In this lesson, learn the 7 rules for using articles in English correctly. Also see - MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN ENGLISH & HOW TO AVOID THEM: /watch/9FlbQ7aFUFjhEps9Dr53RswHMlop9rwmLP=tsil&IgXyQ09xaD1xb
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Transcript:
Hello and welcome. In this
lesson, I will teach you the
seven rules that you need to
know for using articles in
English correctly. Articles are
the words ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’.
There is a final quiz at the
end of the lesson for you to
test your understanding.
OK, the first rule is about
where to use ‘a’ and where to
use ‘an’. So rule number one is
use ‘a’ before a consonant
sound, and ‘an’ before a vowel
sound.
So in all of these words – you
see that they start with a
consonant sound. Cat starts
with /k/, dog
starts with /d/, boy with /b/,
girl with /g/, house with /h/
and tree with /t/.
So we say ‘a cat’, ‘a dog’, ‘a
boy’, ‘a girl’, ‘a house’, ‘a
tree’ etc. Notice that in
natural speech, we don’t say
‘a’, we say ‘uh’ – like ‘a
cat’.
In this next set of words, you
see that, they all start with a
vowel sound – apple starts with
/ae/, engineer starts with /e/,
ice-cream with /ai/, old with
/o/, umbrella with /uh/.
So we say ‘an apple’, ‘an
engineer’, ‘an ice-cream cone’,
‘an old womman’, ‘an umbrella’
and so on. In speech, we don’t
say ‘an’, we say /ən/.
Let’s do a small exercise. You
see ten items on the screen.
For each one, I want you to say
if you would use ‘a’ or ‘an’
before it. Stop the video,
think about it, then play the
video again and check.
OK here are the answers. Did
you get them all right? I want
to focus on items number seven
to ten because these are a
little tricky. Number seven is
‘a university’ because even
though ‘university’ starts with
the letter ‘u’ the first sound
of the word is not a vowel
sound. We don’t say
/ooniversity/. We say /yoo-nə-
vər-si-ty/ so that first sound
is a /y/ sound, which a
consonant sound, so we say ‘a
university.’
Number eight is similar. The
word ‘European’ starts with a
/y/ sound, so ‘a European
tour.’
In number nine, the spelling
has an ‘h’ at the start but
that ‘h’ is silent. We don’t
say /hau-ər/, we say /au-ər/.
The first sound is an /au/
sound which is a vowel sound,
so this is ‘an hour’. In the
same way, in number ten, we say
MA. ‘M’ starts with an /e/
sound which is again a vowel
sound, so ‘an MA in English’.
OK let’s move on to rule number
two: Use ‘a’ and ‘an’ ONLY with
singular, countable nouns.
We say that a noun is countable
if we can count it – one, two,
three, four etc.
All of these words on the
screen are countable. We can
say one elephant, three cars,
ten teachers, five hundred
onions and so on. Now if you
talk about one person or thing,
like one elephant or one
car, then that’s called a
singular noun and if you say
ten teachers or five hundred
onions, those are called plural
nouns.
Uncountable nouns cannot be
counted in this way. Nouns like
water, sugar, milk, love,
anger, knowledge are some
examples. If you think about
it, you cannot say “I drank
four waters” or “I want eight
milks”. To a person, you can
say “I love you” but you can’t
say “I have five loves for you”
– that doesn’t make any sense.
So these are all uncountable.
Alright, so the rule is - you
can only use ‘a’ and ‘an’ if
you’re talking about one person
or one thing.
Let’s do another quick
exercise. Here are ten items
again. This time, you see ‘a’
or ‘an’ before the nouns, but
some of these are wrong. They
should NOT have ‘a’ or ‘an’
before them. Stop the video,
identify the mistakes, then
play the video again and check.
OK, here are the answers.
Number three is wrong because
‘shirts’ is a plural and you
cannot use ‘a’ or ‘an’ before a
plural noun. Number five is
wrong because ‘happiness’ is
uncountable, so again, ‘a’ or
‘an’ cannot be used there. The
same goes for number six –
water is uncountable. Number
nine is wrong because ‘doctors’
is a plural – you can say ‘a
doctor’ but not ‘a doctors’.
