There are lots of rules about the use of articles. Here we’ll concentrate on 3 golden rules. Most mistakes with articles are made through breaking one of these rules.

關(guān)于冠詞的使用有很多很多的規(guī)則。這里我們只列舉三個(gè)黃金規(guī)則。很多人用錯(cuò)冠詞主要是沒有遵循其中的某一條規(guī)則。

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1. When we say what people’s jobs are, we use a/an

當(dāng)我們說人們的工作的時(shí)候，我們用a/an

·? She’s an architect.

·? He’s a doctor.

·? My grandfather was a teacher.

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2. Singular, countable nouns always have an article –a/an or the –or another determiner (my, your, this, that etc.)

單數(shù)形式和可數(shù)的名詞總是會(huì)帶著冠詞a，an或者the，或者是另一個(gè)限定詞，如my，your，this 和that 等等。

Remember that we use the indefinite article - a/an - when we talk about something that is not definite.

請記住，當(dāng)我們用不定冠詞a和an的時(shí)候，我們是在討論某些不確定的，模糊的東西。

·? I saw a good film yesterday. The listener doesn’t know which film.

·? There’s a man at the door. We don’t know who the man is.

·? Do you want a drink? It’s not a particular drink.

…and we use the definite article - the –when we talk about something more certain.

當(dāng)我們用定冠詞the的時(shí)候。我們是在討論某樣特定的已經(jīng)確定的東西。

·? I’m going to take the dog for a walk. The dog is a pet –it’s not just any dog.

·? Have you seen the car key? Speaker and listener know which car. It’s not just any car.

·? They live in the house opposite ours. There’s only one house opposite. It’s not any house.

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3.? When we talk about things in general we usually use a plural noun or an uncountable noun with no article.

當(dāng)我們談?wù)摳爬ㄐ缘氖挛?，我們用名詞復(fù)數(shù)或者一個(gè)不帶冠詞的不可數(shù)名詞。

·? Birds eat worms. NOT The birds eat the worms.

·? Water flows downhill.

·? Kangaroos live in Australia.

BUT We went to the zoo and saw the kangaroos. These are particular kangaroos –not kangaroos in general.

There are many other rules about articles but remembering these 3 golden rules will reduce the number of mistakes you make.