A
~ ~ , ..
· Articles
Read this extract from a website.
a Which nouns are used with articles?
· ;,,,..-.,b- Which nouns are used with no article?
..,Seetlnlt 33 (Countability and number) .
..,.,
mThe indefinite article: a/an
Al You can use a/an:
• to talk about something for the first time.
Sam met an interesting contact at the conference.
(Sam did not know this person before the conference)
• before someone's job and type of workplace (but not
to describe their area of business).
My wife's a consultant. She works for a large consultancy
in Bristol. She works in marketing. (not in a marketing)
• to say when something is one of many I a group.
They're looking for a new supplier. (there are many
possible new suppliers)
• in measurements or frequency expressions (per can
often also be used).
We produce 3,000 units a/per day
A You can only use a/an with singular countable nouns.
I'd like some information about your courses. (not eA
information)
Al Use a when the word after it begins with a consonant
sound.
a business I a computer/ a retailer I a successful business
A Some written vowels have a consonant sound when
you say them.
a uniform I a US company I a European company
A3 Use an when the word after it begins with a vowel sound.
an opportunity I an American I an MBA (pronounced em)
A Sometimes the first written consonant is silent.
an hour I an honest woman
11] The definite article: the
You can use the:
• when there is only one of something.
The finance director is giving a presentation tomorrow
j
Busi ness .gov is t he official business lin k to the US Government . m
It is managed by the US Small Bus iness Admi nistration . It provides
an access point to government services and information to he lp lI
the natio n's bu siness es w ith t heir operations.
. /,
• when the listener or reader knows what we are talking
about. This may be something you have already
mentioned in the conversation or text or something
you both know about already.
We have an outlet in Paris and one in Lyon. We've decided to
close the store in Paris to cut costs. (mentioned before)
Where's the meeting today? (we know which meeting)
• with superlative adjectives.
UBS is the biggest bank in Switzerland
• with groups, categories and nationalities.
the rich/the laptop (a category of computer) /the French
• with some institutions.
the UN I the World Bank
• with some countries (e.g. with Republic, Kingdom,
States), place names and geographical features.
the UK I the Atlantic I the Middle East I the White House
• with points of the compass.
We're based in the north/south/east/west.
• with some time expressions.
the past I the present I at the moment
@ The is more than twice as frequent as a/an.
[i No article
When we talk about plural or uncountable nouns in a
general way, we do not use an article.
Lawyers often work very long hours. (lawyers in general)
The lawyers we use are very expensive. (specific lawyers)
We do not use an article for:
• most company names.
He works for BP/Microsoft/Sony.
• days, months, years and some festivals.
on Tuesday I in May I in 2010 I at Christmas
• means of transport.
by plane/car/bus, on foot
• some types of buildings.
He's in hospital/prison/court. (but the office)
~ A2-3 D Underline the correct words in italics.

1 All our staff wear g/an uniform - a black jacket

and grey trousers or skirt.
2 A/An government report says that we spent
$320bn doing paperwork last year.
3 You need a/an university degree to work here,
but a/an MBA would be better.

4 Can you start your presentation now? I have

a/an meeting in a/an hour and I mustn't be late.
5 I think she's a/an successful sales person
because she has such a/an honest face.

6 It's a/an Australian company, but it employs

a/an European advertising agency.

~ A,B El Complete these sentences using a, an or the.

1 Apart from saving money,.. o..n ... unexpected result of ..#1~. .. job cuts we made was that ... .#1.e...
productivity rate actually rose.
2 Staff will receive ............ big bonus this year. We will shortly announce how big ..... bonus will be.

3 Is it true that ....... .. .. . new general manager is .. ...... . .. friend of yours?

4 I'm glad to tell you that we plan to open.. . . .. branch office in Moscow and there will be ..
opportunity for some of you to transfer there. If you are interested in working in ......... . new branch, send
me .. ... ....... email.

5 .. ........ ... new packing machine that I told you about processes 3,000 units ....... .... . hour.
6 With ....... ..... record turnover of $40m, last year was ..... ..... .. most profitable in ........ ..... company's history.
7 Pete? He's retraining as .... ..... .. IT consultant. He's always wanted ...... ....... job in computers.

8 Sales in ..... ....... Italian market continue to rise, but ............ French are turning more to domestic
producers.

9 There has been ........ ..... 27% increase in people who said they had ......... ... skills to start ... .. business .
10 'Shareholders have rejected ........ ..... takeover offer; ... .. SG spokesman said.
/
-41 8,C II For each pair of sentences, write the in one gap and - (no article) in the other gap.

A: It took ages to get .. ..#1~ .... photocopier repaired .

