articles

Question 1

when do we usually use the

Answer 1

• the sky, the world, the atmosphere, the sun, the ground, the climate, the horizon, the environment, the internet, the travel industry
• the beach, the town, the sea, the land
• the past, the present, the future
  BUT Climate is one of the many factors involved in changing farming methods (general concept)
  Dream of A future WHERE she could…
• the + morning/afternoon/evening for a day which is understood or specified
  BUT Morning is the time I work best- morning in general
  I’ll be there by(the) morning/evening (but by the afternoon)
  I’ve had a terrible morning(compared to other mornings)

Question 2

the or a

Answer 2

the+singular countable noun to make generalisations about classes of things: The computer has revolutionised publishing/ is a powerful medium
alternative - a plural countable noun: Computers are an essential research tool.
BUT if the is used with plural and uncountable noun we refer to a specific thing

Question 3

TOOL collocations

Answer 3

• a useful tool, a business/marketing/research tool
• sell agricultural machinery and tools( the government machinery)
• a tool of the trade

Question 4

to define sth we use…

Answer 4

a/an
A corkscrew is a gadget for getting corks out of bottles

Question 5

a device -

Answer 5

gadget
kitchen/household gadget, digital/electronic gadget/high-tech gadgets,
high-tech industry/company/equipment

Question 6

HARMFUL -

Answer 6

the campaign against smoking in public places makes the case that its harmful effects are not confined to the smoker
be detrimental to, a detrimental effect/impact on,
deleterious effect

Question 7

stop -

Answer 7

cease
without cease- incessantly

Question 8

how to use articles while talking abt a job

Answer 8

• we use a/an to say what a person’s job is, was, will be: I am a company director
• when we give a person’s job title or their unique position we can use the or no article: she’s been appointed (the) head of the company
• after the position of, the post of, the role of we use zero article: I’ve taken on the position of Head of Department

Question 9

when do we use zero article

Answer 9

• with plural and uncountable nouns to talk generally without definite people or thing in mind
  -with the names of holidays, special times of the year, months, days of the week, Easter, Ramadan
  BUT - I’ll see you on Saturday(next Saturday). They came on a Saturday (day of the week, we don’t know which one). I arrived on the Saturday after the accident(specify)
• with winter, summer, autumn, spring we can use either the or zero article
  But we use only THE when it’s understood or we go on to specify which summer, winter, autumn, spring : I’d like to go skiing in the spring, I went away in the winter of 2002
  -with times of the day and night such as midnight, midday, noon: If possible, I’d like it finished by midday/The railway operates between noon and 5 p.m. daily
• we can say dawn or the dawn
• we often use by+zero article to talk abt means of transport and communication: I generally go by bus to work- i take the bus(go/travel by car/bus/plane/train/air/sea; contact/communicate by post/email/phone)

Question 10

agriculture or the
islands

Answer 10

1. As the soil quality deteriorated so too did the agriculture on which the region depended.
2. around 60 percent of the labour force in the country is supported by agriculture.
3. Around the world islands are being threatened by rising sea levels
4. The islands off the east coast of….

Question 11

heavy rain -

Answer 11

torrential rain/storm

Question 12

sunrise-

Answer 12

dawn
awake at dawn/ as dawn was breaking, leave at the break of dawn
the dawn of sth - the beginning of sth - mark the dawn of a new era/ the dawn of civilization
it dawns on you , it dawned that - became known that

Question 13

how to use any

Answer 13

• in non-affirmative sentence
  There’s hardly any sugar left
• with : barely, never, scarcely, seldom
  deny, fail, forbid, prohibit, refuse, prevent ,( deny the allegations, deny that, there’s no denying; be forbidden from ing, be prohibited from, strictly prohibited, prohibited by law)
  reluctant, impossible, unlikely
  We’d gone barely any distance from the shore
• with clauses that begin with before : go away before anyone sees us
• comparisons: it was more colourful than anything i’d seen before

