From last lesson, at speed
Six sentences. One article problem each.
1. The people trust the media less than they used to.
2. The consumer expects more. — several million different people
3. She works in the journalism.
4. A newspaper is closing all over the country. — you mean the industry
5. The trust has fallen sharply since 2016.
6. Broadcast interview is a nineteenth-century form.
What each pattern claims
Three patterns, one route, and a short list
The three generic patterns are not degrees of formality. They make different claims. Zero plus plural — tigers are endangered — is a statement about the members: this is true of them, taken together. The plus singular — the tiger is endangered — is a statement about the type: the species, treated as a single thing with a history and a future. A plus singular — a tiger is a dangerous animal — is a statement about what counts as one: it defines membership.
Two constraints on the second pattern are worth having. It will not take a predicate that is only true of individuals — the tiger is endangered works and the tiger ate my chicken does not, unless you mean one animal, in which case it is not generic at all. And it will not take nationalities: the Brazilian likes football is impossible. Nationalities generalise with zero plus plural — Brazilians like football — except for a small set of adjectives that take the and no noun at all: the French, the Dutch, the British, the Portuguese.
Abstract nouns look like a separate topic and are not one. Life is hard takes nothing. The life of a translator is hard takes the — and the reason is exactly the fourth route from Unit 23: the words after the noun make it unique. Nothing new is happening. What makes it feel like an exception is that Portuguese puts a definite article on the bare form as well, so the contrast has to be learned rather than felt.
And then there is a list, and it is honest to call it one. In hospital against in the hospital is a difference between British and American English, not a rule. Play the piano against play football has no explanation worth learning. On television but on the radio. This part is memorisation, it is the only part of the article system that is, and it is short.
Three questions.
1. What does a tiger is a dangerous animal claim?
2. Why is the life of a translator not an exception?
3. What is the honest status of in hospital against in the hospital?
The system, and the list
The three generic patterns
| Pattern | What it claims | What it will not take |
|---|---|---|
| Zero + plural Tigers are endangered. | A statement about the members, taken together. The neutral default and the commonest pattern in English. | Nothing much. This is the safe one when you are unsure. |
| The + singular The tiger is endangered. | A statement about the type: a species, a form, an instrument, an invention, an institution. | Predicates true only of individuals ( |
| A + singular A tiger is a dangerous animal. | A statement about what counts as a member — a definition. | Predicates about the class as a whole ( |
| The + adjective, no noun The French · the British · the unemployed | A small closed set: certain nationality adjectives, and adjectives naming social groups. | Most nationalities. Brazilians, not |
Abstract nouns — one route, not a rule
| Bare | Post-modified | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Life is hard. | The life of a translator is hard. | The words after the noun make it unique. |
| Trust has fallen. | The trust between them never recovered. | Same route: between them identifies which trust. |
| History repeats itself. | The history of the paper is unusual. | Same route again. |
| Time is short. | The time it takes is the problem. | A relative clause identifies as well as a phrase does. |
And the list. It is short, and it is a list.
Institutions, used for their purpose — no article. go to school · go to university · in hospital · in prison · at work · in bed · at home · at sea. As buildings, they take one: I went to the school to collect a form.
Transport — no article. by car · by train · by bus · on foot. But in the car, on the train, once you are inside a particular one.
Media — irregular, and worth memorising as a block. on television · on the radio · in the paper · on the internet · on social media · in the news · the media · the press.
Instruments and sports. play the piano, play football. There is no reason.
Meals. have lunch, but the lunch we had on Friday.
Note in hospital (British) against in the hospital (American). Pick one variety and be consistent; examiners accept either and penalise mixing.
Rewrite each sentence using the word given, keeping the meaning the same.
Tigers are endangered. (say it about the species, as a type) THE
People trust journalists less than they used to. TRUST
A translator has a hard life. LIFE
She is being treated as a patient and will be there for a week. (British English) HOSPITAL
He drove there rather than taking the train. CAR
She can play piano and she plays football on Sundays. THE
It is common for Brazilians to watch a great deal of television. TEND
Every newspaper is a business before it is anything else. A
Five questions.
1. Which generic will not take ate my chicken?
2. Which is correct?
3. In British English, a patient staying overnight is…
4. She plays ___ piano and ___ football.
5. Why does the life of a translator take the?
A week of decisions
Eight gaps. Some want an article and some want none.
My grandmother read every morning for sixty-one years, and she read it in order, which almost nobody does. She could tell you what was on page four.She had no interest in at all and thought it made people shout. She listened to instead, at a volume that could be heard from the garden.When she went for the last time she asked for the paper to be brought in, and somebody had to explain that had stopped delivering to that ward. is a form built for somebody with a table and forty minutes. She had both, every day, for six decades. who read it that way are almost all gone, and the ones who have replaced them are not reading badly — they are reading something else, on , for four minutes at a time.
One word per gap, and every gap needs one: a, an or the.
She has been subscriber since 1974.
article she wrote about the inquiry won a prize.
He is editor at a small local paper.
She is editor, and has the final say on everything.
It took hour to agree on the headline.
press was excluded from the second half of the meeting.
history of that paper has never been written.
She gave honest answer, which surprised everybody.
Three versions of one claim
Task card · Speaking · Pairs · 8 minutes
Three claims each about media, technology or reading — things you would actually say if somebody asked.
Say each one three times, once with each generic pattern, and decide which is honest.
- Version 1: zero plus plural. Newspapers are…
- Version 2: the plus singular. The newspaper is… Say whether the class genuinely behaves as a type.
- Version 3: a plus singular. A newspaper is… This one only works if you are defining membership, so most of your claims will refuse it.
- Then choose, and say why. Your partner asks one question of any the plus singular version: is this a type, or is it a lot of people?
Which pattern held
Two questions.
1. How many of your claims worked with a plus singular?
2. When your partner asked type or people?, what happened?
System, then list
Two questions. Twenty seconds.
1. Why do abstract nouns take the when post-modified?
2. Which part of the article system is genuinely a list?
Next. Your own writing, put through a two-pass routine that catches article errors without reading for meaning — because reading for meaning is exactly what hides them.