B: I know. We're trying to cut .. ... . maintenance costs and that means delays.

2 A: Sorry I'm late. I had to finish ..... marketing report you asked for.
B: That's OK. I had loads of ............ emails to deal with.

3 A: What's.. ... ..... best time to discuss your plans for tomorrow's presentation?
B: How about. .... Tuesday at 3 o'clock?

4 A: I've just spoken to Parkers and $60 is ............ lowest price they'll give us.
B: Well, ..... ... .... prices are going up everywhere. I can't say I'm surprised .

5 A: I need .. .. help with finding our delivery schedule. Where can I find it on the system?
B: Didn't you receive ... ..... ... information I emailed you yesterday?

0 34.1 Listen and check your answers.

 ..... A-C IJ Complete this presentation using a, an, the or - (no article).

My name is Dr Francis Li and I'm 1 .. ... ii-: .... consultant psychiatrist at 2 .... ........ Brookfield Hospital in London.
Today, I'm going to be talking about how 3 ... .......... motivation affects our lives. I'm going to talk briefly about
4 ............. subject, and then I'm going to show you 5 ............ film of me playing in 6 ............ chess tournament
with 7 ............. £ 10,000 prize, where I was one of 8 ............. last four people in quite 9 ........ .... large competition.
I'll be using this experience to illustrate some of my ideas about motivation psychology.
I believe that 10 ............. motivation is 11 ............. most important factor in your success in 12 .... ........ life,
whether that means being happily married, or being 13 .. ..... big success in your career. Psychology has
ignored this feature of 14 ............. personality and focused on other things that I believe are less important. It is
often claimed that 15 ............. intelligence is 16 .. ........... main reason for being successful. I think that 17 ..
motivation has much more of 18 ... .......... effect than intelligence.

I:) Underline the correct words in italics in this business news story (- means no article).

-
ltrd~ »

I I I • - I .
!le !, ;ii~ • . ' ' . l,j1 111i!'. '.': l! ; .01!1 . j!
1 AIT.i]!! John Lewis Group is to relaunch its website on 2 a/---Wednesday, offering 3 a/the much wider
range of 4 the/- fashion and 5 an/- hqme tecA°)nology products on line. .
, • "' . 1 ,;fll 1 ''!l 1 !i ti . 1· ill , h. . '!!I , 1
Some 19,000 products will be adtled to 6 the/- 22,000 items stocked at 7 tliela moment.
'We want to shift from being 8 a/an e-commerce website to 9 the/a retail experience,' they said.
10 'A/- JohnLewis.com' ha~ grown rap!iijly.
Last year, at 11 the!-__Christmas,
12 altbe website too~!more
" > it,
cash in
13 the/a single week than 14 the/a
group's' flagship department,store
...: in
l 5 the/- Oxford Street.
16 A/The company said it was not
risking its winning formula: 'We are not
changing our model; we just want to give
our customers 17 the/a better experience
in 18 the/a future .'

Make it personal
Write a short news story about your company or a company that has been in the news recently.
As you write, check that you are using articles correctly.

llllfJI Articles
 GRAMMAR BANK
38
articles: a I an, the, no article • \Ve use the:
I \vhcn •ve ralk abo ut son1cth ing \ve've already me ntioned.
a l an
2 \Vhen ir's clear \vhat yo u're refe rring to .
I I savv a n o ld ma n \Vith a d og. ?.r 17 >)) 3 \vhen there's on ly one of son1e thing.
2 Ir's a nice house. She's a lawye r . 4 •vit h places in a to•vn, e.g. ci11e111n and theatre.
3 \.Vhat an awfu l day! 5 •virh superla tives.
4 l have classes three rin1es a \VCek .
no a rt icle
• \.Ve use a / an \Vi th singular countable nouns:
l the firs t t i me yo u nlention a thing f person. 1 Women us ua lly talk more tha n men . ~ 19 >))
Love is 1norc in1porta nr tha n money.
2 'vhen you say \Vhat son1ething is or vvhat
2 S he's no t at home today.
somebody docs.
I get bac k from \VOrk at 5.30 .
3 in exclan1arions \Vith 'vVJra t. .. !
3 I never have breakfast.
4 i n expressions of frequency. 4 Sec yo u next Friday.

the • \Ve don't use a n a rticle:

I I sa\v an old nla n \Vith a dog .
The dog \Vas barking.
2 My fa ther ope ned the door.
T h e childre n are a t school.
3 T h e n1oon goes ro und the Earth .
4 I'1n going co t he cin ema con ight.
5 Ir's the best restaurant in t O \V n .
1 \vhen \Ve a re speaking in general ('vith plural a nd uncountable no uns).
2 18>))
Con1pare:
I lovefloivers. (= flo,vers in general)
I love theflo111ers in my Barden. (=the specific flo \vers in nly garde n)
2 with son1e no uns, (e.g. ho1ne, 1vork , school, ch11rch) after at / to /Jro111.
3 before meals, days, and months.
4 before next / last+ day, 'veek, e re.

