Grammar

Lesson Number 01
Articles
Explanations
1. Use “the" the second time you use that same noun in the same group.
Examples: I saw a movie yesterday. The movie was entertaining.
I bought an apple. The apple is fresh and new.
My father has just bought a car. The car is outside
A man booked into a hotel in Colombo. The man didn’t return to the
hotel
2. When there is only one of the things we are talking about, we use “the"

We normally say : the country(side), the earth, the environment, the

government, the moon, the ozone layer, the Prime Minister, the sky, the sun,
the weather, the sea(side)
Examples: The government has imposed taxes on several imported products.
We shouldn’t pollute the environment.
The ozone layer has adversely been affected as a result of human
activities.
3. Use “the" with the names of : plural names of countries, oceans, seas, coasts,
rivers, swamps, group of islands, archipelagos, collection of lakes, range of
mountains, reference on the globe (such as the Equator, the North Pole),
pagodas, bridges(except Tower Bridge) hotels, theatres, museums, institutes,
skyscrapers, extraordinary work of art or architecture ( such as the Mona Lisa,
the great wall of China, the Taj Mahal )
Examples: I visited the Hermitage, a famous museum in St Petersburg.
The Nile is a river that flows into the Mediterranean Sea
I would love to visits the Taj Mahal.
Immigrants who enter Australia illegally deported to the Andaman

A lot of tourist visit the United States every year

My friend studies at the Royal Institute.
Did you see that movie “ Avatar” at the Majestic Cinema ?

 “The" is not used with countries, cities, individual lakes, individual islands,
beaches, waterfalls, individual mountains, streets, churches, temples,
languages, religions, continents.
Examples: You should learn French before you go to France.
Sigiriya is a rock and also a world heritage site.
Dunhinda is a waterfall that attracts a lot of locals and foreigners.
Buddhists love to visit Dalanda Maligawa.
My friend lives on Anderson Street, Colombo 5.

4. Use “the" with Superlative Adjectives. Such as the best, the richest, the most
beautiful.

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM
 Examples: My elder brother is the tallest of our three siblings.
It is the most beautiful painting I’ve ever seen in my life.
The best way to fix your problem is to take a loan from a bank.

5. Before the names of musical instruments

Example: I can play the piano well but I can’t play the flute

 When musical instruments are used as countable nouns, A/AN is used

Examples: I bought a piano yesterday.
6. Families
Examples: Do you know the Obamas?
She knows the Kavindus because she lives next to his home.
 But we don’t use the before the names of persons
Examples: Is she talking with Nuwan

7. We can also use the definite article with adjectives to represent the group of
people. The rich, the poor, the blind, the injured, the young, the
unemployed ....etc.
Examples: This government doesn’t care about the poor.
He is collecting money for the blind.
The government ordered to bury the dead who die in Covid

8. When a singular noun represents a whole class.

Examples: The lotus is a beautiful flower.
The liver is a very delicate organ.
The chimpanzee is our closest living relatives.
 Don’t use an article when you make generalizations using uncountable
nouns or plural nouns.
Examples: French fries are not a healthy food.
I usually send flowers to my mom on Mother’s Day.
Water is an important resource.
9. Before the Ordinal Numbers
Example: She lives on the second floor
10. Before names of religious and mythological books.
Example: Did you see the Bible?
11. comparative degree in case of a choice
Examples: Neeta is the prettier of two of her friends.
Bandara is the braver of two of his brothers.
Between me and my brother, he is the better student.
12. Before names of newspapers and magazines. 
Example: My father is reading the Sunday Times at the moment

13. If a direction word follows a preposition, use “the.”

Examples: She is from the South of France
Have you ever been to the West?
Our house is on the left.
The restaurant is on the east side of road.
 If a direction follow a verb, don’t use an article.

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM
 Examples: Walk 200 meters and turn right at the traffic lights.
Let’s drive south until we see the supermarket
14. With time expression: In the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, the day
after tomorrow, the day before yesterday, during the day, during the night.
We use the season of the year (winter spring, summer ,autumn) with or
without the definite article. The American English word fall is always used with
the definite article the

Examples: My brother and I usually have a walk in the evening.

She works in the garden during the day.
I’ll return your book the day after tomorrow.
The garden is beautiful in spring / in the spring
The leaves of the tree turn yellow in the fall.

 Time expression without an article: At dawn, at dusk, at night, at midnight, at

noon, tomorrow, yesterday, now.
Examples: After several debates, the meeting was adjourned by her yesterday.
She used to get up at dawn when she was schooling.

