[Music]
hello I'm Emma from English and in this
lesson we are working on your English
grammar specifically on how to use
article now I know this is a lesson that
you need to watch there are three
English articles up and and za it is
possible to have no article and using
one or the other changes the meaning of
your English sentences but more on that
later
articles are a challenging part of
speaking English but they're a really
important part they give information
about the noun that they come before
using articles incorrectly can make your
sentences confusing or sound strange and
mistakes with articles are quite obvious
to native speakers they probably won't
correct you but they'll notice them even
though you'll probably be understood if
you make mistakes with articles using
the incorrect article is one of the most
common errors that English learners make
if you've ever emailed me or messaged me
on Facebook I've probably seen it in
your writing - these mistakes happen all
the time without you even realizing it
but there is a reason why these kind of
mistakes are so common there are lots of
different rules about how to use
articles and lots of exceptions too so
to make articles a little easier for you
I've broken this lesson down into three
main rules that you need to know about
using English articles now I'm not going
to teach you every rule about English
articles I don't want to scare you away
so much that you never come back I'm
going to teach you some
principles that will help you to use
articles better remember that articles
are used with English nouns so nouns
play an important part in your decision
to use an article the type of noun is
important there are two types of
articles in English definite and
indefinite and it's probably easier for
me to show you how they work
this table will help to make it a little
clearer thinking about English nouns we
know that there are countable and
uncountable nouns countable nouns can be
singular or plural so there's a lot to
think about
and it really affects how you use
articles if a noun is singular and
countable then you can use the
indefinite article R or n the definite
article the' can be used with countable
or uncountable nouns when a noun is
plural so when there is more than one of
that noun the definite article thus can
be used and though we can't use the
indefinite singular articles are and and
we can use some when we're not being
specific
now this technically is not an article
but if you're using a plural noun and
you're not being specific some is the
perfect choice so for the singular
countable noun strawberry I can say our
strawberry I can say the strawberry when
I'm being specific if I'm using the
plural form of that noun strawberries
then I can use some if I'm not being
specific
I would like some strawberries please or
I can use the the definite article with
my plural now could you pass me the
strawberries the difference between the
definite and the indefinite articles is
the difference between talking about a
specific pen a unique pen or any pen at
all it doesn't matter
like I said we're going to focus on
three main rule today learn these rules
and you will choose the correct article
most of the time the first rule explains
when use the the definite article and
when we use our or M the indefinite
article the second rule filled with
unique mound which usually require the
definite articles and the third rule
explains why we sometimes leave articles
out if you do need an article when
should you use an indefinite article and
when should you use the definite article
great question
let's talk about rule number one
indefinite articles R and an are used
when you first introduce someone to a
noun it doesn't matter if you're
speaking or writing when you first
introduce a countable noun you need to
use R or M then you can use the definite
article after you have introduced the
noun I want to demonstrate this for you
with a very simple story I saw a person
yesterday the person was sitting under a
tree the tree was very tall the person
stood up when they saw a cat the cat
jumped on a wall to try and catch a bird
but the bird flew off the wall in this
example the noun
person tree wall cat and bird all take
the indefinite article but only when
they're first introduced after that we
use the definite article every time this
rule is about ensuring that the reader
or the listener knows which specific
noun you're talking about as soon as
you've made this clear to the person you
can use the definite article every time
you use it
now we know which bird of all of the
possible birds in the world that it
could be we know which specific bird
you're talking about so we can use the
definite article the second rule when a
noun is unique use the definite article
when something is unique there is only
one of that thing that's when we use the
definite article the definite article is
the the Sun is the president the Queen
of England and the capital city are all
examples of this there is only one of
these nouns they're unique this is a
special tree for nouns that are well
known by most people but it's even true
when the listener might not know the
noun Hootie he's the president of the
United States he's the CEO he's the
mayor compare it to who she she's a
member of parliament she's an accountant
she's an engineer there is more than one
of these nouns so that noun is not
unique now I'm going to keep giving some
more examples to rule number two and
remember for Rule two we're thinking
about nouns that are unique there's only
one of these
but this uniqueness is doesn't need to
