Talking in general: the

1 The + noun

a We sometimes use the with a singular countable noun to talk about something in general. This happens, for example, with the names of animals, flowers and plants.

The dolphin is an intelligent animal. The orchid is a beautiful flower.

(the dolphin = dolphins in general; the orchid = orchids in general)

b We also use the in a general sense with the names of musical instruments and scientific inventions.

She can play the guitar and the saxophone. Marconi invented the radio.

c Some common expressions with the have a general meaning eg the town, the country(side), the sea(side), the mountains, the rain, the wind, the sun(shine), the snow.

I enjoy going for long walks in the country.

They often go to the mountains at weekends.

I like the sound of the rain.

d We also use the cinema and the theatre with a general meaning.

Which do you prefer, the cinema or the theatre?

2 The + adjective

a We can use the before some adjectives eg young, old, rich, poor, blind with a general meaning.

The young should listen to the old.

(the young = young people in general; the old = old people in general)

b We also use the before some nationality words eg English, Italian, French, Swiss, Japanese to mean ‘the people of that country’.

The English drink a lot of tea.

Note that these words all end in –sh (eg the English, the Irish), -ch (eg the French, the Dutch), or –ese (eg the Japanese, the Chinese).

With other nationalities we use a plural noun ending in –s with or without the eg (the) Indians, (the) Germans.

EXERCISES

I Complete each sentence using the and the most suitable noun in the box.

Example: The blue whale is the largest animal in the world.

piano radio tulip sea blue whale country swan

1 __is a large white bird with a long neck.

2 Do you often listen to that programme on __?

3 My grandmother has lived in a small village in ___all her life.

4 ___has a bell-shaped flower.

5 Chopin wrote a lot of music for___.

6 Do you ever go swimming in ___?

II What do we call these people? Use the + the adjectives in the box.

Example: people who are unable to hear the deaf

blind sick deaf unemployed dead

1 people who are no longer alive

2 people who have no jobs

3 people who cannot see

4 people who are unwell

III What do we call the people of these countries?

Example: Portugal the Portuguese

1 Britain

2 Australia

3 Spain

4 France

5 Greece

Common expressions without an article

1 School, the school, church, the church etc

a We often use the following nouns without an article.

Maria goes to school every morning.

I studied history at university.

Mr Woods has gone into hospital.

John has been in prison for three years.

I think I'll go to bed early tonight.

We use these nouns without an article when we think about the main purpose of the place. Compare:

I think I'll go to bed early tonight. (to sleep) There are some shoes under the bed.

Maria goes to school every morning.(to study) The school was painted last month.

Mr Woods has gone into hospital. (for medical treatment) Sarah met Simon outside the hospital.

b We normally use work and home without an article.

What time do you usually go to work?

Would you like to stay at home this evening?

2 Means of transport

We use by car/bus/train/plane etc. without an article, to talk about how we travel.

I usually go to school by car.

We went to Rome by train.

We also say on foot (=walking) eg I came home on foot.

3 Meals

We do not normally use an article with the names of meals.

What time do you usually have breakfast?

When would you like to have dinner?

But we use the when we specify eg I enjoyed the dinner we had last night.

We can also say a/the meal eg We had a meal on the plane. We also use a/an when there is an adjective before breakfast/lunch/dinner/etc.

They had a large breakfast.

EXERCISE

Add the where necessary.

Examples: Mrs Woods goes to ___church every Sunday. There is a cemetery behind the church.

1 What time does Annie normally go to ____school?

2 They are painting ___school at the moment.

3 I went to ___bed at 10 o'clock last night.

4 I was lying on ___bed reading a book.

5 Kate arrives ___home from ___work at about 6.00 every evening.

6 Did you go to __work by ___bus or on ___foot yesterday?

7 Sue went to __prison to visit John last month.

8 My mother has gone into ___hospital for an operation.

9 The ABC cinema is opposite ____hospital.

10 I usually have coffee and toast for ___breakfast.

Place-names with and without the

1 place-names without the

a We don’t normally use the with the names of:

b But we use the with these place-names when they include a countable noun eg union, republic, states, kingdom, isle.

the Soviet Union the Federal Republic of Germany the United States the United Kingdom

c We also use the with plural place-names eg the Netherlands, the West Indies, the Alps.

d We also use the with various others of these-names eg the North/South Pole, the Arctic/Antarctic, the Middle East, the Far East, the Costa Brava, the Ruhr.

2 Place-names with the

a We normally use the with the names of:

b But we do not use the with hotels, restaurants, etc named after the people who started them + the possessive’s.

Масу 's Hotel (Not: the Macy's Hotel) Brown's (Not: the Brown's)

The names are often written without an apostrophe (‘) eg Lloyds Bank, Woolworths.

We do not normally use the with churches named after saints+the possessive ‘s

St Peter's Church St Paul's Cathedral (St = Saint)

c We use the before names with of.

the Statue of Liberty the Bank of Scotland the University of London (или: London University)

EXERCISE 1

Answer the questions using the where necessary. You can find the answers in brackets!

Examples:

Which is the longest river in Europe? (GOVAL) the Volga

What's the capital of India? (HELDI) Delhi

1 What's the capital of Australia (BRECARAN)

2 Which country has the largest population in the world? (NICAH)

3 Which is the largest city in the world? (EXCOMI YICT)

4 Which is the largest desert in the world? (HAAARS)

5 In which state of the USA is Los Angeles? (FLIARIACON)

6 Which is the largest lake in the world? (KEAL PERSOIRU)

7 Which is the largest ocean in the world? (AIPFCIC)

8 Which is the highest mountain in the world? (TUMON STEER VE)

9 Which are the highest mountains in Europe? (LAPS)

EXERCISE 2

Add the where necessary.

Example: The Louvre Museum is in ___Paris.

1 Ron Lewis was born in ___Manchester, but he lives in ___Bristol now. He's a lecturer at __University of Bristol.

2 __Luigi's restaurant is between ___Albany Hotel and ___Jimmy's Wine Bar in ___Cambridge Road.

3 When we were in __Rome we visited ___St Peter's Church, __Castle of St Angelo and__National Roman Museum.

Review of articles: a/an, the and no article

EXERCISE 3

Add a, an or the where necessary.

Examples: We saw an interesting film at the cinema last night. I start __work at 9 o'clock every morning.

1 __Soviet Union is ___biggest country in __world.

2 Have you ever been to ___St Peter's Square in __Rome?

3 __weather was lovely when I woke up yesterday morning: __sun was shining and there was ___beautiful blue sky.

4 My sister works in __large hospital in London. She's doctor.

5 Who was __woman you were talking to just now?

6 'Where's Kate?' 'She's in ___living room.'

7 What time do you usually have __lunch?

8 Do you prefer cooking with __gas or ___electricity?

9 We visited __Prado Museum when we were in ___Madrid.

10 What time does Andrew finish __school?

II There are 20 classrooms in school.

12 Who invented __telescope?

13 How long have you been looking for __work?

14 Did you go to __Scotland by __car or by __train?

15 ___Japanese export a lot of cars.

16 Sue and Frank have got two children; __girl and __boy. __ girl is __student and _ boy is __engineer.

17 ___Giovannis' restaurant is next to __Midland Bank in __Bath Road.

18 Are you interested in __politics?

19 __Atlantic Ocean is larger than __Indian Ocean.

20 __Mont Blanc is higher than __Mount Etna.

21 Sue's brother is ill in __hospital.

22 The government plan to help ___poor and __unemployed.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 1737