When NOT to Use “the" ( Definite Article)

1. Things in general: uncountable and plural nouns
Examples: I love reading books.
Women love it when men send them flowers.
She is a vegetarian. She doesn’t eat meat.
I love listening to music.
2. Names of holidays:
Examples: We decorate our home at Christmas.
I gave an expensive gift for my wife on Valentine’s Day.
We observe sill on Vesak Day.
3. Names of companies:
Examples: Bill Gates found Microsoft.
My brother works at Keels.
I use Twitter and Facebook every day.
4. Names of sports:
Examples: The national sport of Sri Lanka is volleyball.
My daughter likes dancing.
She does yoga every day.
5. Noun + Number
Examples: He’s staying at Hilton Hotel in room 120
The train on platform 2 departs for Kandy in 15 minutes.
6. Acronyms ( abbreviations )
 If the acronym is pronounced as a word, don’t use “the"
Example: Sinharajaya was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO
 You need to use “the" before Acronyms when the letters are pronounced
individually, not as a word.
Examples: The CEO resigned from the company after he had worked 20 years.

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM
 The FBI started an investigation of a serial killer who murdered 3
women a couple of months ago.
 “The” isn’t used before university acronyms.
Examples: Kavindu got his MBA at SLIT
7. Before the names of Meals :
Examples: Children! Dinner is ready.
Shall we have lunch at McDonald?
 We use a when there is an adjective before breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. We
use the when we are talking about a particular meal.
Examples: She is having a very delicious dinner with her family.
The lunch I had with Mr. President was remarkable.

8. Before languages:
Example: She doesn’t understand English, so please use Sinhala to talk with
her.
9. We do not use articles with titles and names:
Examples: President Kennedy was assassinated.
Princess Diana was killed in a car accident.
10. With possessives and demonstratives:
Examples: Where did you park Nuwan's car?
I like this shirt.
Where is your car?
11. Before schools, college, university, temple , church, home, bed, prison,
hospital.............etc.
Examples: I go to school by bus.
We are going to temple tonight.
The criminal is in prison.
She goes home on foot.
 The is used, if you go to the building for another reason.
Examples: She goes to the prison to see her husband once a month.
My mother is coming to the school to meet my class teacher.

12. With months or days of the week :

Examples: She will be going on a holiday in August
I met her on Monday / last Monday
 But we use articles with the names of days or month if we are talking about
particular days or months.
Examples: We met on a rainy Friday.
She died on the Wednesday after the accident.
The November 2019, the outbreak started in China.
13. Before gerunds or abstract nouns:
Examples: Making mistakes at the beginning of someone's career is normal.
Friendship never changes even though it is apart from each other
for years.
14. Generally, articles are not used with the names of illnesses or diseases.
Examples: Mr.Ravi visits schools and universities to educate students on AIDS
I think scientists will find the cure for cancer soon.
The government says, to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is through
immunization.

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM
  There are some illness which require “the" : the mumps, the flue, the measles.
Example: The mumps is a contagious disease.

 Use the indefinite article, definite article or plural with the symptoms of disease
( (fevers, rashes, sore throats .... etc.) and injuries (broken arms, sprains)
Examples: Kusal Janith will not play for the upcoming tournament because he
has a fracture on his left hand.
The sore throat made me hard to talk.
Jane had a heart attack last month. The heart attack seriously
weakened her heart.

EXERCISES
1. The use of A/An and The

Complete this true story. Put in a/an or the.

A man decided to rob (1) ................... bank in the town where he lived. He walked into
(2)bank and handed (3) .................. note to one of (4).................... cashiers. (5)
…………….. cashier read (6)…………….. note, which told her to give (7)...…………..
man some money. Afraid that he might have (8)…………….. gun, she did as she was
told. (9) ................... man then walked out of (10)…………….. building, leaving
(11)...................note behind. However, he had no time to spend (12)
……………….money because he was arrested (13).................. same day. He had
made (14) ................ mistake. He had written (15)................... note on (16)....................
back of (17)………………. envelope. And on (18) .................. other side of (19)..............
envelope was his name and address. This clue was quite enough for (20)..................
detectives on the case.
2. Complete the conversations. Put in a/an or the.
Laura: Look outside. The sky is getting very dark.
Trevor: I hope there isn't going to be a storm.
1 Mike: I'm going out for ................... walk. Have you seen my shoes?
Harriet: Yes, they're on .................... floor in ................... kitchen.
2 Melanie: Would you like .................... tomato? There's one in .................. fridge.
David: Oh, yes, please. I'll make myself .................... cheese and tomato sandwich.
3 Sarah: If you're going into ....................city centre, can you post these letters for me?
Mark: Yes, I'll take them to ................... main post office.
4 Rita: I've got ........... problem with my phone bill. Can I see someone about it?
Receptionist: Yes, go to ................... fifth floor ....................lift is along the corridor.

