Table Of Content

COLLINS COBUILD ENGLISH GUIDES 3: ICLES RogerBerry - ~ THEUNIVERSITY CCOOBLULIHNDS OFBIRMINGHAM HarperColIinsPublishers HarperCollinsPublishers 77-85FulhamPalaceRoad we London &JB COBUILDisatrademarkofWilliamCollinsSons" CoLtd CHarperCollinsPublishersLtd1991 Firstpublished1993 Beprintedl993,1994,1996,1996 109 8 7 6 6 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybe reproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedin anyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical, photocopyingorotherwise,withouttheprior permissioninwritingofthePublisher. ISBN000370661-7 ComputertypesetbyTradespoolsLtd,Frome,Somerset PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby CaledonianIntemationalBookManufacturingLtd, Glasgow,G64 NOTEEnteredwordsthatwehavereasontobelieve constitutetrademarkshavebeendesignatedassuch. However,neitherthepresencenorabsenceofsuch designationshouldberegardedasaffectingthelegal statusofanytrademark. 1bVesnaandLukie.Luke Theauthorwouldliketothankthefollowingpeople:SteveStarkeyforhisadviceon Americanusage;DaveWillisforhisthoughtfulcommentsonthetext;JimRonaldfor compilingtheindex;AnnetteCapel,LomaHeaslip, andCharlieRansteadat HarperCollins;andaboveallStephenBullonandElizabethManningatCOBUILDfor theirpatienceinseeingthisprojectthrough. Contents Foreword v Introducdon vi PronuncladonGuide vIH Chapter1:Theformsofthearticles 1 1.1Thedefiniteandindefinitearticles 1.2Thedefinitearticle 1.3Theindefinitearticle 1.4Stressedforms Chapter2:ArtIclesandnouns 5 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Countnouns 2.3 Uncountnouns 2.4 Uncountnounswhoseequivalentsinotherlanguagesare countnouns 2.5 Pluralnouns 2.6 Nounswhichcanbecountoruncount 2.7 Convertinguncountnounstocountnounsmeaning'aunitof' 2.8 Convertinguncountnounstocountnounsmeaning'atypeof' 2.9 Convertin~countnounstouncountnouns 2.10 Nounswhichcanbecountoruncountwithdifferentmeanings 2.11 Usingcountingexpressionssuchas'apieceofand'abitof withuncountnouns Chapter3:Usingtheindefinitearticle 16 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Usingtheindefinitearticletointroducesomething 3.3 Referringtoanythingorpersonofaparticulartype 3.4 Usingtheindefinitearticletodescribethingsaridpeople 3.5 Theindefinitearticleand 'one' 3.6 Usingtheindefinitearticletoexpressrates 3.7 Usingtheindefinitearticlewithabstractuncountnouns Chapter4:Speclftcusesofthedefinitearticle 22 4.1 Introduction:differentusesofthedefinitearticle 4.2 Referringtoaparticularthingusingthedefinitearticleor indefinitearticle 4.3 Referringbacktosomethingmentionedbefore 4.4 Somethingmentionedbefore:usinganothernoun 4.5Thingsassociatedwithapreviousmention 4.6 Surroundingsituation 4.7 Widersituations 4.8 Referringtouni~ueitems 4.9 Nounswithquabfication 4.10 Nounsqualifiedbyan'of-phrase 4.11 Superlativeadjectives 4.12 Uniqueadjectives 4.13 Usingthedefinitearticleatthebeginningofstories 4.14 Stressed'the'meaning'best' Chapter5:ArtIcleswithgenericreference 35 5.1Introduction:differenttypesofgenericreference 5.2Singularcountnounswiththeindefinitearticle 5.3 Sin~Jarcountnounswiththedefinitearticle 5.4 Nationalitywordswiththedefinitearticle 5.5Adjectiveswiththedefinitearticle 5.6 'Man' Chapter6:ArtIcleusewithcertaingroupsofwords 40 6.1Introduction 6.2Mediaandcommunications 6.3Meansoftransport 6.4 Formsofentertainment 6.5 Institutionsinsociety 6.6Shopsandotherbusinesses 6.7Musicalinstruments 6.8Geographicaloppositions 6.9Directions 6.10Periodsoftime 6.11Illnesses 6.12Meals 6.13Partsofthebody 6.14Specialroles 6.15Grammaticalterms Chapter7:Articlesandpropernouns 54 7.1Introduction:propernouns 7.2Geographicalandplacenameswiththedefinitearticle 7.3Geographicaland placenameswithoutanarticle 7.4Namesofbuildingsand institutions 7.5Namesofstreetsand roads 7.6 Namesofships,trains,andspacecraft 7.7Namesofsportingevents 7.8Namesoffestivals 7.9Namesoforganizations 7.10Namesofnewspapersandperiodicals 7.11Namesofpoliticalinstitutions 7.12Namesofmusicalgroups 7.13Personalnames 7.14Convertingpropernouns Chapter8:Articlesinthenoungroup 66 8.1 Introduction:thenoungroup 8.2 Combiningarticleswithotherdeterminers 8.3 Combiningdeterminerswiththedefinitearticle 8.4 Combiningdeterminerswiththeindefinitearticle 8.5 'Afew'and 'alittle' 8.6 Nounsasmodifiers 8.7 Wordorderwith'so', 'how','too','as', and 'that' 8.8 Leavingoutarticles 8.9 Thedefinitearticlewithadjectivesmeaning'something...' 