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Use a/an with singular countable nouns meaning “one, some”.

           - often after “to be”, “to have” and “there is”

Use the with concrete/specific/unique nouns.

Use “zero article” with plural nouns and uncountable nouns when the reference is general.


“a”

-         before SINGULAR countable nouns when mentioned for the first time, meaning “one”, “some”:

I bought a chair.

-         after to be, have got, there is when describing sb/st: It’s a nice day. I’ve got a
brother. There’s a painting by Picasso.

-         with professions: She’s a head teacher. (BUT She’s the head teacher of Park School) .

-         with a unit of measurement: three times a day, once a week

-         in exclamations: What a lovely day!


“the”

-         before SG and PL countable nouns + uncountable nouns when we refer to

o   a specific/concrete thing: I’ll wear the dress I bought last week.

o   a particular/concrete place, person, animal, thing and the listener knows about it: The postman
has been already here. Your keys are in the kitchen.

o   unique things, objects…: the world, the sun, the weather, the American Civil War

o   groups of people (collective nouns): the British, the Italians, the police, the government, the
public, the army

-         before

o   adjectives referring to a group of people: the rich, the poor, the unemployed, the disabled

o   parts of the day: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening

o   names of ships, newspapers and magazines and some musical groups: The Victoria, The Times, The
Economist, The Czech Philharmonic Choir

o   superlatives and ordinals: the best film, for the third time

o   names of musical instruments: Can you play the violin? (BUT I’ve just bought a new guitar.)

o   “water” names: oceans, seas, rivers, water-falls: the Indian Ocean, the River Zambezi (BUT
LAKES – zero article: e.g. Moraine Lake, Lake Louise)

o   geographical terms: groups of islands, islands called “The Isle of…”, mountain ranges, deserts,
regions: the Bahamas, the Himalaya, the Sahara, the Arctic

o   few names of countries: the USA, the Netherlands, the Ukraine, the Philippines, the Sudan, the
United Arab Emirates, the Ivory Coast…

“zero article”

-         before PLURAL NOUNS and SINGULAR uncountable nouns in general sense:

o   Books are very important to me. BUT: Do you have the books I’ve lent you?

-         with proper nouns: to Paris, on Friday

-         with meals: Have you had breakfast yet?

-         with school, class, college, university, home, work, church, bed, hospital, prison, town:
Danny’s gone to bed. Peter is in prison. (BUT There isn’t a church in the village.)

-         with by + transport: by train

-         with next/last + week etc., days of the week….: next Monday, next time

PRACTICE

Complete the sentences below with -, a/an or the.

1) "What do you do?" -- "I'm _________ teacher."

THE by byl nějaký konkrétní učitel, o kterém se již mluvilo.

2) Where do you go to _________ school?

ve vazbách GO TO SCHOOL, BE AT SCHOOL apod. člen nepoužíváme.3) He's from _________ USA.

USA je název státu o více slovech, u takových používáme určitý člen4) Have you read _________ book
which I gave you last month?

TU KNIHU, kterou jsem ti minulý měsíc dal - konkrétní kniha5) The journey only takes about
_________ hour.

jedná se o asi JEDNU hodinu, proto neurčitý člen6) He's very lonely. He doesn't have _________
friends.

nemyslíme tím, že nemá nějaké konkrétní přátele, ale že obecně nemá přátele

7) Susan works in _________ London.

u měst členy nepoužíváme (výjimkou je např. The Hague)

8) "Did you see Terminator 3 on TV last night?" -- "Yes, it was _________ awesome movie."

neříkám, že je to TEN ÚŽASNÝ film, o kterém jsme mluvili

9) "Did you lock _________ door?" -- "Oh I forgot!"

máme na mysli asi ty jedny konkrétní dveře (hlavní dveře, vstupní dveře), dotyčný zjevně také ví, o
které se jedná, proto určitý člen10) Can I speak to Nicky, please? -- Yes, hold on. She's in
_________ garden.

11) "What's your favourite food?" -- "I like _________ spaghetti."

nejedná se o žádné konkrétní špagety, které by měl rád - má rád špagety obecně12) "Where are you
from?" -- "I'm from _________ Czech Republic."

před státy s názvem skladajícím se z více slov (vlastní podstatné jméno + obecné podstatné jméno)
se píše určitý člen13) I usually go to school by _________ bike.

ve vazbách BY + dopravní prostředek se člen nepíše, muselo by to být např. "ON THE BIKE which I got
for Christmas", potom by sem člen patřil14) "Where's Jimmy?" -- "He's waiting in _________ car."

oznamujeme, kde je Jimmy, pravděpodobně oba vědí, o jaké auto se jedná, asi o to jejich, nebo to
jeho15) "Can I borrow your calculator?" -- "Sure, but _________ display is broken.”

16) Do you think he can play _________ trumpet?

je jasné, že se jedná o displej té kalkulačky, proto určitý člen

17) "Hello, could I speak to _________ manager, please?"

chci mluvit s vedoucím, tedy s tím, kdo to vede, a takový je jeden. Kdybych věděl, že firma má víc
manažerů a bylo by mi jedno, se kterým budu mluvit, potom by šel i neurčitý18) Look at _________
sky! It's going to rain!

nebe je jen jedno, proto THE (stejně jako SUN, MOON, WEATHER apod.)19) She's bought _________ new
car. She drives a Mercedes now.

THE by v tomto případě bylo jen např. kdyby si koupila TO nové auto, o kterém včera mluvila. Potom
by ale asi tato testová otázka měla více kontextu, nebo byla jinak formulovaná20) Rhode Island is
_________ American state.

21) _________ Atlantic Ocean is the most polluted ocean in the world.

THE by bylo, kdyby byl ten americký stát blíže specifikován.... např. It's THE American with the
smallest population. (TEN s nejmenší populací)22) We were supposed to write an essay on The Picture
of Dorian Gray, but I didn't find _________ book in the library. BOOK je podtstané jméno
počitatelné v jednotném čísle, a takové musí mít nějaký člen (nebo např. přivlastňovací zájmeno)

jedná se o určitou knihu, a to o 'Obraz Doriana Graye', proto určitý člen

jedná se o tu jednu zahradu, tu kterou mají u domu (pravděpodobně), proto určitý člen - do telefonu
tedy někomu oznamuje že ví, kde je, a že ji asi zavolá

23) Can you please go to _________ grocery store on Fifth Street and buy 2 cartons of milk?

24) _________ people seem to be always in a hurry these days.

25) I want to buy _________ laptop computer next week.

Þ    Never use “a/an” with plural nouns.

Þ    When specifying: use “the + noun + of”: the price of gold; the size of these particles…

BUT  X There is a lack of/ a shortage of resources….

                X Supporters of free trade point out that…

Þ    Don’t use articles when referring to figures or tables:

                         The increasing tendency is illustrated in Fig. 5.

                         Table 2 lists the applied indicators.