The man decided to learn English. Where will he start? Of course, he will learn the alphabet, begin to learn the rules of reading. And one of the first topics to study will definitely be articles. There are no analogues of these particles in Russian. Article exercises in English often confuse both schoolchildren who have just begun to learn the language, and adults who have become involved in the same field. However, it is not difficult to study and correctly apply these, at first glance, intricate particles. The theory and some exercises on articles in English will help with this.
The concept of the article in English
Articles are functional words. Although they are not translated, they have certain functions:
- firstly, the presence of an article before a word indicates that this word is a noun;
- secondly, the presence of a definite article indicates the corresponding featuresitem.
Strictly speaking, there are two articles:
- definite - THE, means that the object in front of which it stands is understandable, familiar. For example, the expression the man can be translated as "the same man"
- indefinite - A, which, if it comes before a word that begins with a vowel, is transformed into AN. These articles indicate that the object they define is incomprehensible, unfamiliar. And man is one of the men.
Rules for the use of articles
Only knowing the rules, you can correctly perform exercises on articles in English. It is often difficult for a beginner to put the correct article.
In fact, there are many rules for using articles. There are even more exceptions. The level of proficiency in articles is one of the criteria for the level of language proficiency. The basic rules for using articles are discussed below.
The indefinite article is used in cases:
- if the object is present in the text (conversation) for the first time;
- if there is;
- if the defined object is a characteristic of a person (position, nationality);
- if there is only one object;
- if the object is a common group to which it belongs.
The use of the definite article is appropriate in cases:
- if the mention of the object has already been met earlier in the text (conversation);
- if the object belongs to a certain group;
- if the noun is definedordinal number;
- if the object is a unique phenomenon;
- if the object is a familiar item;
- if the object is a name referring to water bodies, some states, mountains, newspapers.
To perform exercises on articles in English, these rules may not be enough, depending on what level of English proficiency the exercise is designed for. However, this knowledge should be enough for the elementary school level.
Exercises for articles in English
There are several types of exercises for articles, they depend on the level of knowledge of the language.
Easiest:
- put a/an correctly depending on whether the word starts with a vowel or a consonant;
- put articles with names (here you need to work hard and remember the rules and exceptions);
- depending on the context, put this or that article in the finished English text;
- translate texts into English from Russian using the correct articles.
All exercises for articles in English can be done step by step by learning the rules. Knowledge of English opens up great prospects for every person, you just need not to be lazy, learn the rules and practice as much as possible.
