Here are the answers with articles added: 1. Have you watched the new movie? 2. I have never used a computer. 3. Do you know the multiplication tables? 4. Sara brought an apple. 5. Tom has a teddy bear. 6. The chairs are all broken. 7. The gatekeeper asked the students to walk carefully as the floor was wet. 8. I have finished reading the book you lent me. 9. Hari is planning to buy a new car. 10. He has been waiting for an hour.

1. TOPIC: USING ARTICLES

2. • What is an article?
• Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.
• Type: English has two articles: the and a/an.
• The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify
non-specific or non-particular nouns.
• We call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite article.
• the = definite article
• a/an = indefinite article
• For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I
say, "Let's read a book," I mean any book rather than a specific book.

3. A. A/an before a noun shows that what is referred to is not already known
to the speaker, listener, writer and/or reader (it is the indefinite article):
• Do you have a car?
• A: Do you live in a house?
• B: No, actually, I live in an apartment.
B. The before a noun shows that what is referred to is already known to the
speaker, listener, writer and/or reader (it is the definite article):
• Where did we park the car? (The speaker and the listener know what car is being
referred to.)
• We had to paint the apartment before we sold it. (The speaker and the listener
know what apartment is being referred to).

4. When do we use a and when do we use an?
1. a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo
2. an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant;
an apple; an idiot; an orphan
3. a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-
zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle
4. an + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour
5. a + nouns starting with a pronounced "h": a horse

5. • How do we pronounce the?
• We pronounce the in two ways depending on whether the sound
which comes after the is a vowel or a consonant:
• Normally, we pronounce the with a short sound (like "thuh").
• But when the comes before a vowel sound, we pronounce it as a long
"thee".
• When we wish to place emphasis on a particular word, we can use
"emphatic the" [thee], whether or not the word begins with a consonant
or vowel sound.

6. • When do we use articles?
1. A/an and the with types of nouns
a. Countable nouns
• "A/an" can be used only with count nouns.
• "I need a bottle of water."
• We only use a/an with singular countable nouns:
• I have a sister and a brother.
• We can use the with singular and plural countable nouns:
• The lion roared.
• The lions roared.

7. b. Uncountable nouns
• We don’t use a/an before uncountable nouns:
• I hope we have nice weather.
• Not: I hope we have a nice weather.
• We can use the before uncountable nouns when they refer to a
specific example:
• The rice we bought in the Thai shop is much better than the
supermarket rice.
• The weather was awful last summer.

8. 3. Dates
a. When we say a specific date, we use the, but when we write it, we don’t
use the:
• Speaking: ‘I’ll see you on the twenty fourth of May.’
• Writing: I’ll see you on 24th May.
b. When we talk about months, we don’t use the:
• My birthday is in September.
• May is my favourite month of all.
c. When we talk about a specific season, we use the:
• The winter of 1947 was one of the coldest in Britain.
• We’ll definitely visit you in the summer. (meaning next summer)

9. 4. The with Internet, radio and newspaper but mostly not with TV
a. I looked it up on the Internet.
• Not: on internet
b. She was on the radio once.
• Not: on radio
c. Did you see that story about parrots in the newspaper?
• Not: in newspaper
d. There’s usually nothing on TV. (TV means television)
• There’s usually nothing on the television. (less common)

10. 5. If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice
between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that
immediately follows the article:
• a broken egg
• an unusual problem
• a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y'
sound)
6. The with things that are universally known
• We use the with things known to everyone (the sun, the stars, the moon, the
earth, the planet) because they are a part of our physical environment or part of
the natural world:
• The earth moves around the sun.

11. OMISSION OF ARTICLES
• Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:
1. Names of languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian (unless you
are referring to the population of the nation: "The Spanish are known
for their warm hospitality.")
2. Names of sports: volleyball, hockey, baseball
3. Names of academic subjects: mathematics, biology, history, computer
science

12. Task 1/ Activity 1
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate articles in the following sentences:
• 1. Have you watched ______ new movie?
• 2. I have never used ______ computer.
• 3. Do you know _____ multiplication tables?
• 4. Sara brought ______ apple.
• 5. Tom has ____ teddy bear.

13. • 6. ______ chairs are all broken.
• 7. The gatekeeper asked ______ students to walk carefully as
______ floor was wet.
• 8. I have finished reading _____ book you lent me.
• 9. Hari is planning to buy ____ new car.
• 10. He has been waiting for ___ hour.