And finally, in number ten,
advice is an uncountable noun –
so you cannot ask for ‘an
advice’.
Now a quick note here: the
article ‘the’ can be used with
all kinds of nouns – singular
or plural countable nouns, and
uncountable nouns.
OK, so let’s now talk about how
to choose between ‘a’ or ‘an’
and ‘the’.
Here’s rule number three: Use
‘a’ or ‘an’ to talk about a
person or thing unknown to your
listener. And use ‘the’ to talk
about a person or thing known
to your listener.
For example, “My sister has two
computers: a PC and a laptop.
The PC is quite old but the
laptop is brand new.” I say ‘a
PC’ and ‘a laptop’ because
that’s the first time I’m
mentioning the two computers.
That is, until this point, they
are unknown to you, the
listener.
@LearnEnglishLabمنذ 7 سنواتHey there, I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Let me know if you have any questions. Also check out: ➜ 1 Simple Trick to Become FLUENT in English: ➜ 50 Words You are Pronouncing WRONG: ➜ Most Common MISTAKES in English & How to Avoid Them: ➜ POWER Writing - Write ANYTHING in English Easily (Essays, Emails, Letters Etc.): ➜ 100 English Sentences You Can Use in Conversation: ➜ Learn TELEPHONE English - 100 Sentences You Can Use on the Phone: ➜ Speak English FLUENTLY like a NATIVE SPEAKER with just 10 words: ➜ All GRAMMAR lessons: ➜ All MODAL VERBS Lessons (Could, Would, Should, May, Might, Must etc.): ➜ All PARTS OF SPEECH lessons: ➜ All ARTICLES (a, an, the) lessons: ➜ All PRONUNCIATION lessons: ➜ All TENSES lessons: ....وسعت579
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@pramodmishra930منذ 3 سنواتEducating people without any charge/fees .this is what makes you great .keep it up !. 148
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@mohammadsaquib21منذ 3 سنواتI am 28 year old but first time I found someone who explained these articles brilliantly. Thank you Sir 44
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@gopalbharat5701منذ 3 سنواتHe is the definition of a good teacher ❣️ 42
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@alexcameron6342منذ 5 سنواتWhat a brilliant explanation. I teach English and I am asked how and why articles are used all the time. This is the best explanation I have ever seen. 619
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@malleshaholeyache4464منذ 2 سنواتNo teachers of any premium schools or organisations don't teach like you sir . You are favourite of many learners. Thank you so much for all your videos sir. Keep teaching us english ❤️ 25
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@isabelmcconnon3064منذ 4 سنواتYou're the best English teacher I've ever known. Sometimes we think that we know all but in fact, it's far from it. 80
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@glorylazrus8687منذ 4 سنواتThanks for such an amazing explanation. I really enjoyed it.. 33
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@sonykirru6607منذ 3 سنواتHighly recommended for who searched for the articles class.tnq so much sir!! I literally learnt so much!! 10
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@phlorenzmercado6564منذ 3 سنواتThe best teacher ever! I actually have a hard time learning English and I have searched many channels until I found this. It literally changed my way of speaking using the English language. 2
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@pehumehta6641منذ 4 سنواتJust wanna say that your teaching way is so different from others.that makes your class special. Thank you for this special class. 12
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@andx4024منذ 2 سنواتArticles (a,an,the) Rule #1 (i) Use a before consonant sounds (ii) Use an before vowel sounds /> Rule #2 Use a or an only with countable nouns Rule #3 (i) Use a or an to talk about a person or thing inknown to your listener (ii) Use the to talk about a person or thing known to your listener Rule #4 Use a or an to talk about nonspecific things or people Rule #5 Use a or an to mention the category or type of a person or thing Rule #6 Generalize with plurals or uncountable nouns with no article Rule #7 Use no articles in this situations (i) proper nouns - names of peoples, pleaces (ii) names of games, languages (iii) fixed expressions ....وسعت111
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@kolmakovalexeyمنذ 5 سنواتOnly this class covered all my questions about these articles. Thank you very much!) 38
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@aldukker7157منذ 2 سنواتI am a native speaker and have no issues in my day to day life with articles and yet this video was educational because it explained, why and where I use these articles, really interesting 4
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@manjunathamedical9738منذ 4 سنواتEnglish grammar lessons by Ganesh sir seem to be a boon in this covid situation.thank you very much seeing your lessons we felt that English is indeed a easy subject 8
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@maliksaqib9043منذ 2 سنواتI would must say that you completely eradicate my misconception about the articles. Thanku so much Sir your tutorial is just awesome.. May Allah bless you with more and more. Love from Pakistan 12
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@zeepje6055منذ 4 سنواتI just needed to know the rules quick thank you for not dragging it out youre a great teacher 50
