USE OF ARTICLES (a, an, the)What did these words originally mean?A/AN is an old word meaning `one'(in many European languages the ordinary word for `one' is used to translate English `a' or `an' and you can also sometimes use Cantonese `yat go' in the same way)THE is an old word meaning `this' or `that'These words no longer have their full original meaning but if you remember that meaning it can sometimes help you to decide which word you need to use.A or AN?Use A before a consonant soundUse AN before a vowel soundSo: a banana,an orange,a university (vowel letter but a consonant sound - /j/)an MTR train (consonant letter but a vowel ...view middle of the document...
showing which person or thing is being referred to:So: I saw a dog/the dog/your dog/ this dog (BUT I saw dog XUsing THEUse THE when the listener or reader already knows which person or thing you are referring to:something which has already been mentioned before.E.g. The gorilla switched on the air-conditioner (you know about the gorilla because I mentioned it before as an example for A/AN)there is only one of somethingE,g. The earth goes round the sunyou are pointing to a person or thingE,g. Look at the car! It's coming towards us!there is a phrase after the noun telling us which person or thing is being referred toE.g. The student standing by the door is Lee Mo YungThe girl in the green dress is going to sing a songThe king of Spain is very popularThe man who came to dinner will not see us againKEY TO Pg. 30 EXERCISEMy school is very big. It has three special rooms. It has a multi-media room, a music room and an art room. The multi-media room and the music room are on the first floor and the art room is on the second floor. My school also has a playground and a basketball court.All the students in my school are very active. Most of them take part in a different extra-curricular activity every day. My school also organizes an inter-form competition every month. Sometimes we ask the principal and our form teachers to join us.GRAMMAR ASSIGNMENT (for next MONDAY)Units 1 and 7 in Gr. Exp.