8.10Thedefinitearticlewithcomparativeadjectivesandadverbs Exercises 74 AnswerKey 109 Index 114 Foreword ThearticlesinEnglisharesoImportantforthelearnerofthe languagethatwehavedecidedtopublishawholebookaboutthem. TheisbyfarthecommonestwordinEnglish,andwithaandan makesup8.5%ofalltext.ThisGuidetoArticlesisoneofaseriesof COBUILDENGUSHGUIDEStoparticularareasofdifficultyforlearnersof English. Manyotherlanguageshavearticlesorsimilarsonsofdemonstratives andtheirmeaningsareverysimilartotheirEnglishequivalents.Itis theusagewhichisdifferent- whentouseanarticle, andwhena possessive;whentobesuretoputanarticlein,andwhenitismore naturaltoleaveitout. Forexampleintitles.InFrenchorItalianyou mustputadefinitearticleinfront ofalltitleslikeProfessorwhenyou usethemwithaname,unlessyouareactuallytalkingtotheperson. InEnglishyouusuallydonot. Whenquestionsofusagearise, theImportanceoftheCOBUllD evidencebecomesclear.ThisevidencecomesfromTheBankof English,a collectionofmodemEnglishspeechandwritingdrawn fromavarietyofsources.ThecomputerfilesofTheBankofEnglish currentlycontainapproximately200millionwords.Thedifferent kindsofusagecanberetrievedandtheirImportanceassessed;up-to datetendenciescanbeobserved.Alltheexamplesinthisbook (there arenearly600)comefromthishugedatabase,andthisnaturally occurringdatagivesarealauthoritytothestatements.(WhydidI writearealauthorityandnotjustrealauthority?Checkonpage20.) Ifyoudonotfindanswerstoyourproblemswiththearticlesinthis book,orifyouhaveanycommentsorsuggestionsabouthowto improveCoBUILDpublications,pleasewritetome. JohnSinclair EditorinChief:CoBUllDENGUSHGUIDES ProfessorofModemEnglishLanguage UniversityofBirmingham Introduction WhyarearticlesImportant? Youprobablyrealizealreadyhowimportantthearticlesarein English.Notonlyaretheyamongthecommonestwords inEnglish, theyareoftenvitalforsuccessfulcommunication.Theytellyouwhat assumptionspeoplemakeabouttheirlistenerswhentheyspeak. Ifa strangercomesuptoyouonauniversitycampusandasks'Where's thebookstore?',theythinkthereisonlyonethere,andtheyassume youthinkthistoo.Changingonearticleforanother,orleavingone out,canoftencause misunderstanding,forexampleifyousay'Ilike English'(thelanguage),whenyoumean'Ilikethe English' (the people). Articlesalsogiveyoustructuralinformation;theytellyouthatanoun isfollowinginthesentence.Forexample,ifsomeoneasks'What's thatoverthere?' thereisabigdifferencebetweenanswering'Well...' and 'Awell'. Soitisnottrue tosaythatarticlesdonotaffectmeaning.Exercises whichsimplyleavegapsforarticlestobeputinaremisleading;they suggestthatthe'meaning'isalreadythere,andthatarticlesarejust anobstacleforlearners.Thisisnotso:articlescanhelpyoutomake meaningclearerortochoosebetweenmeanings. Mistakeswitharticlesdonotalwayscausemisunderstanding,but theycanlettherestofyourEnglishdown. Manypeoplewhoarevery goodatEnglishstillhaveproblemswitharticles. Itisnormaland justifiabletobeconcernedaboutbeingaccurate. Islearninghowtouse thearticlesdifficult? Ofcourse,learningtousearticlesproperlyisn'tthe easiestpartof English;thereisn'tasimpleruleasthereisforknowingwhentouse thirdperson'-s'.Articlesarenotagrammaticalitemaddedafterthe contenthasbeenestablished;theyaredeterminedbymeaning. However,articleusageisregular,anditcanbelearnt; allnative speakersofEnglishlearnit.Butworkingyourwaythroughthisbook isn'ttheonlyanswer;youmustreadandlisten toEnglishwhenever youcan,andtrytounderstandit.Thiswillstrengthenthe insights yougainfromworkingwiththisbook. Therearesomesituationswherethechoiceofarticleismostly automatic,forexamplewithpropernouns.Butmostofthe timeit dependsonwhatyouaretryingtosay,andsoyouneedtohavea deeperunderstandingoftherules;evenwithpropernounsthereare somegeneralizationsthatcanhelpyou.Thisdifferencebetween conventionandcreativityisveryimportantforarticleusage. vi Howcanthisbookhelp? Thisbookhasbeendesignedtohelpyouinthreeways: I Thereareexplanationsinsimple English,withasfewtechnical termsaspossible. Rulesofusagearegivenwhicharenot misleading,ashasoftenbeenthecase.Therearewarnings inthe text,toshowparticularareaswhere somelearnersneed tobe careful;thesearebasedonananalysisoferrors.Thereisalso informationaboutthefewdifferencesbetweenBritishand American English. 