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@kimberlyd5379منذ 3 سنواتYou do a fabulous job of explaining articles. Thank you! 3
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@maneesha4083منذ 6 سنواتYou are a great inspiration as a teacher sir. My grammar has improved a lot.could you please include having +pastparticiple 16
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@gkssr2256منذ 4 سنواتSir, you are the best. The way you explained the articles is amazing, one of the best video on Youtube. 6
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@shihana221منذ 4 سنواتFull explanation which is answered all our questions about the article in just one video . YOUR’RE A BRILLIANT TEACHER. Keep going for posting such a useful video Thanks 2
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@HuaWei-te7vlمنذ 3 سنواتWhat a brilliant explanation. Your teaching style can be easily understood by a student of any level. I am so appreciate . ( from SRILANKA ) 3
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@matsatsimokwena6582منذ 3 سنواتI really enjoyed this lesson. Thank you very much for making me understand how to use articles, I was always getting confused. 3
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@atulsaboo793منذ 5 سنواتI can't find this type of video from last 3-4 days for my exam but finally i got the guy who can clear by doubts in just 30 mins . Thankyou 11
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@sm65gamer4منذ 4 سنواتwhat a brilliant teacher you are! Your explanation has been helped me a lot. Thank you for your wonderful class. 2
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@ruthkirubai7729منذ 4 سنواتReally sir you're way of teaching impress us those who are watching your vedio they will understand clearly. Thank you so much sir for your valuable teaching for us. 15
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@sowatyaالعام الماضيYou are literally my go to go favorite grammar lecturer during my prep for an english exam. Thank you sir. 1
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@mani67669منذ 4 سنواتVery well explained and excited to know usage of articles shown in the exercises online. Thanks. 16
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@Pixindesignمنذ 3 سنواتYou know how to teach and make somebody understand any thing like English. I am so happy. Pls make more video, don't give up making video
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@danwilliams3040منذ 5 سنواتGreat content, thank you for your knowledge. 14
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@lidyaimelda787منذ 4 سنواتI really enjoyed this lesson. Very clear pronounciation from you. 26
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@sulakshanasable3054منذ 3 سنواتThe mist important part about your teachings is after a interval of time. You ask questions or maybe we can say u take tests. That's so helpful to know how much we learned.. Thanku so much sir ❤️ 9
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@jitmanrai4952منذ 4 سنواتThis lesson is the best lesson on the use of definite article and indefinite articles. I being an english teacher myself is really inspired by his lesson id="hidden15" class="buttons"> on the use of articles and have taken his advice seriously to come up lesson on editing sentences. ....وسعت23
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@maryl9102منذ 3 سنواتGreat lesson. I have taught beginning ESL for years and find myself now teaching advanced ESL writing students. I did not know how to explain some of this id="hidden16" class="buttons"> but I am getting advanced students that are confused about this. Thanks so much for the lesson and for including the exercises. I know my students will be excited in class tomorrow! ....وسعت4
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@x-rays8800منذ 5 سنواتBefore watching this video, I had watched many other videos on the articles, and I was feeling uncomfortable with the use of articles. However, Your video id="hidden17" class="buttons"> has lowered my confusion, and I believe that now I can write in English language with a few or no article mistakes. Thanks a lot for your valuable efforts, and I do not know that how I should express gratitude towards yours help. Again thanks a lot. May God bless you. ....وسعت33
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@sahildu7036منذ 5 سنواتSir your pronounciation is very clear . After watching your videos I feel very confident . My mom also noticed that my vocabulary became improve. Thank u sir for your lessons. 2
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@joydad9656منذ 2 سنواتVery good explanation sir thank you so much 6
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@junimemمنذ 3 سنواتThis is the best explanation of article I ever had. In fact all your videos are extraordinary. Keep ti up. 1
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@shwetamadhre4324منذ 3 سنواتI'll watch again to inculcate the pure concept . Thankyou so much for your efforts 1
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@rajibnath9355منذ 4 سنواتsir, I deeply impressed on your teaching 11
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@mohamedrizwan8338منذ 2 سنواتI found out all the articles in the exercise correctly except one.. Thanks for the classes with simple and clear explanation along with examples.
