DETERMINERS
Determiners are a special kind of adjective. Like other
adjectives, determiners describe nouns. But unlike other adjectives,
determiners must agree with the nouns they describe. In other words, you must
know whether the noun is a singular count noun, a noncount noun before you can
choose the correct determiner. The noun determines with adjective form you use.
1. Determiners
A / An and The
Remember that both a
and an mean one. They are used before singular count nouns. A is used before words that begin with a
consonant sound. An is used before words that begin with a vowel sound.
A
|
Consonant
sound
|
|
A
|
Foreign
student
|
Must
have an 1-20 form
|
An
|
Vowel
sound
|
|
An
|
International
student
|
Must
have an 1-20 form
|
Here
are some more examples:
Incorrect : it is a big decision to choose an university.
Correct : it is a big decision to choose a university.
Incorrect : do you have an use for the empty box?
Correct : do you have a use for the empty box?
Incorrect : let’s just wait an year or two before we get married.
Correct : let’s just wait a year or two before we get
married.
Incorrect : I will call you back in a hour.
Correct : I will call you back in an hour.
2. A/An
and The
Study this example:
I saw a film last night. The
film was about a soldier and a beautiful girl. The soldier was in love with the girl but the girl was in love with a
teacher. So the soldier shot the teacher and married the girl.
|
The
speaker uses a ( a film, a soldier, a
girl … etc) because this is the first time he talks
about things he refers to.
The
speaker uses the ( the film, the
soldier, the girl … etc) because the listener now
knows which things he means. In a word we
use a/an when the listener doesn't
know
which thing we mean. We use the when it is clear which thing we
mean.
Here are some
more examples:
o
Yesterday I went to a bookstore for a book. The book was very expensive.
o
There was a man talking to a woman
outside my house. The man looked
English but I think the woman was
foreign.
o
When we were on holiday, we stayed
at a hotel. In the evenings,
sometimes we had dinner at the hotel
and sometimes in a restaurant.
o
Ann is looking for a job. (not a
particular job)
o
Did Ann get the job she applied for?
(a particular job)
1)
We
use the when it is clear in the
situation which thing or person we mean. For example, in a room we talk about 'the
light / the floor / the ceiling / the door / the carpet' etc. We also
say the
bank, the post office, the airport, the doctor, the dentis, the
police / the fire-brigade / the army. (The speaker is usually thinking
of a particular bank or post office … and so forth.)
Study these examples:
·
Can you turn off the light, please? (= the light in this
room)
·
Where is the toilet, please? (= the toilet in this building/house)
·
The
postman was late this morning. (= our usual
postman)
·
I took a taxi to the station. (= the station of that
town)
·
We got to the airport just in time for our flight.
·
I must go to the bank to change some money and, then I'm going to the post office
to buy some stamps.
·
John isn't very well. He has gone to
the doctor. (= his doctor)
2) We
say the ... when there is only one of
something.
·
What is the biggest island in Indonesia ? (There is only one biggest island
in Indonesia)
·
We went to the most expensive restaurant in town.
·
The
only television programme he watches is the news.
·
Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia
·
The
earth goes round the sun. (Also: 'the moon / the world /the universe'.)
3) We
say: the sea the sky
the ground the countryside /
the country
·
Would you rather live in a town or
in the country?
·
Don't sit on the ground! It's wet.
·
We looked up at all the stars in the
sky.
We say go to sea / be at sea (without the) when the meaning
is go/be on a voyage;
·
Husen is a seaman. He spends most of
his life at sea.
·
I would love to live near the sea.
(not 'near sea')
We say space (not 'the space') when we mean space in the
universe:
·
There are millions of stars in
space, (not 'in the space')
·
He tried to park his car but the
space wasn't big enough.
4) Cinema,
theatre, radio, television. We say the
cinema / the theatre:
·
We went to the cinema last night.
·
Do you often go to the theatre?
Note that when we say 'the cinema / the theatre', we do not
necessarily mean one
particular cinema or theatre. We usually say the radio:
·
I heard the news on the radio.
But we usually say television (without the):
·
We often watch television.
·
I watched the news on television.
·
Can you turn off the television, please? (= the
television set)
5) We also use the + a singular countable noun when we talk about a type of
machine, an
invention and about musical
instruments. For example:
·
When was the telephone invented?
·
The bicycle is an excellent means of
transport.
·
Can you play the guitar? (not 'Can
you play guitar?')
·
The piano is my favourite
instrument.
6) The + adjective
We use the with some adjectives (without a noun). The meaning is always
plural.
For example, the rich = rich people in general: '
the
rich the old the
blind the sick
the poor the disabled
the
young the deaf the dead the unemployed the injured
|
Do you think the rich should pay more taxes?
·
That man over there is collecting
money for the blind.
