Business English Artcle:a/an/the/zero article

1. ARTICLES BY TR ASHLEY
2022

2. Learning
Outcomes
By the end of this lesson, you should:
• Understand articles a, an, the, zero article

3. ARTICLE ‘A’ ‘AN’ & ‘THE ’
 An article is a word that signals the coming of a noun.
 In English there are three articles: a, an, and the
Articles are used before nouns e.g. a car/ an accountant

4. ARTICLE ‘A’ AND ‘AN’
 We use article a and an before singular countable nouns
 Countable nouns refers to things that we can literally count e.g.
 1 car, 2 cars, 3 cars ; 1 advert, 2 adverts, 3 adverts; 1 billboard, 2 billboards, 3 billboards
 However note that for us to use article a/an countable noun should always be in its singular form.
 ‘A car ‘not ‘a cars,’
 ‘an advert’ not ‘an adverts.’
 Never us article a/an with uncountable nouns- which can not be counted,
 Can you count water, go ahead try! What about money, or even bread?

5. ARTICLE ‘A’ AND ‘AN’
Make sure to tick the following before using article a/an
Countable noun Tv ; water; flyer advert
Singular form a tv ; --------; -------; -------;

6. A vs An
We use article ‘an’ before nouns that begin with
vowels (aeiou)
 An advertisement
 An outdoor advertisement
We use article ‘a’ before nouns that begin with
consonants (bcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxz)
 A tv
 A billboard
Exceptions do exist: a uniform, an hour

7. WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO
KNOW?
We can use article a/an when:
A. Referring to people's jobs.
e.g. She's an executive and he's a manager.
B. In expressions of measurement.
e.g. It sells at $1.75 a litre or
We charge $500 an hour. (It’s an exception, so memorize it)

8. LAST DETAIL……
‘A’ and ‘An’ are indefinite articles i.e.
Identity of the think being spoken of will not be clear, exact , specific
Example 1
 There was a car that was involved in a head on collision near downtown.
 (which car? Who’s car? Its not clearly stated.)
Example 2
 It sells at $1.75 a litre
 What sells at 1 dollar, 75 cents a litter?

9. LAST, LAST DETAIL……
In short : Use ‘A’ and ‘An’ when dealing with singular countable nouns
whose identity your audience will not be familiar with.
Last night I saw an advert on the tv that was scary.
(Ok , what was the advert all about. Its not specific. )
It doesn’t help identify a particular noun talked about.

10. ARTICLE ‘THE’
Definite article the is the most frequent word in English.
We use ‘the’ when we think our listener will knows what we are talking
about:
1. because there is only one:
 The Pope is visiting Russia.
 The moon is very bright tonight.
 Who is the president of France? (there is only one sitting president)
 Arthur go get the blue file on the table. (Its just one blue file Arthur will find)
All the above statements are specific in nature.
You wont be scratching your head asking which Pope or which moon. Its
clear!

11. ARTICLE ‘THE’
We also use article ‘the’:
 To replace a noun we have already mentioned before.
Example 1
 ‘In just a short period of time Mr Green managed to increase company sales. The man is a genius. ‘
 First noun mentioned was ‘Mr Green’ , and has been replaced with article the and noun.
Example 2
 ‘Ford motor company executives are thinking of investing more in product placements. The company
executives have already started talking with film makers.
Question
Try to identify the noun mentioned and its corresponding definite article
REMEMBER TO ALWAYS GIVE BACKGROND INFORMATION BEFORE USING ARTCLE ‘THE’

12. ARTICLE ‘THE’
We also use ‘the’ to make a category of people or things
Just make sure article ‘the’ is followed by adjective
The + adjective Category of
people
The + poor The poor
The + rich The rich
The + African ----------
The + unemployed -----------
The rich get richer.

13. ARTICLE ‘THE’
We also use ‘the’ to make a category of people or things
Just make sure article ‘the’ is followed by adjective
We use the with some countries e.g. The USA, The UK
The rich get richer.

14. ARTICLE ‘THE’
We also use ‘the’ when talking about a specific period of time
In the 2000s, Africa’s life expectance was at 53.
There was a long drought in South Africa in the summer of 1993.
In the next coming weeks, I will be in Hawaii.
The rich get richer.

15. WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO
KNOW?
Unlike indefinite article a and an:
A. Article the can be used before a singular or plural noun
e.g. The car/ The cars (All is correct)
The billboard/ The billboards (All is correct)
Article the can be used before un-countable nouns
e.g. The information, The water , the bread,

16. Zero article
Sometimes we don’t need to use articles at all.

17. ZERO ARTICLE
When to use the zero article:
A. Dealing with countable nouns used in general statements.
e.g. Teachers have all the answers.
1. Teacher is countable. 2. Its not a fact. Neklim I’m not your nearest
google.
e.g. Dogs back more often at night.
A general statement, can be seen as an opinion made by the public concerning a particular
topic, using limited facts.
Who told you all teachers know the answers.
Who told you all dogs barks more at night

18. ZERO ARTICLE
When to use the zero article:
A. Dealing with uncountable nouns used in general statements.
e.g. Money is the root of evil
1. Money is uncountable. 2. Its not always true
Information is power
2. Information is uncountable. 2. Having Information does not
always empowers you. You might have it and not know what to
do with it.
B. The names of most countries and people.
e.g. (i) Poland, (i) Mozambique, (iii) Dr Spock, (iv) President Obama

19. PRACTISE MAKES PEREFCT
a/ an/ the/no article
1. Our oil company was set up in __________________________ nineteen eighties
2. I thought we should invest in social media advertising.
That's __________________________ interesting suggestion.
3. How far have you gotten with __________________________ report?
4. Every company needs __________________________ good project manager.
4. Are they reliable? Yes, they always deliver on __________________________ time.