When do I use the article in English? Or should that be... "When do I use an article in English?"

How can I help my students to remember to use articles, or to not use them as the case may be?
Well, there are many ways in fact... but before we get to those... let us first refresh our memories a little.

What are articles?
 
Articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific. Consider the following examples:

After the long day, the cup of tea tasted particularly good. 
By using the article the, we’ve shown that it was one specific day that was long and one specific cup of tea that tasted good.

After a long day, a cup of tea tastes particularly good. By using the article a, we’ve created a general statement, implying that any cup of tea would taste good after any long day. 
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/articles/


How do we use them and why don't we use them?

To help with this answer I would like to draw your attention to the following link and infographic... 
It also helps to answer my next teaching question...
How can I teach them to my students?
http://www.grammar.net/how-articles-arent-as-bad-as-you-think-infographic#sthash.1HJwGvIq.dpuf



This was also a useful video for my students... thanks again to Woodward English for this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjO4KIiJQg4

2018年5月13日

Jamie Bettison

加泰隆尼亞語

Please no children! I only teach 18+! 🔞 (Castellano abajo / En français ci-dessous) I am a passionate teacher and a lifelong learner of Languages! I spent two years teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Barcelona (whilst learning some Catalan!). I was working in a private language academy where I taught from the ages of Primary (2+), juniors, Adolescents and Teens, Young Adults and mature students. I love teaching adults of all ages and gain great satisfaction helping them get to have that "Ah, I get it" moment when understanding a new concept for the first time! I teach ages from 18+ for students that are B1/B2/C1/C2 on the CEFR scale, including Conversation classes and fluency classes (Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate, Advanced and Proficiency on the Cambridge English Scale). I teach the Cambridge Exams portfolio in addition to IELTS preparation, Academic English and Business English. I am an English language teacher from Sheffield, a northern city in the UK. I h...

加泰隆尼亞語

Please no children! I only teach 18+! 🔞 (Castellano abajo / En français ci-dessous) I am a passionate teacher and a lifelong learner of Languages! I spent two years teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Barcelona (whilst learning some Catalan!). I was working in a private language academy where I taught from the ages of Primary (2+), juniors, Adolescents and Teens, Young Adults and mature students. I love teaching adults of all ages and gain great satisfaction helping them get to have that "Ah, I get it" moment when understanding a new concept for the first time! I teach ages from 18+ for students that are B1/B2/C1/C2 on the CEFR scale, including Conversation classes and fluency classes (Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate, Advanced and Proficiency on the Cambridge English Scale). I teach the Cambridge Exams portfolio in addition to IELTS preparation, Academic English and Business English. I am an English language teacher from Sheffield, a northern city in the UK. I h...

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