The articles

DEFINITE ARTICLE



Definition: A member of the class that restricts the meaning of a noun to make it refer to something that is known by both the speaker or writer and the listener or reader. Articles in English do not change according to the gender or number of the noun they refer to. "The" is the definite article is English.

التعريف: هى عضوة من اعضاء المجموعة التى تقيد معنى الاسم لتجعله يشير الى شئ معروف لكلا المتحدث او الكاتب و المستمع او القارئ. الادوات فى اللغة الانجليزية لا تتغير تبقا لنوع او عدد الاسم المشار له.

For example:



He's gone to the shops.
* Here the listener knows which shops I mean

Notes:
You use "the" when you know that the listener knows what particular person/thing you are talking about.

نستخدم "the" عندما يكون المستمع عالم بالشئ الذى نتحدث عنه

For example:



The apple you ate was rotten.
Did you lock the car?
You should also use "the" when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.

يجب استخدام "the" عندما نكون قد اشارنا الى الشئ الذى نتحدث عنه من قبل

For example:



She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen.
An elephant and a mouse fell in love. The mouse loved the elephant's long trunk, andthe elephant loved the mouse's tiny nose.
We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.
نستخدم the ايضا عندما نريد التحدث عن نقاط جغرافية

For example:



the North Pole, the equator.
the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel
We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

نستخدمها ايضا عندما نتحدث عن اسم معين عندما نعرف انه شئ واحد محدد

For example:



the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc..
It can be used to refer to a group.
للاشارة الى مجموعة

For example:



the Japanese, the old
The car has changed our way of living.
Before ordinal numbers.
قبل الارقام الترتيبية

For example:



the highest building, the first page, the last chapter.
In sentences where we define or identify a particular person or object.
فى الجمل التى نعرف فيها شخص بعينه او شئ

For example:



The man who wrote this book is famous.
My house is the one with a blue door.
With decades, or groups of years.
مع احقب و المجموعات و السنين

For example:



He grew up in the seventies


"the" is used before both singular and plural nouns. نستخدم قبل الاسماء المفردة و الجمع

"a" (or "an", when the following noun begins with a vowel) is used when the noun is singular.

an تستخدم عندما تبدأ الكلمة بــ vowel
The specific determiners are:عندما نتحدث عن شئ يعلمه الناس

The dog barked at the boy.

These apples are rotten.

Their bus was late.

The general determiners are:نستخدمها عندما نتحدث عن اشياء بدون ذكرها تحديدا

A man sat under an umbrella.
Have you got any English books that I could have?
There is enough food to feed everyone.


INDEFINITE ARTICLE


Definition: The indefinite article is just the opposite of the definite article.هى عكس ما سبق

In English, the indefinite articles are "a, an, some, any."
they refer to an object or person in a non-specific way, تشير الى اشياء بطريقة غير مباشرة

A white house on a green hill.

A cat ate the sardine
* We are not specifying which cat ate the sardine, it could have been any cat.

Notes:
It is normal to use the indefinite article when we mention someone or something for the first time in our conversation or text.
طبيعى نستخدم ادوات التعريف الغير مباشرةعند ذكر شئ او شخص لاول مرة فى المحاثة او القطعة

For example:



I've finally got a good job.
We bought a new computer and it was cheap.
Would you like a drink?
"A" and "an" are also used to refer to a particular member of a group or class.
a , anتستخدم للاشارة الى عضو محدد فى مجموعة او فصل

For example:



She is an English teacher.
He wants to be a dancer.
John is an Englishman.
Sherlock Holmes was playing a violin when the visitor arrived.
I was born on a Thursday.
We also use the indefinite article to talk about price / weight, speed.للتحدث عن سعر, وزن او سرعة

For example:



This car does 240 km an hour.
It is 10 euros a kilo.
Certain numbers in English require the presence of an indefinite article. ارقام محددة فى اللغة تطلب ادوات التعريف الغير مباشرة

For example:

A hundred, a thousand, a million, etc...
With singular nouns, after the words "what" and "such" عندما نشير الى اسماء مفردة, بعد الكلمات

For example:



What a day!
What a shame!
She's such a beautiful girl.
Meaning "one", referring to a single object or personللاشارة الى شئ واحد فقط مثل ليمونة او برتقالة

For example:



I'd like an orange and two lemons please.
The burglar took a diamond necklace and a valuable painting.

The choice between "a" and "an"
Depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article:

Use "an" before nouns starting with a vowel.

For example:



an umbrella
a table
an elephant
a book

THE END