Hi there, this is Harry, welcome back to advanced English lessons with Harry,
where we try to help you to get a much better understanding of the English language. Helping
you with all your vocabulary problems. When and how to use adjectives, nouns,
verbs, adverbs, whatever it may be. And also with conversational English,
business style English, wherever you have a problem, we're here to help.
And in this advanced English lesson, we're actually looking at articles. The articles a or a,
an and the. And this is as a direct result of requests from some of you, the students and
the viewers. Now, just a little warning here, I am not going into every little detail about articles
because it would make the lesson far too long. I'm going to cover the key points where students
do have regular problems. So I'll cover those in a lot of detail. And if you want more information
about articles, well, then I would recommend a very good grammar book. One of the grammar books
that I use with students is Murphy's grammar book. And it's really, really good. But what
I'd also say is that I'm actually going to be launching a new grammar course. And it's an all
inclusive grammar course. And that will be coming out very shortly. And of course, you'll be able to
purchase and access that as well. Which will cover things like articles and many, many other aspects.
Okay, so as you know, there are three articles. Two indefinite and one definite, the. Indefinite
articles are a or a and an. And we use an when it is in front of a vowel or a vowel sound
like an apple or an orange, okay. And then the definite article, only one, the definite article,
the. The or the depending on the pronunciation and the situation and position when you use it. So a,
an indefinite articles, the definite article. Now, the reason why they cause problems for a
lot of people is that they don't exist in their own native tongue, just they're not there. And
therefore, when you come to learn English, and people are telling you, Oh, you must use the
article, oh, you must use the article, then it becomes very complicated. Even though they are
the smallest words that we have. I mean, how much smaller can get them one letter and two letters,
the three letters, but they cause mountains and mountains of problems. So we'll try and
dispel some of the myths and we try and sort out some of the problems that you might come across.
So let's look at the difference between a, an and the. So if we take a general situation. So
usually, when we mention something for the very first time, we usually use the indefinite article.
Let me give you an example. A man was standing outside my house or outside my window.
Okay, so the first time we mentioned him, or her, if it's a woman, then we just say,
a man was standing outside my house or outside my window. Okay. And then the second time that
you mentioned that person that you can then refer to the definite article because the
people know who you're talking about. So a man was standing outside my home (outside my house,
outside my window). The man was dressed in a black coat. The man was wearing a woolly hat.
The man was carrying a bag. So the first time a man or a woman. The second time,
the man, the woman. And the reason being is then we have introduced the person,
the individual, so everybody will then know what you're talking about. Okay.
Let me give you another example. I went for lunch. So I went to the cafe to get some lunch. I bought
an apple. So a-n, an apple, and a sandwich. So here's the first time that I've mentioned to
you what I bought for lunch. I went to the cafe, and I bought an apple and a sandwich. Yeah. Now,
an apple. We're using a-n because apple began begins with a vowel. Okay,
so I bought an apple and a sandwich. Okay, now I can say the apple was green. The apple was green,
because now I'm talking specifically about the apple that I bought. Not the
rest of the apples in the shop, but the apple that I bought. The apple was green,
and the sandwich was a tuna sandwich with chicken. Yeah, okay, so the apple
was green. The sandwich was a tuna sandwich with chicken or lettuce, whatever it might be. Okay,
so first time again, when we're talking and introducing the noun, or the topic, then we
use a. And then the second time, we can switch to the definite article because people then are aware
and they know exactly what we're talking about. So that's our first rule for you to understand.
Now, we also use the, okay, when there is something that exists that is very common
knowledge, meaning we would only expect to have one of them. For example, if I was talking about
my house, and I mentioned, I've got a hole in the roof. I don't say got a hole in a roof,
even though it's just the first time I've mentioned it, because, of course,
I got a house, but there's only one roof on the house, you expect only to be one roof. So I said,
I have a hole in the roof, I have to get a man to come and fix it. Okay,
so and when that man comes to fix it, he will fix the hole in the roof. Okay.
