Editing ESL/Articles practice and pronunciation

'''Articles'''
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; max-width:60%; margin-left:25px;"
|+'''Articles Matching'''
|'''A'''
|'''with an adjective'''
|-
|a beach
|an empty beach
|-
|a halo
|an awesome halo
|-
|a hood
|an open hood
|-
|a lady
|an elegant lady
|-
|a monkey
|an ugly monkey
|-
|a one (1)
|an only one
|-
|a show
|an entertaining show
|-
|a unit
|an empty unit
|-
|a university
|a big university
|-
|a yacht
|an expensive yacht
|-
| colspan="2" |
{| style="margin-left:10px"
| <small>Hard A:</small> || [[File:01a articles A.mp3]]
|-
| <small>Soft A (ah):</small> || [[File:01b articles Ah.mp3]]
|-
| <small>A v. An:</small> || [[File:01 articles A-An.mp3]]
|-
|}
|-
|'''An'''
|'''with an adjective'''
|-
|an actor
|a bad actor
|-
|an apple
|a rotten apple
|-
|an effect
|a good effect
|-
|an honor
|a distinct honor
|-
|an hour
|a long hour
|-
|an orange
|a juicy orange
|-
|an uncle
|a great uncle
|-
| colspan="2" |
{| style="margin-left:10px"
| <small>An:</small> || [[File:02a articles An.mp3]]
|-
| <small>An v A:</small> || [[File:02n articles An-A.mp3]]
|}
|-
|'''H with A'''
|'''H with An'''
|-
|a halo
a hood
|an honor
an hour
|-
| colspan="2" |
{| style="margin-left:10px"
| [[File:03 articles H w A-An.mp3]]
|}
|-
|'''U with A'''
|'''U with An'''
|-
|a unit
a user
|an uncle
an umbrella
|-
| colspan="2" |
{| style="margin-left:10px"
| [[File:04 articles U w A-An.mp3]]
|}
|}

* ''a, an, the''
* articles indicate if something is general or "indefinite" (a/an) or specific or "definite" (the)
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== Indefinite article, a/ an ==
'''''a, an'''''

* a modifier that indicates a noun as something in general, a category
** or that makes a non-specific reference to something

* i.e. "a tree" indicates that the "tree" is one of any trees, or refers to a tree in general
** similar to 
*** "any tree" 
*** "some tree"
*** "one tree" (as in one of many but not any particular tree)
* indefinite articles always modify a singular noun
** &#x1F5F4; <strike>a</strike> trees
** &#x1F5F8; ''a tree'' 

'''''a''''' versus '''''an'''''

* '''''a''''' precedes a consonant or a hard sound
** ''a car''
** ''a house'' (hard "h")
** ''a truck''
** may include the vowel "U" if the "U-sound" of the word is pronounced like a "Y"
*** ''a university''
*** ''a unit'' 
**** = ''a yoo-nit''
**** the reason is that to make the "an" + "yoo" sound ("an unit") requires making two distinct sounds with the mouth and tongue
***** ''a yoo-nit''
***** whereas it is easier to say the "a" + "yoo" sound as it can be spoken as a single sound, "ayoo" ----
* '''''an''''' precedes a vowel or a soft consonant sound for "H" or "U"
** an hour (soft "h")
** an umbrella

=== "An" with letters and abbreviations ===
Some of the consonants of the alphabet have soft sounds

* so when speaking the consonant itself, if the pronunciation of the letter is soft, '''''an''''' is used
** ''You spell Michael with '''an M'''''
** ''The word "letter" begins with '''an L'''''
** Consonants that use '''''an''''' are
*** F, H, L, M, N, R, S, X.
** all other consonants have a hard sound and so use '''''a'''''
*** ''She spells her name Liza with '''a Z''' instead of '''an S'''''

* Abbreviations are spoken out by their letters (FAQ, MRI, RFQ, RSVP, etc.), thus
** ''I need '''an MRI'''''
** ''They want '''an RSVP'''''
* similarly, words that use a letter to describe something follow the same rule
** We bought ''an '''L-shaped sofa''''' 
*** note that L-shaped is an adjective
**

== Definite article, the ==
'''''the'''''

* a modifier that indicates a particular or specific thing
* i.e., "the tree" indicates a certain, or particular tree
** similar to 
*** "this tree"
*** "that tree"
* '''''the''''' precedes any letter sound
** ''the dog''
** ''the hour'' 

== Articles and adjectives ==
Both articles and adjectives modify nouns

* they may both modify a noun together
* when they do, the article comes first
** ''the big balloon''
** ''a huge cow''
* the indefinite article, '''''an''''' matches to the adjective and not the noun
** ''a person'' >> ''an awful person'' 
** ''an hour >> a long hour''

== Articles and non-count & abstract nouns and generalizations ==
non-count and abstract nouns are nouns (things) that cannot be counted

These noun forms do do not take articles:
* '''non-count nouns:'''
** example: 
*** ''water:'' you can count drops or bodies of water, but not water
** non-count nouns do not take indefinite articles ('''''a/an''''')
** non-count nous can take the definite article ('''''the''''')
*** &#x1F5F4; ''We got stuck in <strike>a</strike> traffic''
*** &#x1F5F8; ''We got stuck in traffic''
*** &#x1F5F8; ''We got stuck in the traffic''
*** they can also take adjectives and certain determiners (modifiers) such as
**** ''some water''
**** ''any knowledge''
* '''abstract nouns & generalizations'''
** "abstract" means something that is not "concrete" or that you can touch
*** things you cannot touch, such as,
**** ''beauty, honesty, hope, humor, patience, power, strength''
** generalization is a form of abstraction, by turning a thing, like "a dog", and referring to it as a general category, such as:
*** "dogs" (generalization)
** abstract nouns do not take the definite article, '''''the'''''
** if the definite article is used before a plural noun it is no longer a generalization 
*** because it makes a specific reference: ''The dogs are playful''
* '''proper nouns'''
** names of people, places or things
** proper nouns do not take the definite article, either
*** I moved to an Arlington
*** I moved to the Arlington
*** I moved to Arlington
Note that many nouns have both non-count/abstract forms as well as regular nouns
* and remember that plural nouns never use the indefinite article ('''''a/an''''')

{| class="wikitable"
!Noun
!Noun with Articles
!Non-Count or Abstract form
without Articles
!Notes
|-
|advice
| --
|''That's good advice''
| rowspan="7" |non-count nouns
|-
|downtown
| --
|''I work downtown''
|-
|food
| --
|''They have good food''
|-
|knowledge
| --
|''Knowledge is power.''
|-
|traffic
| --
|''The tr''
|-
|water
| -- 
|''Water is necessary.''
|-
|work
| --
|''Work makes worthy.''
|-
|dog
|''A dog is fun.''
''The dog is fun.''
|''Dogs are fun.''
| rowspan="4" |abstract nouns or generalizations 
(do not take indefinite article '''''a/an''''')
|-
|chicken
|''We ate a chicken for dinner.''
|''We ate chicken for dinner''
|-
|nurse
|''The nurse works hard.''
|''Nurses work hard.''
|-
|talent
|''The talent required is huge.''
|''She has talent.''
|-
|Arlington
| --
|''Arlington is nearby.''
| rowspan="2" |proper nouns (names)
|-
|George
| --
|''George is my friend.''
|}


Here for a full list of non-count nouns: [https://www.thoughtco.com/mass-nouns-or-noncount-nouns-1692801 List of 130 Mass Nouns (Or Noncount Nouns) in English]
[[Category:ESL]]
[[Category:ESL oral practice]]