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Language level
Intermediate: B1
Upper intermediate: B2
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Comments
Great tips.
Thanks.
Hello...
hello
Having learned the rules, I'm not 100% sure about articles.
For example, will you tell me which is correct?
Mr.A was a villain in the war.
Mr.A was the villain in the war.
Hello Rafaela1,
Both sentences are possible.
If you say a villain then we understand that there were many villains and Mr. A is one of them.
If you say the villain then we understand that there was one particular villain (perhaps the only one, or perhaps the main one, or perhaps one which was mentioned before) and that Mr. A was that villain.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you Peter! I appreciate your great help which motivates my learning! :))
Hello British Councial. I really need your help.
In one book it says: the definite article is used before a noun when it represents a whole class of things;
The compoter has made text editing easier,
But the indefinite article is not possible because it would refer to one or any member of the class but not the class as a whole.
The other book says: we can use a/the before singular countable nouns to refer to a class of people, animals and things.
A/the dolphin is a mammal.
Can you explain why one book says that we can't use the indefinite article in that sense 'a computer has made....' and it says it's wrong.
But the other book says 'A dolphin and the dolphin is a mammal' both exeptional,
Thanks in advance.
Hello ifencing,
I'm afraid I can't explain why books are written as they are - for this you will have to contact the author of each book. What I can do is explain how articles are used with general meaning. It is possible to use the indefinite article, the definite article and the zero article with general meaning, but there are differences.
a + singular countable noun
we can use this with general meaning when we are talking about something which defines the group. For example:
In other words, being an impressive sight is one of the characteristics of an elephant; if we saw an animal and it was not impressive then we could be fairly sure that it was not an elephant. We are talking about any elephant here - it is true of them all.
the + singular noun
we can use this with general meaning when we are talking about our image or concept of the noun. For example:
Here we are not talking about a real elephant, but rather the concept of 'elephant' in our heads.
no article + plural countable noun or uncountable noun
we use this to talk about what is normal or typical of a type. It may or may not be true of all individuals but it is typical of most. For example:
Here we are talking about the average height of Swedes, not any particular person or concept.
The distinction is subtle, as I said, but sometimes it can be important. For example, we can say with general meaning:
However, we cannot say:
This is because being in danger of becoming extinct may be true but it does not define the whale.
I hope that helps to clarify it for you. It is a difficult area and the distinctions are quite subtle.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
thanks a lot) You explained it better than books =)
Thats why The British Council is the best of the best )
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