So for example, I put my clothes into the washing machine, and I went out into the garden. Now here,
it's just the first time that I've mentioned, washing machine and garden, but I don't say I
put my clothes into a washing machine because you assume there's only one washing machine
in the house. I put my clothes into the washing machine, and I went... went out into the garden.
Sat down and had a cup of coffee. Again, I don't say a garden because you assume there's only one
garden attached to the house where you're living. Okay, so it's just to be very careful when you're
talking about something where the existence of something is very common knowledge like one roof,
one garden, one washing machine, then we can automatically use the article, the. Okay.
Now, let me give you another couple of examples. If we're talking in general terms
about something. Let's talk about animals. And my favourite animal are elephants. Okay,
so when I'm talking generally I can say elephants are my favourite animal. Okay. I like the size,
like the colour. I like the way they behave. So elephants are my favourite animal. I don't say
the elephants are my favourite animal because I'm not being specific. I'm only being general. But
if I want them to talk about specifically, elephants in my zoo, or the zoo in my city,
then I will say, The elephants in my zoo are very old. Or the elephants in my zoo run around in a
very large compound instead of cages because they've expanded the zoo. So I can talk very,
very specifically about the elephants that are there in the zoo in my city. Okay, so initially,
elephants - generally. Elephants are my favourite animals. And then I can say specifically,
the elephants in the zoo in my city where I live have a lot of freedom,
and they can run wander around a big prairie because they've extended the zoo. Okay.
And then again, if we're talking about, let's say, favourite flowers. I can say roses are my
favourite flowers because they've got beautiful colours. And you've got reds and pinks, and
yellows, and lots and lots of things like that. So roses are my favourite flower. But if I want
to talk about flowers in my garden, I can say, but the roses in my garden are mostly pink. So
roses are my favourite flowers because they come in many, many different colours. But the roses in
my garden are only mainly pink. Okay, so you can see the difference there. When I talk generally,
I just say elephants. When I talk generally, I talk roses. When I talk more specifically,
the elephants in my zoo, the roses in my garden. Alright.
Now, one of the problems that students have a lot of the time
and I'm constantly correcting them is when we use certain words and then not
quite sure whether it comes with or without the article. And these are words like bed,
church, school, university, hospital, prison, college, all those type of words and when do
I use the and when do I not use it? Okay, so, normally no article is used before bed,
church, court etc. when they are used for their primary purpose. So let me give an example.
I go to bed every night at 10 o'clock. I don't say I go to the bed every night
at 10 o'clock. Where is Michael? He is in bed. Yeah, yeah. Where is Jonathan?
He just got out... out of bed. Okay, so we're not saying got out of the bed, is in the bed,
I don't go to the bed. So we don't use "the" when we're using... referring to that noun "bed."
And when we're talking about specific words, as I said, like court, church, university, school,
hospital. When they are used for the primary purpose, meaning the person who should be there
is there, then we don't use the article. So let me give you examples of those just so you'll
understand fully. My children go to school every day. So the children normally spend the
time in school. So the children go to school every day. We don't need to use the article.
My friend isn't... is sick and is in hospital. So sick people
usually spend the time in hospital. So my friend is sick and is in hospital.
I go to church on Sundays. Religious people or people who are following their religion tend to
go to church on a Saturday or Sunday, depending on their religion. So I go to church on Sundays.
My son is 20 and is studying economics in university. I don't say the university
because students who study spend the time in universities, okay.
Now, these are where people you'd expect to see them. So expect to see churchgoers in
church. You'd expect to see kids in school. You'd expect to see university students in university.
You'd expect to see prisoners in prison, etc. Okay. But if people are not normally there,
then we usually use the article the. So let me give you a few examples of those. I went to the
school to attend a parent teacher meeting. They went to the school to attend the parent teachers
meeting. I'm a parent, I'm not normally at that school. So I went to the school for the meeting.
I visited my friend in the hospital because she was sick. I visited my
friend in the hospital because she was sick. I'm not usually there,
because at the moment, I am well, but I went to the hospital to visit my friend who was sick.
