2019-04-09 Grammar: definite/indefinite articles

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all classes
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exercise 4 - Write one generic and one particular sentence with these nouns or noun phrases. Finish this for homework
1 G: Bicycles are better than cars.
  P: My mom bought bicycles for Christmas.
2 G: Anyone can buy a new car.
  P: I bought a new car yesterday.
3 G: The English language is the universal language.
  P: The English language spoken in Australia is different from the English in the United States.
4 G: Subways are good transportation.
  P: Transportation in Boston is good. / The MBTA provides good transportation.
5 G: Tea is a healthy drink.
  P: The tea they sell here is the best in the world. / I drank tea with my lunch. / I bought tea this morning.
6 G: Salespeople try to sell things.
  P: I didn’t like the salespeople from that store.
7 G: Reading books is a good habit.
  P: John has books.
8 G: Hard work is the key to succeed.
  P: I had to do a lot of hard work yesterday.
9 G: Chinese food is spicy.
  P: John has Chinese food for his lunch today.
10 G: Trouble means problems. / Don’t cause any trouble.
   P: Edson is in trouble. / I’m having some trouble with this grammar.
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For particular statements, the correct article depends on whether a noun is specific or nonspecific.
We can also say that it depends on who knows which noun(s) the sentence is about.

Open the book to page 3. - There’s one book I could be talking about and you know which one it is.
I hope the Sun comes out today. - There’s only one Sun, and we both know which one it is.
Too bad we can’t see the stars at night. - We both know I mean the stars above us here at night.

Can you lend me a pen? - Any pen, I don’t know or care which one you give me.
You should read a book. - Any book. I don’t know or care which one.
Are you reading a new book? - You might know which one, but I don’t.
I bought a new book. - I know which book, but you don’t.

I bought (some) new books. - I know which books but you don’t.
It looks like you have (some) new books. - You know which books but I don’t.
I bought some wine at the store yesterday. - I know but you don’t.
I need some advice from you. - You don’t know, I might know which advice I need.
You gave him some advice before, right? - You know but I don’t.
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If I use “the” and you don’t know which I’m talking about, you might ask, “Which one?”
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p. 319-320 exercise 6 - Choose the correct meaning for each sentence.
1 b
2 b
3 (speaker knows, listener doesn’t)
4 a
5 b
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Some nouns are specific even if I don’t know any details about them:
You need to keep this in the refrigerator. - I assume you have one refrigerator, and I’m talking about it.
You can do that at the bank. - I’m talking about your normal bank.
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Go to https://www.englishcurrent.com/exercises/study-articles-exercises-online/ and complete the exercises with your partner. Do you understand why those answers are correct?
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Remember: after you mention something the first time, we both know which one you mean if you talk about it more
	=> After the first time, you need to use “the”.
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Homework: p. 320 exercise 7 - Add articles (or the zero article) to complete these sentences. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.