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@sabirshah3837منذ 4 سنواتSalute to the easy way you teach a lesson or describe a situation: smooth language, to the point, clear pronunciation, and use of simple vocabulary. All id="hidden19" class="buttons"> very good from a learner's viewpoint. I am kind of hooked to your lessons, indeed, exploring the video available on youtube. Thank you, sir. I don’t know if you still check your videos and answer questions being asked, I will try my luck. I mean in the final exercise (first item) we are not using an article before ”chicken” or ”fish”, although these are countable and single nouns. Why not? Thanking you in anticipation! ....وسعت1
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@muazmussa7821منذ 2 سنواتyou are the best teacher I have ever known. I would like to thank you for Your lesson which is a treasure
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@roseladdu5808منذ 6 سنواتI remembered my school days..when am listening ur class..thank you sir.. 11
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@melis.j.منذ 3 سنواتYour English pronunciation is perfect and teaching is very understandable. Thank you.
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@Tareladiduagmailcomمنذ 3 سنواتLove this explanation so much. I feel bless to find this channel in Youtube.
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@aarohisdesk9642منذ 3 سنواتThank you sir, your explanation was really good. I loved it, and understood all the rules {where to use "a" "an" and "the"} id="hidden20" class="buttons"> Thank you srir, you are the best teacher. I have suggested my friends to watch your lessons and get all doubts cleared only in 1 video. THANK YOU SIR. ....وسعت1
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@biplabhazra3386منذ 4 سنواتVery nice lesson, thank you very much for making such an important and informative class. I am respectful to you. 1
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@jennylu5505قبل 5 أشهرHe is the best teacher .from now on I will follow his video.Thank you so much Teacher Ganesh.
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@ritikarajpoot8183منذ 7 سنواتvery nice and effectively lecture,very clearly explain the rules of a,an, the..thank u sir 15
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@user-kb7xw2zo4cمنذ 3 سنواتThank you so much for saving my life.! My grammar sucks, especially articles! Your video is super helpful and easy to understand 1
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@rajianu6525منذ 2 سنواتBrilliant Explanation.Thank you so much sir.
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@pradeepmankar373منذ 4 سنواتAbsolutely fantastic way of teaching. I am an English teacher and the articles are not so easy to teach I know. But the way you explained will surely help me to deal with my students with ease. 6
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@anjalilothe6229منذ 3 سنواتThank you so much, sir. You are an excellent teacher. you are clear all doubt about the articles.
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@dursunozturk3776منذ 4 سنواتI always have trouble using articles . You are an excellent. Thank you 3
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@SanjeevNiraulaمنذ 4 سنواتA well explained video covering all the aspects of articles. I have been teaching English and found this video very useful. 9
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@Rekha-rq3peمنذ 2 سنواتThanks sir, you are superb. You are great I love your teaching style 1
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@raqali6444منذ 7 سنواتThank you alot Teacher for your effort to teach the others. .. 66
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@Anuja12345منذ 4 سنواتSuch a wonderful Video, Thank you so much!!! 1
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@noellanapolean239منذ 3 سنواتCommendable explanation! Thanks a ton Sir!
