University of the Istmo

Degree in psychology

Choice of Topic:

Research

Subject:

English ||

Produced by:

Faviola Alexandra Uribe Olmos 1-759-665

Facilitator:

Dina Ávila

School Year

2023
Table of Contents
Introduction

Defined articles:
The definite article is used to indicate that one is talking about a specific thing or

group of things. The audience must know what is being talked about, otherwise they

would not be able to follow the conversation. The only definite article in English is

"the".

Some ways to know if the public knows the identity of the noun are:

-The article is obvious.

-The article is in the public domain.

-The noun was mentioned earlier in the sentence.

-Read on to learn more about situations where a definite article is used in a

sentence.

When to use “the”

The English article "the" is used with all nouns, including singular, plural, count, and

uncount. The only prerequisite is that the reader or listener already knows the identity

of said noun, as in the following situations:

When the noun is obvious

If the element in question is very obvious, you don't have to worry that your audience

won't know what you're talking about. This usually happens when you are talking

about a noun that is directly in your field of vision. For example, if you're having

dinner and there's a pitcher full of water on the table, you might ask, "Can you pass

me the water?"

Example:

-I want a strawberry ice cream, please.

Undefined articles:
The indefinite articles are used to indicate that one is talking about a general group

of nouns. This is useful when you are not talking about the specific referent of a noun

(ie, the exact version of that noun) and you want to refer to any version of the noun.

Indefinite articles are used exclusively with singular countable nouns.

There are 3 indefinite articles when we are going to write in English, two of them are

for a singular form (a, an) and one to be used when we refer to the plural form (some).

We use an indefinite article in English when:

-To refer to something for the first time.

-When we talk about something in general and not about something specific.

-When describing a person's profession.

Countable nouns

Countable nouns are those that can be counted, they refer to elements that

constitute a unit and that can be accumulated. These nouns can be expressed in the

singular or in the plural (apple, apples). Most nouns in English are countable.

They are those that have a singular and plural form.

-Where is the apple? It is in the fridge.

-Where are the apples? They are in the fridge.

-We can use the indefinite articles in English: a and an

-We can count them using numbers: an apple, one apple, 2 apples, 4 apples.

Uncountable nouns

The uncountable nouns are those that we cannot count because we cannot delimit

them individually but are part of a whole, they refer to something that only appears

in the form of an indivisible mass (money). You cannot make plurals by adding “s”.

They must be preceded, if they want to be individualized, by some word with partitive
value (a piece of, a cup of). Many abstract nouns (happiness) are uncountable in

English.