2 ThereareexamplesofrealEnglish,takenfromthe Bankof English;theseillustratetheexplanationsandshowyouhowarticles arereallyused. 3 Thereareexercisesbasedontheexplanationswhichwillgiveyou practiceinvariousareas ofarticle useandallowyoutotryoutwhat youhaveread.Theexerciseshavebeendesignedtobeasvariedas possible(theyaren'tallofthe typewhereyouhavetofillingaps) and challenging(theyaren'tallmechanical,and it'spossibletoget themwrong). Howto use thisbook Thisbookisorganisedinto anumberofchaptersandsectionssothat youcandealwithone areaatatime.Soifyouwanttofindoutwhen to use'a'andwhentousecan',lookatChapterIontheformsofthe articles.Chapter7tellsyouhowtousearticleswithpropernouns. Chapters3and4dealwithwhatarepossiblythe mostimportant areas:thecreativeusesoftheindefiniteanddefinitearticles.Atthe endofmostsectionsthereisacross-referencetotheexerciseswhich practisethesection.Thereisananswerkeyaftertheexercises. Youcanusethisbookasacourse, goingthroughthepointsoneby one (youwillprobablyfindyouarealreadyfamiliarwithsome)and doingtheexercises;oryoucanuseitforreference,dealingwith questionsandproblemswhentheyoccur. Forthispurpose,there isan index, whichwilltellyouwhere tofind: •informationonhowtousearticleswithparticulartypesof words,forexampleadjectivesorthenamesofgeographical featureslikedesertsandsoon; •informationonparticularwordswhicharementionedinthe textbecausetheyareimportantforarticleuse,forexample 'television'; •anexplanationofatechnicalterm, forexample'generic'. RogerBerry HongKong 1993 vii Pronunciation Guide vowelsounds: consonantsounds: u: heart,start,calm b bed, rub ce act,mass,lap d done,red al dive,cry,mind f fit,if ara fire,tyre,buyer g good.dog au out,down,loud h hat aua flour,tower,sour j yellow e met,lend,pen k king,pick er say,main, weight I lip,bill ea fair,care,wear m mat.ram I fit,win,list n not, tin i: feed,me,beat p pay,lip I~ near, beard,clear r run D lot,lost,spot s soon,bus eu note, phone,coat t talk,bet J: more,cord,claw v van,love JI boy,coin,joint w win u could,stood,hood x loch u: you,use,choose Z zoo,buzz u~ lure,pure, cure J ship, wish 3: turn, third, word 3 measure A but,fund, must IJ sing ~ theweakvowelinbutter, tJ cheap,witch about,forgotten 9 thin,myth a theweakvowelinvery, then,loathe create d3 joy,bridge u thefirstweakvowelin tuition Stressedsyllablesareindicatedbyan underlineunderthevowel symbolforthe stressedsyllable. CorpusAcknowledgements Wewouldliketothankthoseauthorsandpublisherswhokindly gavepermissionforcopyrightmaterialtobeusedinTheBankof English.Wewould alsoliketothankTimes NewspapersLtd,the BBCWorldService,andNationalPublicRadioofWashingtonfor providingvaluabledata. viii 1 Thefonnsofthearticles 1.1 Thedefiniteandindefinitearticles This bookdeals with twowords.Thesearethedefinitearticle, the, and the indefinitearticle,a oran. Therugwasstained. 1haveanideashehad~weightproblem. Thischapterexplainshowthesewordsarewrittenandspoken; thatis,theformofthe words.Section1.2discussesthedefinite articleinwritingand speech,and section1.3discussesthe indefinitearticleinwritingand speech.Section1.4dealswiththe waythearticlesarepronouncedwhenthey arestressed. Theforms ofthe articlesand the rulesforusingthemare not complicated. However,youmayfinditdifficulttorecognize thearticlesinspoken English; thisisparticularlytrueofthe indefinitearticle.Usually itisunstressedand soitoccurs in veryshortsyllables. Youmayneedtobecomefamiliarwith the rhythmofEnglishinordertonotice these shortunstressed syllables. 1.2Thedefinitearticle Thedefinite article,the,has onlyoneform inwriting. Herearethebroadproblemsandthebroadsolutions. There aretwopronunciations: IOalwhich isusedbeforeconsonantsounds, and IOilwhichisusedbeforevowelsounds. Thesamenamewasgiventothisisland.IOal Theemphasisisondiscipline. IOil WARNING Itisthe sound, notthe spelling,ofthe nextword whichmatters.Theword'one'hasaconsonantsoundatthe start:IWAllIeventhoughthereisavowelthereinwriting. Some wordsbeginningwith the letter'u'have aconsonantsoundIjlfirst inpronunciation.Forexample,'unit'ispronouncedIj!!.:nrt/. Thefollowingwordsbeginwith theletter'u'buttheispronounced lOaIbeforethem because they beginwith thesound/j/. 1