Question 14

how to use some

Answer 14

• when it means not all: Some parents are of the opinion that …
• when we-re talking abt a particular but unspecified person/thing : I was reluctant to repeat something so critical of him
• before plural and uncountable nouns we sometimes use some or zero article with little difference in meaning
• some is used before a number to mean approximately

Question 15

only just, almost never

Answer 15

scarcely
I was scarcely able to, I could scarcely believe that; I scarcely ever..; I’d scarcely have done it without you
Scarcely had I opened the door when I heard
Seldom do we receive any apology

Question 16

how to use many and much

Answer 16

• a large/considerable/substantial amount of = with uncountable nouns
• a large/considerable/great/substantial number of= plural nouns
  MANY:
• we can use many and much as pronouns: Many have argued that
• use many with time expressions such as days, minutes, weeks, years and number of
• we can use many following the, my, his, her and plural countable nouns : Among the many unknowns after the earthquake is the extent of damage to the foundations of buildings
• many a with a singular noun : Many a pupil at the school will be over the moon that Latin is no longer compulsory/ I’ve spent many a sunny afternoon …

Question 17

NO singular and plural?

Answer 17

Singular is more formal : No answer could be found
but : he has no friends = plural is expected

Question 18

How to emphasise no /none/

Answer 18

no amount of with uncountable nouns
not one/ not a single with singular countable nouns
not one of with plural nouns

Question 19

a hole in your tyre

Answer 19

puncture
I’ve had a puncture

Question 20

not a =
not any =
how to use in a sentence

Answer 20

there isn’t any left - there’s none left
Don’t use not a/any, not anyone in initial position in a sentence/clause or straight after and, but, that; use no, none of, no one
no force was needed to make them move
in formal context we use not a in initial position
not a sound came from the room

Question 21

other ways to say a lot of, many of, much of;

Answer 21

• a good/great many with a plural noun : I have a great many friends
• a good/great deal of with a singular or uncountable noun: a good deal of the exhibition was dedicated to
  -far too many of far too much: many have claimed that his study on current attitudes to politics is flawed; one criticism is that far too many people questioned in the survey were under 18.

Question 22

a lot of or much/many in the formal context

Answer 22

much/many
much research has been conducted on the effects of diet on health, with many studies focusing on the link between fat intake and brain function

Question 23

how to use all

Answer 23

• his songs all sound much the same to me
• we all think= all of us think
• put all after the verb be and after the first auxiliary verb
• to make a negative use not all of
• before singular countable nouns WHOLE instead of all
• all day/week/night/month, all the time
• we can use entire instead of whole: the entire /whole building BUT
  all of the towns had their electricity… = every
  whole towns = some completely affected

Question 24

every or each

Answer 24

every :
- with almost. virtually + noun to talk abt a group as a whole
- with a plural noun when every is followed by a number
- every chance, confidence, hope, reason, sympathy : she has every reason to.., every effort is being made to.., every chance of success
- every other, every single, every so often( occasionally), every few(months), every now and again(occasionally)
each
- each one
- as a pronoun
- each of, each and every one of

Question 25

how to use few/little, less, fewer

Answer 25

• we can use( a )few and (a )little as pronouns
• we can use the few and the little followed by a noun to suggest not enough: it’s one of the few shops in the city centre where ///
• instead of the few/the little we can use what few/little to mean the small number/amount
• we can use few after personal pronouns(my/his) and these/those : these few miles of motorway are…
  -quite a few = a lot, as few as, few and far between= scarce, no fewer than = emphasize a large number , and few, but a few
  there are no fewer than 70%
  a few personal belongings

Question 26

in speech and informal writing use instead of many and much….

Answer 26

not many/much , only/just … a few/little ; a bit of = a little
(there seems to be little prospect of… = formal; the results take little account of personal preference )

Question 27

less than and fewer than

Answer 27

less than = uncountable nouns
fewer than = plural countable nouns
they exchanged few words
-less than= amount , fewer than = a group of things/people
less than - abt a distance/a sum of money
no less than/no fewer than for emphasis
less than with percentages, periods of time/quantities
spend less time/money on