Articolele A/AN si THE

A. Forma – in engleza articolele au doua forme: nehotarat A sau AN si hotarat THE.

Articolele sunt invariabile si nu au gen.

1. A se foloseste in fata cuvinteleor cu sunet consonantic, chiar daca prima litera e o

vocala. AN se foloseste in fata cuvintelor care incep cu vocalasau h mut. Ambele se pot
folosi numai cu substantive numarabile (countable) la singular:

a dog a computer
a woman a university (sunet consonantic)
a house an hour (h mut)
a building a European (sunet consonantic)
an orange an actor
an idea an organization

2. THE se foloseste in fata oricarui substantiv numarabil (countable) sau nenumarabil

(uncountable), atat la singular cat si la plural:

the dog the dogs

the computer the computers
the atmosphere the universities
the house the oil
the eggs the infomation

B. Utilizare – A sau AN.

1. inaintea unui substantiv pentru a ne referi la ceva sau cineva pentru prima
data:

I’ve received a postcard from a friend of mine in the US.

After months of searching, my brother found a job.
The Jacksons live in a bungalow.

2. pentru a exprima ce este ceva sau cineva, inclusiv slujbe sau profesii:

My neighbour is a sociologist and his wife is an architect.

Jenny doesn’t eat meat; she’s a vegetarian.
There is a man at the door who says he is a detective.
That was a kind thing to say.

3. dupa verbul be sau alte verbele copulative, cand dupa ele urmeaza locutiuni
prepozitionala sau propozitii relative care ofera mai multa informatie despre
cineva sau ceva:

I read an interesting article about pollution in yesterday’s paper.

Jack’s son is a talented artist.
He studied law at University and became a judge.
I bought a painting that reminded me of my childhood home.
John Smith wrote an interesting article on Education in the ‘Times’ yesterday.

4. cu unele expresii numerice insemnand “unu” sau su expresii ale pretului,

vitezei, raportului si cantitatii:

A hundred guests were invited.

Petrol costs £ 1.50 a litre in England.
He’s crazy driving at 190 kilometres an hour.
You must take this medicine four times a day if you want to get better.
There was a great deal of noise coming form the house next door.

5. cu substantive numarabile la singular pentru a da definitii, a face afirmatii

generale, exclamatii sau cand ne exprimam dorinte:

A thesaurus is a dictionary of synonyms.

A house built of stone is stronger than a house built of wood.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. (proverb)
Wow! What a pretty girl walked by just now.
I’d like a nice cool glass of beer.

C. Utilizare – THE.

1. inaintea unui substantiv singular numarabil sau nenumarabil sau a unui

substantiv plural numarabil pentru a face o noua referire la ceva ce a fost deja
sau la care s-a facut deja aluzie:

He wanted to go to the bank to change some money, but all the banks were on strike.
Dave had a nasty accident when he was young. You can still see the scar.
Do you remember the fun we had when we were at school together?

2. pentru a face referire la cineva sau ceva anume:

The American economy is suffering at the moment.

The people I work with are very friendly.
I don’t like the president of that company.

3. in fata unui substantiv reprezentand o anume persoana sau un lucru sau un

grup de persoane sau lucruri:

I don’t feel well. Can you call the doctor? (= medicul personal)
The kids aren’t at home. (= proprii tai copii)
Can you pass me the butter, please? (= untul de pe aceasta masa)
Shall I drive the car? (= aceasta masina)
Maria Callas sang so beautifully that the audience threw flowers onto the stage. (= publicul
care o urmarea a aruncat flori pe scena pe care canta ea)
 4. cu referire la ceva unic in mod absolut:

The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

The weather at the North Pole is very cold.
The President of the United States visited the Pope last May.

5. in fata adjectivelor pentru a face referire la un anumit grup sau clasa de

oameni. In acest caz NU este nevoie de substantiv:

Only the strong survive. (= oamenii puternici in general)

The question of the unemployed came up again.
Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

6. in fata unui substantiv la singular pentru a se referi la un anume grup de

oameni, animale sau obiecte:

The Indian elephant is smaller than the African elephant.

The dolphin is said to be a very intelligent animal.
Henry Ford invented the automobile.
The customer is always right.

7. inaintea unor substantive proprii pentru a denumi zone geografice, nume de

mari si rauri, lanturi muntoase, grupuri de insule, nume la plural de tari si
deserturi:

the Middle East, the North of England, the Ivory Coast

the Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, the English Channel, the River Thames, the Straits of
Gibraltar
the Himalayas, the Alps, the Carpathians
the Hawaiian Islands, the Falklands
the United States of America, the Netherlands, the Philippines
the Arizona Desert, the Mojave Desert

NOTA: THE nu se foloseste cu nume de munti izolati.

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Scotland.