·
Why doesn't the government do more
to help the unemployed?
These expressions are always plural. You cannot say 'a
blind' or 'an unemployed'. You have to say 'a blind man', 'an unemployed woman'
etc.
7) The + nationality
words
You can use the with some nationality
adjectives when you mean 'the people of that country'.
For example:
·
The French are famous for their
food. (= the French people)
·
Why do the English think they are
so wonderful? (= the English people)
You can use the in this way with
these nationality words:
the British the Welsh the Spanish the Dutch
the English the Irish the French the Swiss
|
Also with nationality words ending in -ese
(the Japanese / the Chinese etc.)
With other
nationalities you have to use a plural noun ending in -s:
(the) Russians (the) Italians (the)
Arabs (the) Scots (the) Turks.
8) Prison school
university college church
hospital mosque
We say a criminal
goes to prison (not 'to the
prison'); a child goes to school; a
student
goes to university/college. We do not use
the when we are thinking of the idea of these
places and what
they are used for:
·
After I leave school, I wan to go to
university, (as a pupil/student)
·
Why aren't the children at school
today? (as pupils)
·
Mr. Husen goes to mosque every day. (for a religious service)
·
Ken's brother is in prison for
robbery, (he is a prisoner)
Now study the different usage of the
·
Mrs. Elah went to the school to meet his daughter's
teacher.
(She didn't go there as a pupil.)
·
Excuse me, where is the university, please? (a particular
building)
·
The workmen went to the mosque to
repair the roof. (They didn't go to a religious service.)
·
Ken went to the prison to visit his brother. (He went as a visitor, not as a
prisoner; he went to the prison
where his brother was.)
9) Countries and
states: We do not usually say the
with the names of countries and states:
France (not 'the France') Japan
West Germany Nigeria Texas.
But we say the with names which include words like
'republic',
'union', 'kingdom', 'states':
the German
Federal Republic the
Soviet Union the United States (of America)
(usually called
'West Germany') the
United Kingdom the Republic of Ireland
the
United Arab Emira
We also use the
with plural names: the Netherlands the Philippines
10) Islands: Island groups usually have plural names
with the:
the Bahamas the Canaries / the
Canary Islands the
British Isles
Individual
islands usually have singular names without the: Corfu Sicily Bermuda
Easter Island
11) Regions: We say:
the Middle East the Far East the north of England the south of Spain the west of
Canada (but: northern England / southern
Spain / western Canada - without
the)
12) Mountains: Mountain ranges usually have plural names
with the:
the Rocky Mountains / the Rockies the Andes
the Alps
But individual
mountains usually have names without the:
(Mount) Everest
(Mount) Ciremai (Mount) Galunggung, etc
13) Lakes: Lakes usually have names without the: Lake Toba
14) Names of oceans/seas/rivers/canals
have the: the Atlantic (Ocean) the Indian Ocean
the Mediterranean (Sea) the
Red Sea the (English) Channel ; the Nile the
Amazon
the
Thames the Rhine the Suez Canal the
Panama Canal
Note: On maps the is not
usually included in the name.
15) We say the before
the names of places, buildings etc. with of:
the
Bank of England (not 'Bank of England')
the Great Wall of China
the Houses of Parliament
the Museum of Modern Art the
Tower of London
16) We say the with the names of newspapers:
the Times the
Washington Post the Jakarta Post,
etc
17) We usually say the
before the names of these places:
hotels : the Hilton (Hotel), the Station
Hotel
restaurants! pubs
: the Bombay Restaurant, the Red Lion (pub)
theatres
: the Palace Theatre, the
National Theatre
cinemas
: the ABC, the Odeon, the Classic
museums/galleries : the Linggarjati
Museum, the Tate Gallery
18) Many shops, restaurants, hotels, banks etc. are named
after the people who started them.
These names end
in s or 's. We do not use the with these names:
shops
: Selfridges
(not 'the Selfridges'), Harrods
restaurants :
Maxim's, Macdonalds, Luigi's Italian Restaurant
hotels : Claridge's
banks : Barclays
Bank, Lloyds Bank
Churches are
usually named after saints (St = saint): St John's Church St Paul's Cathedral
EXERCISES
1. In this exercise you have to put in a/an or the.
Example: There was a man and a woman in the room. The man was English but the woman
looked foreign. She was
wearing a fur coat.
1.
This
morning I bought ......... newspaper and .......... magazine. .............
newspaper is in my bag but I don't know where ......... magazine is.
2.
My
parents have ........... cat and ......... dog. ...... dog never bites
......... cat but ........ cat often scratches........... dog.
3.
I
saw ........ accident this morning ...... car crashed into ........
wall........ driver of ...... car was not hurt but ........ car was quite badly
damaged.
