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When do I use the articles a or an, the and some and when do I leave them out? | ![]() |
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No article is normally needed when we use uncountable and plural nouns to
talk about things generally:
A:
What are your hobbies?
B: I like listening to music, playing tennis and collecting stamps.
We use the when it
is clear which thing or person we are talking about:
We
saw a tiger and an elephant at the zoo, but the tiger was my favourite.
(the one I mentioned a second ago)
We use a or an when we don't specify which things
or people we are talking about:
Should
I use a pencil (not a particular one) or a pen (not a particular
one) to fill in this form?
Some
and any
can be used with uncountable or plural nouns when we do not know
(or say) how many /much:
I can't
understand why my bank balance is so low. I'm sure I paid some money
into the account last week. (I can't remember how much)
It sometimes makes no difference if we use some or any or no article:
I've
bought (some) tomatoes (some) apples and (some) cream
but I couldn't find (any) peaches.
However, because some
and any
usually suggest uncertain quantities, it would sound strange to say the
following:
She's
really beautiful. She's got some long blond hair (=I'm
not sure how much), a lovely smile
and some beautiful teeth.
(=I'm not sure how many)
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