1. Most English speakers recognize three articles: the
indefinite articles a and an and the definite article the. In
some cases, no article is used.
Articles are problematic because some languages have
no articles, some have only definite articles, and others have
the same articles as English, but their usage doesn’t overlap.
Arabic, for example, has a definite article and no indefinite
article. This language requires the definite articles with
abstract nouns and they can be used to refer to a whole
group or specific things. In Arabic, it’s correct if you say “I’m
afraid of the spiders”, while in English it’s not.
Let’s analize the articles and the rules for using them:

2. Indefinite article: A / AN
They are used only before singular count nouns that are
not specific and are being mentioned for the first time.
RULE EXAMPLE
1. Before a noun or an adjective (+noun) a feather, a gray feather
that begins with a consonant sound
2. Before a noun or an adjective (+noun) an idea, an absurd idea
that begins with a consonant sound
3. Before the letters H or U the use of a hat (H with a consonant sound
a/an depends on the beginning sound of an hour (H with a vowel sound)
the word, not its spelling! a university (U with consonant sound
an umbrella (U with a vowel sound)

3. The definite article THE
There are several different situations in which we use
the definite article THE in English.
RULE EXAMPLE
1. When talking about something specifc THE umbrella next to the door is not mine.
2. When the listener and the speaker are William, don’t forget to close THE
talking about the same specific item refrigerator
3. For the second and all the other James bought a computer last month. THE
references to the same noun computer lets us access the Internet really
quickly.
4. With the superlative form (most / -est) In a jewelry store, diamonds are THE most
expensive item.

4. RULE EXAMPLE
5. For the names of countries that look THE Philippines, THE Netherlands, THE
plural, including countries that end in –S or United States, ThHESoviet Union, The
have the words united, union, republic or Dominican Republic, THE Republic of
kingdom Angola, THE United Kingdom, The Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
6. Parts of something (exception: in I went to Mary’s house last night. Her
general, we do not use THE for body parts) kitchen is beautiful. THE refrigerator is
silver, THE stove is black, and The clock
above THE door has really big numbers on
it.
7. With most bodies of water (except THE Mississippi River
individual lakes) THE Pacific Ocean
THE Mediterranean Sea
THE Great Lakes (but Lake Michigan)
8. Geographic parts of the globe and THE equator
geographic areas, deserts, and peninsulas. THE Middle East
THE Gobi Desert
THE South

5. No article
In English, there are few situations in which we do
not use any article with a noun.
RULE EXAMPLE
1. When you want to talk about a Ø Cats can be great pets.
category or group in general
2. Before abstract nouns such as feelings A person’s future success depends on Ø
or ideas education.
Ø Patience is a virtue.

6. Ideas for teaching articles:
Like prepositions, articles take a great deal of time to be acquired by
ELL’s. So here are some suggestions :
Before planning a class on articles: check how articles are used within the native
language of your students.
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian, for instance, have no articles. On the other
hand, French and Spanish have definite and indefinite articles, the usage is
sometimes the same as English, but not always. In these last two languages, it’s ok
to say “The honesty is important”.
At beginning levels, one reason that article instruction is difficult for ELL’s is that
lessons on articles naively present several usages on one or two pages as if they
were just one small issue. Once more, check your students’ native language and try
to antecipate problems they might have throughout the lessons.
At intermediate levels, indefinite articles are no longer a problem, but definite
articles might be.
At advanced levels, instruction on articles takes place in the form of feedback on
individual expressions or idioms.

7. TDC 1 – Grammar
- Students: Éllen Cintra, Fernanda Oliveira and
Patrícia Assumpção.
- Teacher: Frank Couto