When I go to new cities, I like to visit the churches in that city. Okay, I like to see what
they're how they're made, how they're designed, in what architecture. So I'm not normally in that
city, I'm not a priest, so I go to those churches. So I visit the churches in that city, just to take
photographs or just to see what they're like and what the architect architecture is like. There
was a ceremony in the university for the graduate. So I attended the ceremony because I'm a parent of
one of the graduates. So I don't normally go to the university, but I went that particular day,
because there was a ceremony to hand out the parchments to graduates. Okay, so there was a
ceremony at the university in the city, and I went there, okay. So that's the difference. So when
people who are normally expected to be in those institutions, church, university, school, prison,
hospital, then we don't usually use the article the. But when people who go to these places or
these institutions to visit or for business purposes, then we use the article the. Okay,
so that's a big difference and something you really have to work on and understand.
Now, articles are not needed, when we're talking about more abstract expressions, for example,
sea or work or town. So we can say he is at sea, not at the sea. He is at work or out of work, not
the work. Or he or she is in town or out of town, not in the town, or out of the town. So in those
particular particular situations when we're using talking about abstract expressions that we don't
need to use the article the. But English wouldn't be English without exceptions. And there's one
exception I mention, it's about office. Okay. So when you go to work, you go to the office.
Where is Jonathan today? Ah, he's working in the office today. He'll be working at home tomorrow.
He went to the office at six o'clock this morning because he has a lot of work to do. So when we're
talking about office, a place where you work, then we use the article the. Now, office also has
a different meaning. So when there's an election in your city or your country, and you will elect
a new government, the government are in office for a period of time, like four years or five
years. Office here is a ceremonial position that they have, it's not actually a place. So they are
in office, because it's ceremonial. They have been appointed or elected by the people. So we
don't need to use an article there because it has a very different meaning. But when we're
talking about your place of employment, what is the office like where you work? Is it modern? Is
it old? Is it open plan? Is it cellular offices, whatever it happens to be, then we can talk about
the. The office where I work is full of glass. The office where I work, is a old Victorian building,
okay. So we can use the article "the" in that situation. But when I'm talking
about the government, the government has been in office for four years, they have 12 months left,
and then there will be another election or a new election. Okay. So hopefully, you get a different
the understanding of the difference there. And the exception to those abstract expressions.
Now, when we're talking about nouns, in particular, you've probably come across and you
understand the difference between countable and uncountable nouns. Okay, so just to remind you,
countable nouns are those nouns that can be used in the singular and the plural. Like,
apple - apples. Car - cars. Orange -oranges, okay? And uncountable nouns
are usually those nouns that don't have a plural form for example, information.,
advice, salt, water, bread, okay? So they don't usually have a plural forms. It's not
informations. It's not advices. It's not salts, bread... breads or waters. It's salt, bread,
water, okay. Now, so when we're using countable or uncountable nouns, it's important to understand
the rules for articles, okay? A countable noun always takes either a or the, okay. So, an apple.
Like an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Or the... the apple I bought in the shop was red.
The apple I bought in the shop was bruised or damaged. Okay, so we're using a or the depending,
you know, the apples in the bag weighed two kilos, so we want to use plural, then we use the.
If we're using uncountable nouns, they don't take the indefinite article. We can't refer to
a or an information or, a or an advice. Okay, so we can talk about the information I gave
you. Yeah, the advice that I gave you or the piece of information or the piece of advice I gave you,
but we don't use a. Okay, so they're examples of the countable and uncountable nouns,
how you use them and how you differentiate between a, an and the.
And remember, I haven't given you a totally inclusive definition of the article because
there's a lot to go through. But you will find much more information in a really good grammar
book as I mentioned, Murphy's. And I am launching and publishing a new grammar course in the very
near future, so you'll get all the details about other aspects of how to use a, an and the.
And if you have liked this particular lesson, then please like the video and if you can subscribe
to the channel, because it really really helps. And if you need more information,
more help more guidance and contact me on www.englishlessonviaskype.com Really happy to
help you really happy to include your suggestions, as I've done today, in a future video. Okay, this
is Harry, thank you for watching and listening, and remember to join me for the next lesson.