[分享]［坡仔跟你一起学英语·第三期］英语语法（一）冠词 Articles
Hello again. Welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Rob.
And me, Emma. Hello.
In today's program, we're talking about three little words: a, an and the.
Also known as articles. So let's start by saying hello to Finn.
Hello.
And Finn, you're going to tell us about your time in Phnom Penn, which is the capital city of Cambodia.
Listen out for the words a, an and the.
Yes, I was living in a flat near the city centre.
I was lucky because every morning I saw an elephant walk past my front door.
The elephant was giving rides to tourists. The owner told me that her name was Sambo.
I discovered later that she was the only elephant in Phnom Penh.
Here's a photo.
Ah, that's really nice!
And quite a few articles there. We had a flat and a photo.
Yes, we use "a" before singular nouns.
A flat and a photo.
But in spoken English it's 'uh' not 'a'.
I was living in a flat. Here's a photo.
Now, Finn also said he saw an elephant. Not a elephant. An elephant.
That's because 'elephant' begins with 'e'.
We use an, not a, before nouns that begin with 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and most words starting with 'u'.
We say an apple, an elephant, an ice-cream, an orange, an uncle.
But in spoken English, 'an' sounds like 'un'. Finn.
An apple, an elephant, an ice-cream, an orange, an uncle.
Now let's look at the ['thuh'] and the ['thee']. Finn said:
The elephant was giving rides to tourists.
Yes, and it's the elephant because it's the second time he mentions the elephant.
'A' first time, and the 'thuh' or the 'thee' second time.
And it's the 'thee' not the 'thuh' with elephant because elephant starts with 'e'. Finn.
I saw an elephant. The elephant was giving rides to tourists.
Ok, and there was another one, the owner.
Finn only mentioned the owner once, so why 'the' and not 'an'?
Good question, and the answer is: we use 'the' before a person or thing when it's clear exactly which person or thing we're talking about, even if it's the first time.
Let's hear it again:
The owner told me that her name was Sambo.
So Finn's talking about the owner of Sambo, not the owner of any unknown elephant.
OK, so that's a, an and the.
Now let's hear more about elephants.
Can you spot the articles in this sentence?
African elephants are bigger than Indian elephants.
Actually there were no articles.
Trick question, sorry!
There's no article before African elephants and Indian elephants because we're talking about African elephants and Indian elephants, in general.
Not a specific African or Indian elephant.
So in Finn's story, he didn't use an article when he talked about tourists in general.
The elephant was giving rides to tourists.
And we're talking about articles.
And now here are some top tips for using 'the'.
Tip one: don't use 'the' before the names of most countries, cities and continents.
Just say: Saudi Arabia, Warsaw and Europe.
Tip two: say 'the' with countries with plural names or the words Republic or Kingdom in the name.
The Maldives, The United Arab Emirates.
Tip three: use 'the' for the names of rivers, seas, oceans and mountain ranges.
The Mississippi, The Red Sea, The Andes.
Tip four: don't use 'the' before names of single mountains and lakes.
Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Titicaca.
And now it's quiz time.
I'm going to say a sentence with or without an article and you have to say if it's correct or wrong.
Ready? Number 1: I've got cat.
That's wrong.
It should be: I've got a cat.
Because you need an article before a singular noun when you mention it the first time.
Or you can say "I've got the cat" if it's clear which cat we're talking about.
Number 2. I'm going on holiday to United States next week. I'm so excited!
Wrong again.
It should be: I'm going to the United States next week because it's a plural country name.
And number 3. I love elephants!
And that's correct because you're talking about elephants in general, so no article needed.
Well done if you got those right.
There's lots more information about articles on our website at www.bbclearningenglish.com.
Join us again soon for more 6 Minute Grammar.
Bye.
PS：以上内容来源《每日英语听力》