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Articles

Presentation / Objective

Articles

There are singular and plural nouns:

a cat            an umbrella           a planet 
two cats       six umbrellas         three planets

There are three types of articles in English (a, an, the)

You have to use an article to express quantity or specification in English. Think about these questions:

Do you have a brother or a sister?
Do you have an excellent ability to speak English?
Who is the president of your country?

Objetive

  • At the end of the topic you will:

    Identify the different uses of the article in English by means of communicative activities in order to describe places and objects.

Content

The Article

  • to refer to someone or something for the first time:

I have a brother. His name is Nestor.

  • with jobs:

Martha is a graphic designer.
Henry is an engineer.

  • with specific expressions of quantity:

a kilogram, twice a week, three times a day,
around once a year

  • when something or someone was referred before:

He has a car. The car is red and brand new.

  • to specify someone or something:

The chair is close to the kitchen. (a specific chair)

  • when it’s clear the situation about a person or thing we know:

Can you turn off the light? (the light in this room)
Sharon took a taxi to the airport. (the airport we all know)

  • with specific expressions:

go to the bank, the post office, the dentist, the doctor, the cinema, the theater,

  • when there is only one of something.

The Sun, the Queen of England, the moon.

  • with musical instruments

Hannah plays the piano very well.

  • before seas, rivers, groups of islands or states, names of hotels and newspapers.

The Nile, The Mediterranean, The Philippines, The Times, The Ritz

 

 

  • an uncountable noun refers to something in general:

Money is necessary to live

  • with meals:

What did you have for breakfast?
We had lunch at a nice place.

  • when you have a noun + number:

I need to get on train 5.
See you in Platform 9. (not the platform 9)

  • with countable plural nouns which mean “general”

Dogs are very nice animals. (not The dogs…)

 

 

 

 

 

Reading

Activity 1

The city of skyscrapers

One of the most recurrent use of articles, is that of describing cities since it includes adjectives, specific areas and objects.

In this activity, you must complete the text with the missing articles. Once you have read it, you  can understand the appropriate communication between the description and the adjective, place or object.

Complete the following text by writing the correct article (a / an / the). You can know your score by clicking on the check button.

 

Listening

Activity 2

The Indian Mausoleum

Articles are one of the main elements during the communication of ideas, and it’s very important to give an order to the description of places when unknown. So,

What’s the capital of India?
Do you know some Indian places of interest? Would you like to travel to this country?

Listen to this and organize the drawings to numbers 1 – 5 as they appear in the tape (chronologically).

Drag the different elements from the right column to the appropriate space in the left column. You have two attempts to answer every item. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

Writing

Activity 3

Let’s describe my favorite place

The use of articles is needed when people describes places or objects. Think about your favorite place in your country. Imagine you need to write a description of this place to a friend in a foreign country.

How do you write descriptions? When did you last describe a place you like?

Write a description of the place including some historical information, a perspective of the culture and traditions, places to entertain and why you like it. Write at least 150 words.

Before you send your text,make sure it has the characteristics contained in the rubric.

Check the following example

 

 

Speaking

Activity 4

Choose the article

Match a proper article (a, an, the) with the word from the box and complete the phrase logically. Write and record your sentences in 10 minutes.

Consider the following elements and be sure to cover them:

  1. Correct pronunciation
  2. Grammar: Correct use of articles
  3. Order of ideas
  4. Vocabulary: Use of vocabulary seen in this unit
  5. Topic: record all the sentences from the exercise

Check the following example

Once you finished you will record your, upload it and evaluate it using the following check list by selecting one scale per parameter. At the end, check your score and reflect on how good you are at giving your opinion about the things you like and dislike.

Once you are ready you will record your account

 

 

 

Self-assessment

What’s the correct article?

Once you have understood how to use articles correctly, depending on the ideas to communicate, complete the next activity so you can locate any mistake you might still have.

Read these sentences and drag an article from the box to complete them.

Self-assessment

Correct or incorrect?

Once you have understood how to use articles correctly, depending on the ideas to communicate, complete the next activity so you can locate any mistake you might still have.

Decide if the following sentences are correct. Write T (True) if they are correct or F (false) if they are wrong.

Reference

Basic References

Murphy, R. (2012). English Grammar in Use. Intermediate.  Cambridge: CUP [4th ed]

Complementary References

 BBC. World services. Learning English. “Take the challenge” Retrieved on Dec. 4th from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1456_gramchallenge24/page2.shtml

BBC. World services. Learning English. “Quiz 2” Retrieved on Dec. 4th from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1456_gramchallenge24/page3.shtml