4.
When
you turn into Lipson Road, you will see three houses: ............ red one,
.... blue one and ........... white one. I live in ............ white one.
5.
We
live in .................... old house in
........... middle of the village. There is ......... beautiful garden
behind ............... house. .......... roof of .......... house is in very
bad condition.
6.
Would
you like .................... apple?
7.
Could
you close.................... door, please?
8.
We
live in .................... small flat near........... centre of the city.
9.
Have
you finished with.................... book I lent you last week?
10.
We
went out for........ meal last night. .......
restaurant we went to was excellent.
11.
Did
.......... police find .......... person who stole your bicycle?
12.
This
is a nice house. Has it got .......... garden?
13.
It
was warm and sunny, so we decided to sit in ............. garden.
14.
This
morning I had ........... boiled egg and toast for breakfast.
15.
As
I was walking along the street, I saw.................... £10 note on
............ pavement.
16.
I
went into the shop and asked to speak to................ manager.
17.
'Have
you got.................... car?' No,
I've never had .................... car in my life.'
18.
There's
no need to buy any milk..................... milkman brings it every morning.
2. In this exercise you
have to put in a/on or the. Sometimes you don 't need either word - you
leave it blank.
Examples: We went to ...the...
most expensive restaurant in town.
Last night we went out for ..a meal in ..a.. restaurant.
1. I wrote my name at.................... top of
the page.
2. ......... moon goes round ........... earth
every 27 days,
3. The Soviet Union was ........... first
country to send a man into ...... space.
4. Did you see the film on ......... television
or at........... cinema?
5. After .......... lunch, we went for a walk by
............ sea.
6. I'm not very hungry. I had
................... big breakfast.
7. John was ....................only person I
talked to at the party.
8. Tim live
in .................... small village in .................... country. .
10. I never listen to ................. radio. In
fact I haven't got.................... radio.
11. It was............. beautiful day. .......... sun shone brightly in
.............. sky.
12. I've invited Tom to .................... dinner
next Wednesday.
13. What is ....................highest mountain in
.................... world?
14. We don't go to............ theatre very much
these days. In fact, in ......... town where
we live there isn't ............ theatre.
15. It was a long voyage. We were
at.................... sea for four weeks.
16. I prefer swimming in .................... sea
to swimming in pools.
17. Can you turn .................... television
down, please? It's a bit loud.
3.
1. Now you have to make sentences from
the words in brackets.
Example: (Mary / play / piano very well). Mary
plays the piono very well.
1. (Jack / play / guitar very badly) Jack plays
2. (Jill/play/violin in an orchestra)
3. (I'd like / learn / play / piano)
4. (you / play / guitar?)
2. Complete these
sentences using the with these adjectives:
rich sick blind poor
injured unemployed dead
Example: Braille is a system of
reading and writing by touch for the
blind
1. Many people were killed in the
plane crash. The bodies of .......... were taken away ............ were taken
to hospital.
2. Every English child knows the story
of Robin Hood. It is said that he robbed ........ and
gave the money
to..............
3. Those people with jobs have enough
money but life is not so easy for...........
4. Agnes has been a nurse all her
life. She has spent her life caring for.......................
3. What do you call the people of these countries?
Examples: England ?
the English
1.
Britain? .................. 6. France?
........................ 10. Switzerland? ..........
2. Ireland? .................. 7. Japan? .......................... 11 America (the.US) ?
3. Wales? .................... 8. Germany? ................... 12. the Netherlands? ...
4. Scotland? ............... 9. China? .......................... 13. and your country?
5. Spain? .....................
4. This time you have to choose the correct form, with or
without the.
Example: Ken's brother is in prison/the
position for robbery, ('prison' is
correct)
1 Some
children hate school / the school.
2 What
time do your children finish school / the school?
3 After
leaving school / the school, Nora worked as a cleaner in hospital / at the
hospital.
4 My
brother is very ill in hospital / the hospital.
5 All
over the world, people are in prison / the prison because of their political
beliefs.
6 The
other day the fire-brigade had to go to prison / the prison to put out a fire.
7 On
the way to Ciamis we passed through a small village with an old mosque. We
stopped to visit mosque / the mosque. It was a beautiful building.
8 Nina's
mother is a regular mosquegoer. She goes to mosque / the mosque every Sunday. Nina
herself doesn't go to mosque / the mosque.
9 Every
term parents are invited to school / the school to meet the teachers.
10 After
work / the work, Ann usually goes home / to home. '
11 Tom
left university / the university without doing his examinations.
12 When
Ann was ill, we all went to hospital / the hospital to visit her.
13 I
like to read in bed / the bed before going to sleep.
14 What
time do you have to start work / the work tomorrow morning?
15 How
many people go to university / the university in your country?