a @ the correct a n s,vers . b Com plete \ V i th a/ an, the, or - ( =n o a rticle).

l love~/ the 1veddi11ns! A \Ve're lost. Let's s top a nd buy n 1nap.
1 Jess is nurse/ a nurse in a hospital. A hospital / B No need . T'll put the address in t.fil sarnav.
The hospital is a lo ng vvay f ro1n her h o use . I A Hovv often do yo u go to gyrn?
2 \Vhat a horrible day f horrible da)1! W e'll B 1\bo ut three titnes \veek. But I never
go on Fridays.
have ro cat o ur picnic in the car f a cnr.
2 A What t i1ne does t rai 11 leave?
3 M y \vife likes love stories/ the love stories,
B ln ten ni inures. Can yo u g ive 111e lift to s tation : >
b ut I prefe r U1e 1.varfilrns / 1va rfil1ns.
3 A What lovely dress!
4 \Ve go to theatre f the theatre a bo ut B Thanks. Tbought ir in sales las t n1on th .
once a tnonth f once the 1110111/i. 4 A \\/ hat's n1ost inte resting place to visit in your tO\\' n?
S T'1n ha ving di1111er f tlte dinn er •vith so m e B Pro bably castle. Tt's oldest build ing in ro,vn.
f riends the next r'riday / next Friday. 5 A ¥/ hat sha ll vvc do next vveeke nd ?
6 My boyfriend is chef/ a chef I think he· n Let's invite SO lllC frie nd s fo r _ _ lunc h . \Ve co uld eat o utside
in ga rden.
the best cook/ best cook in the \vorld.
6 A Do you like dogs?
7 T'n1 nor s ure if l closed tile 1vindo1vs /
B N ot really. l prefer ca ts . I th ink they 're _ _ best pe ts .
1vindo ~vs before l left the ho1ne f h.01ne th is
. 7 A Ts your n1un1 ho use\vifc ?
111or n 1ng.
B o, s he's teach e r. S he's a hvays tired \vhe n s he fi nis hes
8 rn gene ral, I like doBS I the dO[JS. but I do n 'r \VOr k.
like dons/ the doas tha t I ive next door to 111e . 8 A Have you ever had pro ble n1 in your relation s hip?
9 l got to the school / school la te e ve ry d ay B Yes, b ur \Ve got over probl.e rn a nd >ve got n1ar ried
the last 1veek / Inst 1veek. las t year.
9 A \Vhen is _ nieetin g?
I 0 l think happiness/ the happiness is 111o re
B T hey've c ha nged dare. [t's next Tuesday nO\\'.
in1portant tha n success/ the success.
~ p. 29
4)1!(t,]» .
38 GRAMMAR articles: a I an, the, no article
0 Complete the sentences with a, an, the, or - (= no article). Write tl1e answers in tl1e column
on the right.

't
'
I oo I
(
-=--
I
~- 0 I

J ~___s
/
1 Did you remember to lock- kitchen door before we left? the
2 I shouldn' t drink- coffee. It keeps me a\vake at night.
3 Can you turn on - air conditioning? It's boiling in here!
4 Jane is allergic to - cats. She starts sneezing when one comes near her.
5 Terry and Charlotte are going away - next \veekend.
6 Are these - keys you were looking for?
7 I wasn't feeling very well yesterday so I didn't go to -work.
8 - river which runs through Paris is called the Seine.
9 I'm seeing Katie tomorrow. We haven't seen each other since - last year.
10 It looks as if it's going to rain. Take - umbrella!
11 Hurry up! You're going to be late for - school.
12 l have a friend who is - electricia11. Do you want his phone number?
13 It's cheaper to buy - books online than i11 a shop.
14 I don't like - people who talk about - football all the time. /---
15 Luckily - people who work in my office don't talk about - sport at all. /---
16 My sister works in - restaurant. She gets home from-work late
every evenmg. /---
17 What's your favourite nleal of the day? - breakfast or - dinner? /---
18 That's - easy question. I think I kno\.v - answer. /---
19 Audrey has two children, - boy and - girl. / ---
- boy's ten a n d - girl's two years younger. / ---
20 - good health is nlore in1portant than - money. / ---

activation
0 Cover the column on the right a11d look at the sentences. Read the sentences aloud with the
correct article.

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