GENERAL ENGLISH

Pertemuan Ke 11 – 6 Februari 2023

Articles, There

Dosen :
Putri Astiti, M.I.Kom.
 Articles and There

Kata sandang merupakan pengiring yang mengikuti kata-kata tertentu, sehingga

makna dari kata sandang selaras dengan kata benda yang diikutinya. Dalam kamus
Bahasa Indonesia, nama kata sandang ini dikenal menjadi artikel. Artikel ini
contohnya seperti : sang, para, si, dsb yang biasa kita gunakan untuk menulis atau
percakapan sehari hari. Dalam Bahasa Inggris, kata sandang pun juga wajib
digunakan dalam komunikasi dan kata sandang dalam Bahasa Inggris disebut
sebagai article.

Pengertian
A, an, the (articles) adalah kata yang digunakan untuk membatasi pengertian dari
noun (kata benda). Ketiganya sebenarnya tidak memiliki arti secara khusus, namun
article mempunyai fungsi khusus dalam melengkapi suatu frasa atau klausa, yang
secara spesifik berhubungan dengan noun atau kata benda di dalamnya.

Form
a. We use a before words beginning with a consonant sound.

a book
a car
a day
a friend
a girl

We use an before words beginning with a vowel sound.

an apple
an egg
an interview
and old coat
an umbrella

b. We say the /ðə/ before the words beginning with a consonant sound

the book
the car
the day
 We say the /ði:/ before words beginning with a vowel sound.

the apple
the egg
the interview

c. We use a and the /ðə/. Before u when it has consonant sound /ju/.

a university
the university

We use an and the /ði:/ before h when it is not sounded.

an hour
the hour

Use of a/an
a. We use a/an before singular countable nouns.
a student a book an idea
We do not use a/an before plural countable nouns. For example, we cannot say
a students or an ideas.
We do not normally use a/an before uncountable nouns. For example, we
cannot say a water or a music.
We do not use singular countable nouns alone, without a/an, the, my, this, etc.
I’m a student. (not : I’m student)

b. We use a/an when the listener or reader does not know exactly which person or
thing we mean.
There is a book on the table. (We don’t know which book.)
He met a girl last night. She works in a bank. (We don’t know which girl, or
which bank.)
We use a/an when we say what someone or something is.
I’m an architect He’s a vegetarian It was a good film

Use of the
a. We use the with singular countable nouns, plural countable nouns and
uncountable nouns.
the man the shoes the water
b. We use the when the listener or reader knows exactly which person or thing we
mean :
- We use the to talk about people and things that we have already mentioned.
I met a girl and a boy. I didn’t like the boy much, but the girl was very
nice.
My father bought a shirt and some shoes. The shoes were quite
expensive.
- We use the when we say which people or things we mean.
Who is the man over there talking to Sarah?
- We use the when it is clear from the situation which people or things we
mean.
“Where’s Simon?” “He’s in the bathroom.” (= the bathroom is in the
house)
Are you hot? I’ll open the window. (= the window in this room)
I got into a taxi. The driver asked me where I wanted to go.
(= the driver of the taxi that I got into)
- We use the when there is only one of something e.g. the sun, the moon, the
sky, the earth, the world.
I enjoyed lying in the sun.
Would you like to travel round the world?

Study this example:

I had a sandwich and an

Sarah says ‘a sandwich’, ‘an apple’
apple for lunch. because this is the first time she
The sandwich wasn’t very talks about them.
good, but the apple was nice.
Sarah now says ‘the sandwich’, ‘the
apple’ because we know which
sandwich and which apple she
means – the sandwich and the
apple she had lunch.

Compare a and the in these examples:

- A man and a woman were sitting opposite me. The man was American, but I
think the woman was British.
- When we were on holiday, we stayed at a hotel. Sometimes we ate at the hotel
and sometimes we went to a restaurant.
We use the when we are thinking of a specific thing. Compare a/an and the:
- Tim sat down on a chair. (maybe one of many chairs in the room)
Tim sat down on the chair nearest the door. (a specific chair)
- Do you have a car? (not a specific car)
I cleaned the car yesterday. (= my car)
We use a/an when we say what kind of thing or person we mean. Compare:
- We stayed at a very cheap hotel. (a type of hotel)
The hotel where we stayed was very cheap. (a specific hotel)
- D
We use the when it is clear 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. :
- Can you turn off the light, please? (= the light in this room)
- I took a taxi to the station. (= the station in that town)
- (in a shop) I’d like to speak to the manager, please. (= the manager of this
shop)
We also say ‘(go to) the bank / the post office’:
- I have to go to the bank and then I’m going to the post office.
(The speaker is usually thinking of a specific bank or post office.)
and ‘(go to) the doctor / the dentist’:
- Clare isn’t well. She’s gone to the doctor.
- I don’t like going to the dentist.
Compare the and a:
- I have to go to the bank today.
Is there a bank near here?
- I don’t like going to the dentist.
My sister is a dentist.
We say ‘once a week / three times a day / £1.50 a kilo’ etc. :
- I go to the cinema about once a month.
- ‘How much are those potatoes?’ ‘£1.50 a kilo.’
- Helen works eight hours a day, six days a week.
There
a. When we say that something exists, we normally begin the sentences with
there+be and put the subject after be.
There is a bank in West Street. (We do not normally say : A bank is in West
Street.)
We use this structure with “indefinite” subject (e.g. a man, some letters,
anybody.)
There is a man at the door.
There are some letters for you.
“Is there anybody at home?” “No, there isn’t.”

b. We can use this structure with different forms of be

There is a bank in West Street. (present tense)
There has been an accident. (present perfect)
There will be a lot of people at the party. (future form)
Note that if the subject is plural, be takes a plural form also.
There is a man at the door There are some men at the door.
There was a telephone call There were two telephone calls
for you last night for you last night.

c. Compare there is/are and it is/ they are :

We use there+be to say somethings exists; we use a personal pronoun e.g. it,
they+be (or another verb) to give more details.
There’s a letter for you. It’s from Australia.
There are some biscuits in the kitchen. They’re in the cupboard.
Exercises
Put in a / an / the.
1. This morning I bought a book and a magazine. The book is in my bag, but I
can’t remember where I put the magazine.
2. I saw ...... accident this morning. ...... car crashed into ...... tree. ..... driver of
..... car wasn’t hurt, but ..... car was badly damaged.
3. There are two cars parked outside : ...... blue one and ...... grey one. ...... blue
one belongs to my neighbours. I don’t know who ...... owner of ...... grey one is.
4. My friends live in ...... old house in ...... small village. There is ...... beautiful
garden behind ...... house. I would like to have ...... garden like that.
5. a. This house is very nice. Does it have ...... garden?
b. It’s a beautiful day. Let’s sit in ...... garden.
c. I like living in this house, but it’s a shame that ...... garden is so small.

Complete the sentences using there and the verb forms in the box.

is are was were has been will be

1. Look there is a policeman over there. Can you see him?

2. How many people .................... at the party last night?
3. I think .................... some snow later this evening.
4. Excese me. .................... a post office near here?
5. .................... six hotels in the street ten years ago, now .................... only one.