ARTICLES by Busungu Joseph

 ARTICLES

Articles specify whether is specific or general, singular or plural. They are among the demonstrative adjectives. Articles are divided into;

a)    Definite article: This is an article which refer to a particular person or thing. It includes article “the” only.

b)   Indefinite articles: These are articles which do not refer to a particular person or thing. They include ‘an’ and ‘a’.

USES OF INDEFINITE ARTICLES (A, AN)

      i.            ‘A’ is used with words beginning with consonant sound.

ü A boy speaks well

ü I saw a lion

ü I bought a pen

   ii.            ‘An’ is used before words beginning with a vowel sound

ü I bought an orange

ü She cuts the tree with an axe

iii.            They are used before abbreviations

ü He uses an ATM

ü He was a CCM member for ten years

ü An NMB card looks nice

ü I have a CRDB card

  iv.            They are used when describing nationalities or citizenship

ü He is a Congolese

ü An American woman walks majestically

ü She is a Ugandan

     v.            They are used to represent the whole class

ü A student should work hard (means all students)

ü A cheetah runs fast (means all cheetahs)

ü An elephant is the biggest animal (means all elephants)

ü A teacher should teach students with passion (means all teachers)

  vi.            They are used to change proper noun into common noun.

ü Kisutu is a Geneva of Tanzania

ü Ateba is a Christiano Ronald of Africa

ü Dar es salaam is a London of Tanzania

vii.            They are used in exclamatory sentences

ü What a shame!

ü What a clever boy he is!

ü What a beauty!

USES OF DEFINITE ARTICLE (THE)

a)    It is used with unique things in nature

ü The sun rises in the east

ü The sky is blue

ü The moon twinkles at night

ü The earth rotates on its axis

b)    Used to talk about well-known person or thing (cataphoric or forward reference)

ü The woman you met her yesterday is my wife

ü The car that arrives early comes from Mwabomba

ü The boy you saw playing football studies at Kibaha secondary school

c)     Used with things mentioned for the second time (anaphoric or backward reference)

ü I bought a tractor. The tractor looks very nice

ü I saw a student. The student was very smart

ü She built a house. The house is painted blue

d)   Used with singular nouns representing the whole class

ü The rose is a good flower (means all rose flowers)

ü The eagle is the fastest bird (means all eagles)

e)     It is used with the names of rivers/seas/mountain ranges

ü The Nile River is the longest river in the world

ü The Indian Ocean is the biggest ocean in the world

ü The Himalayan mountains are very famous

f)      It is used with proper nouns used as common nouns

ü Dodoma is the Liverpool of Tanzania

ü Majaliwa is the Nyerere of these times

ü Muamar Gadafi is the Adolf Hitler of Africa

g)    It is used with superlative degree adjectives

ü Lydia is the tallest student in the class

ü He is the most beautiful of all

ü Ateba is the best striker in NBC premier league

h)   It is used with adjectives used as nouns

ü The rich should respect the poor

ü The strong should help the weak

ü The government should assist the needy

ü The young must greet the old

i)      It is used with double comparatives

ü The more you study, the more you be knowledgeable

ü The larger the area, the lower the pressure

ü The more he earns, the more he spends

ü The higher you go, the cooler it becomes

j)      It is used with directions

The north, the west, the south, the east

k)   It is used with the names of newspapers and magazines

The Mwanachi, the Mwana sport, the Daily news, etc.

l)      Used with famous historical events

The independent day, the republic day, the industrial revolution, etc.

m) It is used with the names of ships and airplanes

The emirates, the titanic, the Olympic, the bombardier, etc.

n)   It is used with musical instruments

The piano, the violin, the flute, the guitar, etc.