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM
5 Tom: I didn't know Melanie had .................... dog.
David: It isn't hers. She's just taking it for a walk while .................... owner is away.
6 Vicky: I've got ................... headache. I've had it all day.
Rachel: Why don't you go to ....................health centre? It's open until six.
7 Andrew: Guess what. I found ....................£50 note on the pavement this morning.
Jessica: You really ought to take it to ................... police station, you know.

3. Complete these sentences about pollution and the environment. Put in a/an or
the.
There was a programme on television about dangers to the environment.
1 There was also ................. article about pollution in ............... paper.
2. …………………ozone layer will continue to disappear if we don't find way to stop it.
3 ………………..world's weather is changing. Pollution is having ........... effect on our
climate.
4 Last week .................. oil tanker spilled oil into ................... sea, damaging wildlife.
5 Some professors have signed .................. letter of protest and have sent it
to.................... government.
6 If.................. earth was ................... human being, it would be in hospital.

4. Complete the conversations. Put in the nouns and decide if you need the.
Tom: Did you see the football (football) on television last night?
Melanie: No, I hate football (football). I was watching the news (news) on the other
channel.
1 Rachel: Did your family have a dog when you were younger?
Vicky: No, thank goodness. I'm afraid of…………………………………… (dogs). I didn't
like…………………………(dogs) that were running around in the park yesterday. I was
afraid they were going to attack me.
2 Melanie: You shouldn't drive so much, Mark. You know
that…………………………………… (cars)
cause ……………………………(pollution), don't you?
Mark: Yes, but ............………………............ (cars) these days are cleaner than they
used to be. Isn’t it........................................................ (aeroplanes) that are mainly
responsible for.................................................... (pollution) of the atmosphere?
3 Melanie: I've put some bread out in the garden for ……………………………………
(birds).

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM
Tom: You like........................................................ (birds), don't you?
Melanie: Yes, I do. I love …………………………………… (wildlife), in fact. I'd much
rather live in the country if I could.
4 Laura: You're always reading books about ………………………………….. (history),
aren't you?
Harriet: It was always my favourite subject. Do you know anything
about ................................................ (history) of this area?
Laura: No, but if you like looking round .......................................... (museums) and
…………………………..(old buildings), we could find out about it together.

5. Complete this paragraph from a magazine article about Melissa Livingstone. Put
in the words with or without the.
Today Melissa Livingstone is a popular actress and star of the TV soap opera 'Round
the Corner'. But as a child she was very unhappy. She didn't do well at (>) school
(school) , and she never went to (1).......................................(college). Her greatest
pleasure was going to (2) ................................(cinema). Her family lived in an
unattractive town and their home was next to (3) ......................(station). Melissa's
father, Tom, was a sailor, and he spent months at (4) ........................(sea). He was
hardly ever at (5) .........................................(home) and when he was, he didn't do very
much. Sometimes he spent all day in (6)........................................(bed). Melissa's
mother, Susan, had to get up at five o'clock every day to go to
(7)........................................(work). When Tom lost his job he stole a gold cup from
(8)........................................(church) Susan used to go to. He had to go to
(9) ..............................(prison) for a year. Melissa's mother was horrified at the shame
he had brought on the family.

6. Complete the conversations. Put in the words and use a/an or the if you need to.
Rachel: Is it the pop festival on Friday (Friday)? Vicky: I think it's the Friday (Friday)
after that.
1 Henry: Will you be in America for..............................................(Thanksgiving)?
Claire: Oh no. That's in .............................................(November), isn't it?
2 Nick: Are you doing anything at.............................................. (weekend)?
Tom: Well, I'm going to the match on............................................. (Saturday), of course.
3 Ilona: Does it snow here at............................................. (Christmas)?
Emma Not often. We haven't had ............................................ (white Christmas) for
years.
4 Nick: How long have you lived here?

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM
Harriet: We came here in ............................................. (summer)
of ............................................(1997).
5 Laura: I'd like to look round the castle in ............................................ (afternoon).
Trevor: Well, it's just a ruin. The building dates from...............................................(year)
900.
6 Mark: I like driving at .............................................(night) when the roads are quiet.
Trevor: Oh, I don't like driving in .............................................(dark). I'd much rather
travel during ............................................. (day).

SHAN BADDEGAMA
TEFL /TESOL Certified Teacher.
Dip. In HTM