be really obvious it can come through
the context so for example a truck
crashed into a tree the driver was not
injured once we introduce the car we
know by association that there could
only be one driver because there was
only one car or one truck mentioned so
the driver is unique in the story
there's only one driver that we could
possibly be talking about keep thinking
about this idea of a unique now as we
continue when you're using superlative
adjectives the best place the worst
thing the fastest runner the tallest
mountain the most interesting person
I've met you need to use the definite
article because there can only be one
person place or thing that can be the
fastest or the most expensive pole is
taller than Steve and Greg but tom is
taller than Paul and Adam is the tallest
there are many boys who are taller than
Greg but only one person can be the
tallest that's Adam also use the
definite article some named things by
naming them they become unique so for
example the Himalayas the Amazon River
the Indian Ocean the United Nations the
Eiffel Tower the 8:06 but all of these
nouns are unique but there are some
exceptions like the names of people we
don't usually use an article the names
of lakes and islands don't usually use
articles
peepee island or Lake Victoria except
when these nouns are plural like the
Great Lakes or the Galapagos Islands
these exceptions are what make articles
very frustrating in English but don't
give up when you're ordering things
so when ordinal numbers like second if
are used as adjectives for example the
second time or as a third example or the
fourth person to call so in other words
once you place an order on an object
they hold a unique position in that
order and so you can use the definite
article okay lastly why do we use an
article with a noun
sometimes and at other times we don't
use an article at all this is the third
rule when we're speaking about a noun in
general we're not being specific about
which particular man will usually leave
the article out and if it's countable
you need to use the plural form let's
use a countable noun with pen as an
example when we're talking about an
actual pen or pens that really exists we
use an article definite or indefinite in
the following examples we're speaking of
specific or actual or real pens that
exist can I borrow the pen that's a
specific pen the pen that's on your desk
singular and specific the pens are in
your bag prep a plural noun right and
with the definite article but we can
also make general statements about pens
and when we do we speak generally
this is when we can leave the article
app for example I prefer to use black
pen I never have pens when I need them
I bought pens for you to use it is
absolutely possible to use an article or
leave it out but the meaning will be
different in each case I really like
eating cake this is a general statement
about cake could be any cake but compare
it to I really like the cake you made
it's a statement about a specific cake a
cake that I've actually eaten when
speaking generally about a countable
noun you need to use the plural form so
for example I am allergic to
strawberries
so strawberries in general Australians
like to eat eggs for breakfast just eggs
in general not specific eggs if you're
talking about something that is
uncountable like information or
knowledge or equipment then just use the
noun in its original form because
obviously it doesn't have a plural form
so for example the information is
available at the counter and that's
specific information something that
we've already been talking about
information is available at the counter
is a very general statement general
information okay I know that that was a
big lesson and a lot to take in you
should probably watch it again to really
let all of the information sink in I've
made a cheat sheet under worksheet
that's going to help you to practice
using what you learned in this lesson
you can download it right here but
before you do go there let's just go
over those three in
rules again just to make sure you
remember them the first rule explains
when we use that and when we use our and
and the definite and the indefinite
articles remember the story about the
person and the cat and the bird when you
are introducing something that is
probably unknown to the listener or the
reader you need to use our and and or n
then any time after that you can use the
the second rule deals with unique nouns
which usually use the definite article
now I gave you lots of different
examples about how nouns can be unique
and we also talked about how the should
usually be used with ordinal numbers
when their adjectives the third rule
explains why we sometimes leave articles
out that's when we're talking generally
about something now remember that these
three rules are great but their general
rule they work most of the time and
fortunately there will always be some
exceptions with articles but don't lose
hope these three rules are going to help
you make better choices about using
English articles so that you can really
improve your English grammar don't
forget to download the worksheet up here
the all English worksheets are great
because I'll also send you a bonus audio
guide of me explaining the answers for
you so if you do get any of them wrong
you'll know exactly why to keep
practicing English grammar check out
this lesson here and to improve your
pronunciation and your speaking skills
try my imitation lessons right here I
hope that you enjoyed this lesson
and I will see you again next week for
the next slide
bye for now