字神帝國英語天地

一、基本規律 (Basic rules)

1.Indefinite article (不定冠詞)

我們用 "a , an "當我們不知道他是諸多人或事中的哪一個：

* is one of many. ( 是許多個中的一個)

He is an artist.(=there are many artists)

* is not unique. (不是唯一的)

I have just bought a book

* has not been mentioned before. (之前沒有提到過)

There was a new student in class today.

2.Definite article (定冠詞)

我們用 "the "當我們知道他是諸多人或事中的哪一個：

* is unique (or unique in that context) (是唯一的)

The Australian Prime Minister. (=there is only one)

I looked inside, the engine was in a terrible state. (=there is only one engine, in this case)

* has been mentioned before. (之前提到過)

The man gave me a ticket. I looked at it, and saw that the ticket was a single.

* is defined by the phrase which follows it. (要被接下來的短語詳細說明)

What is the new student's name?

3. No articles (無冠詞)

我們不用冠詞當我們普遍地提及事物的時候：

* using plural or uncountable nouns (在使用複數或不可數名詞時)

Do you like sport?

* with the names of people or places, but there are many exceptions (人名和地名的時候不用冠詞，但是地名有許多例外，下文一一介紹)

He is Professor Jones

4. Fixed phrases ( 固定短語)

有許多固定搭配需要用或者不用冠詞，我們應該來單獨學習，他們包括：

a few/at home/at work/at the beginning/at the end/go to bed/go to the cinemas,shops,station/in the world/once a week/sixty kilometres an hour/the next/the other the other day/the same

二、 經常發生問題的區域 (Areas that often cause problems)

1.Jobs (工作)如果有許多人做這個工作我們用 a 或 an

My husband is an architect. (=there are many architects)

但是如果一個工作特別對應一個人，我們就要用“the”了：

He is having talks with the French foreign minister(外交部長). (=there is only one)

2.Superlative (最高級)

我們使用“the”在形容詞最高級前面：

She is the best person for the job.

3.Last and next

有一些形容詞如 “last” 和 “next ”同時可以用也可以不用定冠詞“the”但是句意會發生變化

I saw James last night. (=the one before this one)

It is the last night of our holiday. (=the fanal one)

I will see you next week.(=the one after this one)

4. Institutions: school, prison, university, church, home, hospital和以上機構連用時我們不用定冠詞“the”

My sister had to stay in hospital overnight.

然而，如果我們指的是這個建築，我們就要用“the”

Our flat is opposite the hospital.

三 在表示時間和地點的短語中用或不用定冠詞 (phrases of time and place)

1.Phrases of time 有些時間短語必須用“the”

Dates: the 25th of December / December the 25th

Parts of the day: in the afternoon, in the evening, in the morning ( but at night, at lunchtime)

Decades or Centuries: the 1980s, the 21st century

另外一些時間短語不用“the”

Years or Seasons: in 2002, in summer

Months or Days: in August, on Friday, see you tomorrow

2.Place names

國家，大洲，島嶼，洲，省，城市前不加“the”(countries, continents, islands, states, provinces, town, cities)in Asia, to Sydney from Texas in Turkey in Britain in America

例外情況：the Netherlands, the UK, the USA, the Arab World (可以發現國家名作為縮寫的話要加“the”)

如果我們指的是一個地區(region)那麼我們不需要用“the”:North-west Inida, Northern Europe.

但是如果我們指的是對於一個地區的方位或方向就要加上“the”:in the east of the country, in the south of Italy, on the coast

大多數路，街，公園，橋樑，商店，酒店不用加“the”(raods, streets, parks, bridges, shops, restaurants):Central Park, Oxford Street, Tower Bridge

但是有命名的劇院，電影院，旅館，畫廊，博物館加“the”(names of theatres, cinemas, hotels, galleries, museums):the Hermitage, the National Theatre, the Odeon, the Ritz 特別的山和湖不加“the”

Lake Victoria, Mount Everest山脈，河流，海洋，運河要加“the”:the Atlantic, the Yangtze River, the Himalayas, the Panama Canal