2017-07-18 Grammar: specific/nonspecific nouns

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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For particular statements, the article tells us whether a noun is specific or nonspecific.
specific: Both the speaker and the listener know which one(s) are being talked about.
non-specific: At least one of the speaker or the listener doesn’t know which one(s) are being talked about.

You should buy a new computer. - neither of us knows which computer you will buy
I just bought a new computer. - listener doesn’t know which computer
I heard you bought a new computer. - speaker doesn’t know which computer
How’s the new computer. - both of us know which computer
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specific: the
non-specific: a/an, some, x
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p. 319 exercise 5 - Who knows which one in each of these sentences?
1 neither knows
2 speaker knows, listener doesn’t
3 speaker knows, listener doesn’t
4 both know
5 neither knows
6 speaker doesn’t know, listener knows
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Possessives are usually specific. If I talk about “his girlfriend” it means we both know which person I mean. (For relationship terms like “girlfriend” or “brother”, we rarely use “the”.)
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p. 320 exercise 7 - Complete each sentence with the correct article (including possibly the zero article).
1 the
2 a
3 A
4 the
5 some / x / a
6 the / x
7 some / x
8 a / the
9 a) The
  b) a
  c) a
  d) a
  e) The
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p. 322 exercise 8 - Complete the first paragraph with the correct articles.
a. a
b. x
c. a (It should be a “well-paying” job, because “well” modifies the verb “pay”.)
d. a
e. a
f. a
g. The
h. the
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Some religions have many gods while others only have one god.
The god of Christians, Muslims and Jews is the same.
Many people pray to God every day. - In this sentence, “God” is used as a name.
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My dad lives in Michigan.
Did you call Dad yet today? - In this sentence, “Dad” is used as a name. (This sentence only makes sense between siblings. If you don’t have the same dad as I have, I wouldn’t just call him “Dad” and expect you to know who.)
Queen Elizabeth is the queen of England. (The first “Queen” is her title, part of her name, while the second is a common noun for her position.)
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Homework: p. 328 exercise 13 (You might want to look at the explanations and charts before that page, and then do the homework.)