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@kashafbashir9794منذ 4 سنواتBefore watching this video I had watched many video on article but all videos create confusion but this video clear anything ..thank you sir 1
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@mohamedyahaya9811منذ 3 سنواتThank you very much teacher, I really appreciate the lesson because I had some problems about how to use a, an and the, now I understood and I will be able to use them in the future.
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@look_around2107منذ 5 سنواتYou are a good teacher,respect from the deep of my heart. 108
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@haneefmustafa1600منذ 4 سنواتThank you so much! It is very helpful. 1
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@Wolfgang-0125منذ 4 سنواتThank you so much for this lesson it helps me out alot. 1
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@speakenglishnow1417منذ 2 سنواتOne of the fabulous explanations I have ever witnessed.
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@Prashanteeyمنذ 3 سنواتHow clearly he explained everything. Thankyou.
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@TahirKhan-xe4ljمنذ 4 سنواتHello sir, I just love the way you teach. Something important in your videos is the best content.
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@tariqulislam2803منذ 4 سنواتstunning job. I really love your lectures. You are amazing.
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@drsamraanwar6622منذ 4 سنواتImpressive way of teaching. God bless you .
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@sateeshchakravarthy6280منذ 3 سنواتSir thank you so much. I really grateful to you and to your class. Thank you once again 1
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@sureshrameshdilipمنذ 7 سنواتreally good explanation. The way you teach us is really fabulous. one doubt! what about sides(east, west, etc.) 46
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@mehuladhyaru5093منذ 4 سنواتThank you sir this brilliant explaination you are the genuis of the grammar 1
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@clalmuanpuia794العام الماضيi have never come across an explanation about the articles as clear as you have explained
Related videos for Articles (a, an, the) - Lesson 1 - 7 Rules For Using Articles Correctly - English Grammar:
➜ 1 Simple Trick to Become FLUENT in English:
➜ 50 Words You are Pronouncing WRONG:
➜ Most Common MISTAKES in English & How to Avoid Them:
➜ POWER Writing - Write ANYTHING in English Easily (Essays, Emails, Letters Etc.):
➜ 100 English Sentences You Can Use in Conversation:
➜ Learn TELEPHONE English - 100 Sentences You Can Use on the Phone:
➜ Speak English FLUENTLY like a NATIVE SPEAKER with just 10 words:
➜ All GRAMMAR lessons:
➜ All MODAL VERBS Lessons (Could, Would, Should, May, Might, Must etc.):
➜ All PARTS OF SPEECH lessons:
➜ All ARTICLES (a, an, the) lessons:
➜ All PRONUNCIATION lessons:
➜ All TENSES lessons: ....وسعت 579
Rule #1 (i) Use a before consonant sounds
(ii) Use an before vowel sounds
/> Rule #2 Use a or an only with countable nouns
Rule #3 (i) Use a or an to talk about a person or thing inknown to your listener
(ii) Use the to talk about a person or thing known to your listener
Rule #4 Use a or an to talk about nonspecific things or people
Rule #5 Use a or an to mention the category or type of a person or thing
Rule #6 Generalize with plurals or uncountable nouns with no article
Rule #7 Use no articles in this situations
(i) proper nouns - names of peoples, pleaces
(ii) names of games, languages
(iii) fixed expressions ....وسعت 111
Thanks 2
Thankyou 11
Pls make more video, don't give up making video
That's so helpful to know how much we learned..
Thanku so much sir ❤️ 9
I don’t know if you still check your videos and answer questions being asked, I will try my luck. I mean in the final exercise (first item) we are not using an article before ”chicken” or ”fish”, although these are countable and single nouns. Why not? Thanking you in anticipation! ....وسعت 1
Thank you srir, you are the best teacher. I have suggested my friends to watch your lessons and get all doubts cleared only in 1 video. THANK YOU SIR. ....وسعت 1
I love your teaching style 1
I just love the way you teach. Something important in your videos is the best content.