Hey friends, welcome to another grammar lesson, umm, well today’s
lesson is about articles, but here it’s, when not to use articles, so wait, I know
you know articles ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’… you watch videos, well in case you just want
to have recap on ‘know what articles are?’, these are the links of the lessons on articles
and yes we know ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’ are articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ indefinite
‘the’ is a definite article and I’m sure you’ve been using articles correctly
but, uh, well you know it’s not that you need articles in every sentence, there are
sentences where you should not use an article and this is what today’s lesson is all about,
before I get started, I’d request you all to subscribe to the channel and click on the
bell icon, yes, so you get notified for all the upcoming lessons and you can continue
learning English. Well so let's get started and about today's lesson, “not to use articles”.
Now when you have a general conversation with people and you are speaking general facts,
for example, I love animals, so I say, “dogs are great pets” okay, they are really cute
in loyal. So ‘dogs are great pets’, it's a general statement I'm not talking about
a particular breed or type of dog, okay? It's general, dogs are great friends or they are
great pets, I do not use an article. Now a lot of times I've heard people saying, “the
dogs are great pets”, now why do we not use an article because we are not talking
about a particular group of dogs, okay? We're not defining, we're not identifying, all that
we are saying is a general fact that, ‘dogs are great pets’. So remember when you talk
about ‘general things’ okay, you do not use an article. Now let's take another example,
if I see a basketball team and you know, I'm with you and I tell you, “hey you know what,
basketball players are really tall”, okay? Now that is a general fact for every basketball
player. I'm not specifying a particular country, a player's of a particular country, general,
so remember when you're speaking general things or facts, you do not use an article. Now let's
take a look at another example, “women love it, okay, when men send them flowers”. Now
this is just a general fact that yes, ‘women love it when men send them flowers and chocolates’,
right? So it's a general thing, I'm not talking about French women, American women, no…
I am speaking a universal thing, which is general, so yes, ‘for general things you
will not use an article’. Okay, so again a lot of times I’ve heard people say, “the
women love it when the men send them…” okay? But it is not so, because we are not
defining anyone in particular, got it? So remember for general things and facts, you
do not use articles. Next, “I'm a vegan”. Well do you know what the vegan is? Someone
who does not have dairy products, okay, in cases also avoids meat. “I don't eat meat”,
okay, now you must be wondering, why don't we use an article, okay? In this sentence
specially, okay, I have an article here, it's an example where I use an article, I am, but
when I don't use is important to know because for ‘non-count things’, okay? Meat is
a non-count noun, okay, there is no word like meats, right? So what a non-count? You cannot
count them they have no number. I don't eat meat. Now a lot of people say, “I'm a vegetarian,
I don't eat the meat”, okay or “I don't eat a meat”, so ‘a’ is wrong, ‘the’
is also wrong, okay? Because it is non-count. Let's take another example, “I love listening
to music”, not ‘to the music’, because you don't have… music is non-count. Right?
You cannot count it. You don't say ‘musics’, okay? I love listening to music, not to the
music, so remember for non-counts, no article is used, okay? So there you have another reason
not to use articles, ‘non-count, no articles’, remember this, okay? So let's go to the next
one, “I am studying English”, yes, just like you, “you are studying English”.
So ‘for languages, do not use articles’, okay? So ‘I'm studying English’, a lot
of people say, ‘I am studying the English’, so ‘I'm learning the English’, no… okay?
Like, “I can speak French”, just a little bit, yes, I can speak French. I will not say,
‘I can speak the French’, okay? So the French, as a language when I use the word
‘French’ for language, you do not have an article. So remember for languages, when
you talk about a particular language, English, French, okay, you do not use an article, got
it? Let's look at the next set of examples, “she goes to bed at 10:00 p.m.” Well I
just happened to speak to a few people and we were talking about our general routines
and lifestyles and one of them said, “I go to the bed at 11:00 p.m.”, so I was like,
okay… yeah, but what I'm trying to tell you is, when you have ‘go’ common expressions,
okay? You do not use an article. So, “she goes to the bed” is completely incorrect,
“she goes to bed at 10:00 p.m.”, okay friends? Remember these are very simple tips
that you could use while speaking, as to understanding and making correct sentences, not to use articles.
Okay, so “they go to classes daily”, again I have a common expression ‘go’, “they
go to classes daily”, fair enough? So I will not say, ‘they go to the classes’
or ‘they go to a classes’, no article required. And yes the last example, “I like
playing tennis”, now, for ‘games’ and ‘sport’, “I like playing tennis”,
okay? “I like playing Monopoly”, no article, okay? So I heard a group of young guys playing
soccer and they were talking to each other and they were like, “we were playing the
soccer last evening”, so remember, it is not ‘the soccer’, “we were playing soccer
last evening”. So friends these are the basic rules you must understand that, when
we speak some sentences we should not use an article, alright? So this brings me to
the end of another grammar lesson, I hope you’ve enjoyed watching it and now I'm sure
you know ‘when not to use articles’ in sentences. Well do not forget to subscribe
to our channel and watch a few amazing grammar lessons that are going to help you to improve
your language skills, alright? And I'll be back soon with a new lesson till then take
care, bye.