a "y" sound at the beginning as though it were spelt "youniversity". So, "a university" IS correct. We say "hour" with a silent h as though it were spelt "our". So, "an hour" IS correct.

Definite Article - the (determiners) 1. You use the when you know that the For "The apple you ate was

2.

listener knows or can work out what particular person/thing you are talking about. You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about. We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas

example: rotten." "Did you lock the car?" "She's got two children; For a girl and a boy. The example: girl's eight and the boy's fourteen." For the North Pole, the example: equator For the Nile, the Pacific, the example: English channel

3. 4.

5.

We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

the rain, the sun, the For wind, the world, the example: earth, the White House etc.. "I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing." For example: "What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her."

6.

However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.

7.

The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation:

For example:

"Harry's Bar is the place to go." "You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?"

* The doesn't mean all:"The books are expensive." = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.) "Books are expensive." = (All books are expensive.)

For example:

No article 1. We usually use no article to talk about things in general: Inflation is rising. People are worried about rising crime. (Note! People generally, so no article) 2. You do not use an article when talking about sports. For My son plays football.

example: Tennis is expensive. 3. You do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally. For Information is important to any organisation.

example: Coffee is bad for you. 4. You do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas or contain the words (state(s), kindom, republic, union). Kingdom, state, republic and union are nouns, so they need an article. No article - Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, England For Use the - the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the

example: Irish Republic Multiple areas! the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles

Determiners There are several classes of determiners: 1. Definite and Indefinite articles the, a, an 2. Demonstratives this, that, these, those, which 3. Possessives my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose, my friend's, our friends', etc. 4. Quantifiers a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough, etc. 5. Numbers one, ten, thirty, etc. 6. Distributives all, both, half, either, neither, each, every 7. Difference words other, another 8. Question words Which, what, whose 9. Defining words which, whose 10. The following words are pre-determiners. They go before determiners, such as articles: such and what, half, rather, quite Determiners are words that are used with nouns to clarify the noun. They can clarify:

to define something or someone to state the amount of people, things or other nouns to state possessives to state something or someone is specific

to state how things or people are distributed to state the difference between nouns to state someone or something is not specific There are different types of determiners. There type of determiner depends on the type of noun. Singular nouns always need a determiner. Plural nouns the determiner is optional. Uncountable nouns the determiner is also optional.

Connectors A connector is a word that is used to join words or sentences. Examples : And, as well as, but, or, yet, nevertheless, however, so that, as long as, while, until, as if, because, when, after, though, before. Coordinating conjunctions Coordinating conjunctions join together clauses of equal importance. Some examples of coordinating conjunctions are - and, but, or. Use of and 'And' is used as a conjunction when the words or phrases are of equal importance and both conditions exist. Other words that can be used in place of and are: moreover, in addition to, along with, plus, as well as, further more. Use of but The conjunction 'but' is used to show a contradiction between two phrases. Let's say the first phrase leads you to expect a certain event and the second phrase tells you quite a contradictory outcome. In such an event, but, is used. Other words like: nevertheless, yet, however, can be used in place of 'but' Use of or When we need to express a choice between two words or phrases we use 'or'. Here only one of the two conditions exists. Correlative conjunctions : Conjunctions used in pairs Either..... or Neither.....nor Both.....and Whether..... or Not only..... but also Either Peter or John has taken the book. It is neither hot nor tasty. My sister is both smart and intelligent. Tell me whether you know the route or not. Not only is she stupid but also stubborn.

Compound conjunctions : groups of words that behave like conjunctions. In order that, on condition that, provided that, as soon as Conjunction Usage In order that I bought all the books in order that you may study On conditionThe teacher excused him on condition that he would not repeat the that mistake. Even if Sarah would not marry him even if he proposed to her. So that I kept away my work so that I could spend time with my daughters Provided that You can take leave provided that you work overtime later As though Rex behaves as though he is the boss. As well as Monica as well as veronica was present there As soon as Mr. Ford plans to pay off his loan as soon as he gets his bonus. As if It looks as if there is going to be a storm. Subordinating conjunction A subordinating conjunction joins a clause to another on which it depends for its full meaning. The chief subordinating conjunctions are after, because, if, that, though, although, till, before, unless.

I will not go to the market if it rains. The situation 'I will not go to the market' is dependent on the condition 'if it rains'. You could go and play after you have done the dishes. King Midas was unhappy because his daughter turned to gold. You must dig the earth till you find water.

Preposition A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples: The book is on the table. The book is beneath the table. The book is leaning against the table. The book is beside the table. She held the book over the table. She read the book during class. In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time. A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are: about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, but, by, despite, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over, past, since, through, throughout, till, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, and without. Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition: The children climbed the mountain In this sentence, the preposition "without" without fear. introduces the noun "fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed. There was rejoicing throughout Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the the land when the government was noun phrase "the land." The prepositional phrase defeated. acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing. The spider crawled slowly along The preposition "along" introduces the noun the banister. phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.

The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes. The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was certain was somewhere in his office.

Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding." Similarly in this sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase "in his office," which acts as an adverb describing the location of the missing papers.

Prepositions of time: at two o'clock on Wednesday in an hour, in January; in 1992 for a day Prepositions of place: at my house in New York, in my hand on the table near the library across the street under the bed between the books