English articles

Rule 1
- Single, countable English noun, must always have an
article before it.
Ex: We cannot say "please pass me pen", we must say
"please pass me the pen" or
"Please pass me a pen"
Or "please pass me your pen".
-Uncountable nouns can be concepts, such as 'life',
'happiness' and so on, or materials and substances, such as
'coffee', or 'wood'.
Ex:
Water                                          Knowledge
Snow                                              love
Furniture                                        Beauty
Luggage                                    Information
Milk                                            News
Steel                                          cleverness
Hair
Ex:          I like music
                  Everyone admires beauty
Rule 2
-Articles are used with uncountable in certain cases:
Ex:    Isn't she a beauty!
A bit of advice
He gave me some advice
He gave me a piece of advice
There is not any news
Ali needs some new furniture
Omar took a lot of luggage with him
John has a good knowledge of English
He found a hair / three brown hairs on his shirt           

-Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable.

For example, we say "coffee" meaning the product, but
we say "a coffee" when asking for one cup of coffee.
Rule 3
-Use 'the' to make general things specific
-Use 'the' with any type of noun – plural or singular,
countable or uncountable
EX:      "Please pass me a pen" – any pen.
            "Please pass me the pen" – the one that we can both
see.
"Children grow up quickly" – children in general.
"The children I know grow up quickly" – not all children,
just the ones I know.
"Poetry can be beautiful"- poetry in general.
"The poetry of Hopkins is beautiful" – I'm only talking
about the poetry Hopkins wrote.

More uses of articles in English

-Rivers, mountain ranges, seas, oceans and geographic
areas all use 'the'

    For example, "The Alps", "The Atlantic Ocean", "The

Middle East".
-Unique things have 'the'
    For example,     the sun, the moon, the North Pole, the
sky, the weather, the earth, the sea, the Sphinx
    Hany is fond of sitting in the sun
-Some institutional buildings
1). Don't have an article if you visit them for the reason
these buildings exist.
2). But if you go to the building for another reason, you
must use 'the'
Ex: "Her husband is in prison." (He's a prisoner.)
      "She goes to the prison to see him once a month."
      "My son is in school." (He's a student.)
      "I'm going to the school to see the head master."
      "She's in hospital at the moment." (She's ill.)
      "Her husband goes to the hospital to see her every    
afternoon."
Note: the use of at/in also in the following statements:
-Hesham is at the gym .He is doing exercise.
-Mohamed is in the gym now. He works there.
-Musical instruments use 'the'
Ex:
        "She plays the piano."
-Sports don't have an article
Ex:"He plays football."
- Illnesses don't have an article
Ex:
      "He's got appendicitis."
        But we say "a cold" and "a headache".
-Jobs use 'a'/an
Ex:
          "I'm an engineer."
-Countries

      We don't use 'a' if the country is singular.

Ex:      "He lives in England."
          But if the country's name has a "plural" meaning, we
use 'the'.
Ex:    "The People of the Republic of China",
Ex: The world's peoples want to live in peace.
                "The Netherlands"
        "The United States of America".
-Continents, towns and streets
      Don't have an article.

Ex:
      "Africa", "New York", "Church Street".
- Theatres, cinemas and hotels have 'the'
Ex:
        "The Hilton"
-Abbreviations use 'the'
Ex:
          "the UN", "the USA", "the IMF".
-We use 'the' before classes of people
Ex:
          "the rich", "the poor", "the British"

Grammar Exercise: English Articles

1. A famous detective and his deputy were walking in __
forest.
 a
 the
 -
2. __ forest was dark and a little bit frightening.
 A
 The
 -
3. Soon it began to get dark. But luckily they had __ tent
with them.
 the
 -
 a
4. They decided to stay __ night.
 -
 a
 the
5. They put up their tent under __ stars and went to sleep.
 the
 a
 -
6. Then, in the middle of the night, there was __ loud noise.
 the
  a
 -
7. __ detective woke up.
 A
 -
 The
8. He looked up at __ sky.
 A
 The
 -
9. Then he woke up __ deputy and asked, ''What can you
see?''
 a
 -
 the
10. The deputy replied, ''I see millions and millions of __
stars.''
 the
 a
 -
11. The detective asked, ''And what is your __ opinion
about that?''
 -
 a
 the
12. The deputy replied, 'Well, if there are millions of stars,
and if even a few of those have __ planets, ''
 the
 -
 a
13. ''It’s quite likely there are some planets like __ Earth
out there.''
 The
 a
 -
14. ''If there are __ few planets like Earth out there,''
 a
 the
 -
15. ''there might also be __ life.''
 -
 a
 the
16. The detective replied, ''You idiot! It means that
somebody stole __ tent.''
 a
 -
 the
 Exercise 2

1.It is only…….short drive to my home.

2.Wait….minute.
3.Would you come in…….moment ,please?
4.We had……dinner at…..new
restaurant…….last night.
5.I wish I had…….million pounds.
6.The airplane took off half ……hour ago.
7…………people hate to take any responsibility.
8………man proposes and……Allah/God
…..disposes.
9……..Arabs are famous of…….bravery and
……hospitality.
10.Do you take……sugar in…….tea.
11.Give me……hand , will you?
12.People think that life in…….office is dull.
13.Iam just………little tired. (some/a/-)
14. Take……advice from ……expert.
15.Iam starting…….new life.