THE nu se foloseste cu nume de lacuri.
Lake Superior, Lake Victoria, Lake Ontario

8. in fata numelor de instruente muzicale:

Rachmaninov began to play the piano when he was only 4 years old.
The guitar has always been my favourite instrument.
 9. in fata unor adjective – nationalitati cu referire la oameni dintr-o anumita
tara. Aici se foloseste un verb la plural:

The Swiss have decided not to join the EU.

The Spanish are doing very well in this year’s Olympics.

NOTA: In anumite cazuri, se pot folosi numai substantive la plural.

The Germans were upset about losing the WW II.

The Americans hosted the 1994 World Football Championship.

10. inaintea adjectivelor superlative si a numeralelor ordinale:

Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.

Laura is the most beautiful in my class.
That is the silliest thing I have ever heard.

NOTA: Uneori numeralele oridinale pot fi folosite fara THE atunci cand se face referire la
ordinea in care se petrec evenimentele.

Brendan came first ad Colin second at 100 meters.

We went to Manhattan first, then on to Brooklyn.

D. Utilizare – NU se foloseste articolul.

1. in fata substantivelor nenumarabile sau numarabile la plural cand se face o

afirmatie generala (adesea precedate de determinanti ca: some, any, a piece of, a
lot of etc.):

Water quenches thirst on a hot day.

Pollution in big cities is very worrying.
Dogs make good companions.
There is some luggage to be taken upstairs.
Is there any bread in the kitchen?

2. in fata substativelor abstracte cand sunt folosite in mod generic: beauty,

happiness, fear, hope, knowledge, intelligence etc.; cu exceptia cazurilor cand sunt
folosite cu sens mai bine specificat:

Knowledge comes to us through our senses. DAR: She got the job because she has a
knowledge of English.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. DAR: What a beauty!

3. in fata substantivelor proprii, nume de persoane si numele unei companii, cu

exceptia situatiilor cand se vorbeste de familie ca un tot:
He works for Microsoft.
Helen and George Parker are coming to dinner tonight. DAR: The Parkers are coming to
dinner tonight.

4. pentru a vorbi despre sporturi, in fata numelor de echipe etc:

He loves football and supports Manchester Utd.

5. inaintea meselor zilei:

Where did you have breakfast / lunch / dinner?

6. inaintea cuvintelor home, church, university, prison, hospital, market etc.

atunci cand ele reprezinta o institutie sau o idee generala. THE se foloseste totusi
atunci cand se face o referire speciala la locul respectiv:

Al Capone was arrested and put in prison for tax evasion. (ne referim nu la o anumita
inchisoare, ci la institutie)
His mother went to the prison once a week to visit him. (aici ne referim la acea inchisoare
unde se afla Al Capone)
My mother goes to church every Sunday. (biserica in sensul de institutie, serviciu religios)
She sometimes goes to the church near the Royal Palace. (acea biserica anume).
Our University is 150 years old. (institutia universitatii)
Emma and Ben often go to the university to talk to their professor. (la o universitate
anume, in cladirea ei)

Exercitii:

1. Completati cu a / an / the acolo unde este cazul:

___ woman
___ unit
___ United States of America
___ Johnsons
___ elephant
___ beauty
___ hour
___ Thames

2. Completati propozitiile din textul de mai jos cu a/an:

a) ___ old woman laughed at him.

b) ___ cat and ___ dog were in the kitchen.
c) I saw ___ elephant at the zoo.
d) It was ___ excellent movie.
e) She watched ___ TV show

3. Completati cu a / an / the acolo unde este cazul:

Daniel is ___ teacher. He likes ___ Physics very much. He teaches at ___ Theoretical
Highschool from ___ Bucharest. ___pupils like him very much. One day, he decided to take
___ children to see ___ laboratory from another highschool. There, they made ___
experiment. All ___ children considered ___ experiment ___ most interesting they have
ever made.

4. Scrieti articolul hotarat (the) sau nehotarat (a /an) corespunzator fiecarei

propozitii.

1. Myke is ___ author.

2. He writes ___ travel book.
3. We had ___ lunch with him yesterday
4. It was ___ excellent lunch.
5. The airplane ticket cost him ___ thousand pounds.
6. This is ___ english test.
7. Can you play ___ piano?
8. Would you like ___ drink?
9. Where`s ___ bathroom?
10. ___ girl in blue is my sister.
11. He`s read ___ lot of English books.
12. He is ___ engineer.

5. Descrieți orașul în care v-ar plăcea să locuiți, ținând cont de următoarele condiții:

a) Conținut: 500-600 cuvinte.

b) Cuvinte pe care să le folosiți obligatoriu: status, municipality, oversized, tremendous, creepy,
crowd, to grow, to unmake, to modify, structure.
c) Textul să fie structurat cu o scurtă introducere despre oraș, descrierea propriu-zisă și la concluzii
explicați motivele care v-au determinat să alegeți acel oraș. În text NU trebuie să scrieți
Introduction, Conclusions, ci doar textul propriu-zis.