One of the most common grammar mistakes is the misuse of articles. Articles can be divided into two groups. One is definite article, the, and the other is indefinite, a and an. One type of mistake is using the wrong article. For instance, “I am the student”. The sentence is wrong because here student only refers to a general concept of job. Thus the correct one should be “I am a student”. Another type of mistake is misusing a and an. an is only used before vowel sounds. Take note that it is vowel sounds but not vowel letters. For instance, the two correct sentences should be “It is an unusual book” and “The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning”, though both articles are before letter u. The other one is omission of articles, or called zero article. Articles are not added before names of nationalities, sports and academic subjects. However, some phrases need articles. For example, when we talk about playing a specific musical instrument, the should be used before the noun.
Here is an exercise for article use.
Fill in the blanks with a, an, the or zero article.
Japan will have to prepare for its eventual destiny as ____”10-percent country” compared to China – one-tenth its size, one-tenth its economy and one-tenth its influence, says management consultant Kenichi Ohmae.
He said yesterday this could happen in just 10 to 20 years’ time, as China was now making its rise to economic dominance in _____region.
It was ____ unstoppable development, he added, given China’s new economic structure and _____inexhaustible people.
He noted, however, that most Japanese he spoke to had difficulty accepting ____ idea of Japan becoming ____ “peripheral country” to China.
What Japan risks by denying ____ trend is to lose out even to other Asian economies which have no qualms at all about utilizing ____ Chinese hinterland to maintain their economic competitiveness.
He added it was critical that ____ Japanese be able to shed their psychological baggage, such as their view of themselves as belonging to _____ world’s second largest economy, so that they can move forward.
He slammed ____ Japanese leaders for looking away from ____ crisis ____ country is facing and propping up ____ economy by keeping people in uncompetitive industries using _____ taxpayers’ money.
3 条评论:
Yep. Short, simple, and straight to the point. It would be better if you use the inverted commas to separate "a", "an" and "the" from the main sentence. Feels kind of weird without the inverted commas. Clear organistion I see here. A bit short in length of paragraph though. Thanks. By the way... where is the conclusion?
You have written a short summary of how definite and indefinite articles should be used. The ideas are rather clear to me. However, i do not quite understand the part where the student is been viewed as a general concept of job. Also, there are some minor grammatical errors.
The usage of article is a big problem to tackle with, especially when it comes to the zero articles. The words are simple and easy to understand;however,I am also confused with the part of general concepts......
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