DEFINITE ARTICLE: THE

1 - We use THE:

* With plural nouns
The books are expensive.

* With singular nouns when it is the second time we mention it
There is a car in the street… The car is blue.

* When the noun is followed by a clause or a phrase
The boy that you met yesterday is my brother.
Look at the man next to the horse!

* Before names of musical instruments
I can play the piano and the guitar.

* Before nouns which are unique
The moon
The sun
The earth
The sky
The North Pole
The Parthenon

* Before the words: morning / afternoon / evening.
I watch TV in the evening.

* Before names of rivers, seas, oceans, chains of mountains, plural names of countries.
The Nile
The Mediterranean
The Pacific
The Andes
The Sahara
The USA
The Netherlands

* Before nationalities
The Japanese
The British

* Before names of families
The Smiths

2 - We cant’ use THE:

* Before proper nouns
Mary is very intelligent.

* Before plural nouns when we talk about them in general
Children like playing. (i.e. children in general)

* Before names of sports
I play tennis and golf.

* Before the word home.
She is at home
They went home
He arrived home at 8:00.

* Before certain nouns when they are used for their primary purpose.
We go to school / university. (to study)
We go to church. (to pray)
She is in hospital (She is a patient)
Go to bed! (to sleep)
She is at work. She went to work. (She is a worker)
They went to prison. (They are prisoners)

Definite and Indefinite articles.(Exercises) Try these great links:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/artikel_a.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/artikel_a2.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/articles/index.php

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.an.i.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/artikel_the.htm

INDEFINITE ARTICLES A / AN

1 - We use A before a word beginning with a consonant sound.
A cat
A chair
A new car
A house
A university
A new car

2 - We use AN before a word beginning with a vowel sound.
An animal
An elephant
An old computer
An hour

3 - We use A / AN:

* Before a singular countable noun when it is the first time we mention it
He lives in a house

* Before certain numbers
A hundred
A thousand
A million

* With professions
He is an actor.
She is a dentist.

4 – We can’t use A / AN

* Before plural nouns
Dogs are lovely animals.

* Before uncountable nouns like milk / advice / furniture / sugar
Would you like some milk?

* Before names of meals (breakfast / lunch / tea / dinner)
We have lunch at 12 o’clock.
Note: we use a + adjective + meal
We had a good breakfast.

EASTER ISLAND

Easter Island stands 3700 kilometres West of Chile. It was discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722 by the Dutch navigator, Jacob Roggeveen. The indigenous Polynesian inhabitants, who were probably several thousand at the time of discovery, were later decimated by disease, war, and slave-raiding activities.

The most surprising sights of the island are the huge stone figures of men which are standing or lying on the ground. There are more than 600 stone men. The figures were carved from volcanic stone by early inhabitants of Easter Island. They are standing facing the middle of the island with their backs to the sea. Archaeologists suggest that the images represented important personalities who were deified after death.

The means used by islanders to transport theses enormous statues (11 m. tall) have never been satisfactorily explained. Native accounts claim that the statues were dragged with heavy rope while small round stones placed beneath the statue served as rollers.

Photo by jasonpearce

Picture 5 (Pre - intermediate)

Photos by Apreche and Squid!

Describe the bedrooms
Compare them.
Who lives here?
What is your bedroom like?
Is your room tidy or untidy?
What have you got in your bedroom?
Have you got pictures on the wall? How many?
Do you have a room of your own or do you share it?
Which is your favourite room in the house? Why?

TALKING ABOUT PHOTOS - TIPS

From KB8WFH

In an oral exam, the examiner gives you a photo to talk about.

First, describe the picture. Use adjectives, prepositions and expressions like: In this picture I can see… / There is… / There are… / I think….. / Perhaps.

Then, talk about the subject of the photo in relation to yourself.

Try to talk naturally and confidently.

If you want to practise, visit the following section: Exam Photo Album, where you will find a variety of photos and questions to guide you.

Picture 4 (Elementary)

Photo by nycbone

This is Jane. Describe her.
How old is she?
What is she wearing?
Where is she?
What’s her job?
Imagine: What does she do every day?
What do you do every day?

Picture 3 (Intermediate)

From brentdanley

Describe the picture.
Do you often remember what you dream?
What did you dream last night?
Do you dream in colour?
Have you ever dreamt the same thing on different occasions? Talk about it.
What is the strangest thing you have ever dreamt?
Have you ever had a dream come true?
Do you have nightmares?
Describe a nightmare you have had.
What should you do to help a child who has nightmares?

Picture 2 (Elementary)

Photo by beewebhead

Describe the boy.
How old is he?
What is he wearing?
Where is he?

Describe the room.
What is he doing?
Do you like watching TV?
What is your favourite TV programme? Why?
What TV programmes did you watch when you were a child?

Picture 1 (Pre - intermediate)

From tierra_magic...

Describe the picture.
What is the weather like?
Have you ever been to the mountains?
If so, when did you go?
Who did you go with?
How long did you stay there?
What can you do in the mountains?
What do you prefer: the mountains or the beach? Why?

THE PLAGUE AND THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

During the 17th century, plagues happened all over Europe.
Plague is caused by a microbe which attacks the black rat. The fleas that live on the rat carry the disease to human beings by biting them.
London was stuck by plague in 1603, 1625 and 1665 when the most severe outbreak took place and 68,000 people died. Doctors and scientists didn’t know what caused the disease so, what did they do to stop the plague from spreading?
In London, the sick were shut up in their houses for a month and whole families died. Red crosses where painted on the doors of houses where plague had struck so as to warn passers-by. The dead were buried at night or early in the morning, when few people were about. So many people died that great pits were dug to burry the bodies together. To protect themselves against the disease, doctors wore long leather coats with hoods and gloves. They also wore a mask which was stuffed with herbs.
Rich people left the city by boat to go to the country. The poor, whose houses were crowded and dirty, suffered most. The left the city on foot or by cart but they were often turned away by villagers who were afraid of the plague.

The plague of 1665 had hardly ended when a second disaster struck. On September 2nd 1666, a great fire started in a bakery near London Bridge. Charles II ordered to pull down the houses in the path of the fire but it was useless. There was panic in the city and people fought to escape to safety across the River Thames. Four days later, the worst fire in London’s history had died down. It destroyed a large part of the city, including most of the civic buildings, old St Paul’s Cathedral, 87 churches and about 13,000 houses. It is incredible to think that only six people died.
The only good thing about the fire was that it killed off the rats which carried the plague fleas, for the plague never visited London again.

Evocative 17th-century images of the Great Plague:
www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Graunt/pictures/pictures.html

Animation of London Skyline Before and After the Fire:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/launch_ani_fire_london.shtml