Article

Usually the grammatical errors I made in my writings are about the "a", "an" and "the". It was confusing to me when or when not to use them. Therefore, I did some study on article and summarized some notes.

First, I would like to talk about the definition of article. It is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.

There are generally 2 types of articles.

definite article: The

The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is particular or specific. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group.

Indefinite Articles: a and an

A and an signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. These indefinite articles are used with singular nouns when the noun is general; the corresponding indefinite quantity word some is used for plural general nouns.

For me, the indefinite articles I can use correctly. However, sometimes I am confused about the usage of the.

Thus, I list down when and when not to use the:

not used with noncountable nouns referring to something in a general sense:

[no article] Coffee is a popular drink.
[no article] Japanese was his native language.
[no article] Intelligence is difficult to quantify.

is used when a noun refers to something unique:

the White House
the theory of relativity
the 1999 federal budget

Do not use the before:

• names of countries (Italy, Mexico, Bolivia) except the Netherlands and the US
• names of cities, towns, or states (Seoul, Manitoba, Miami)
• names of streets (Washington Blvd., Main St.)
• names of lakes and bays (Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie) except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes
• names of mountains (Mount Everest, Mount Fuji) except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn
• names of continents (Asia, Europe)
• names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands

Do use the before:

• names of rivers, oceans and seas (the Nile, the Pacific)
• points on the globe (the Equator, the North Pole)
• geographical areas (the Middle East, the West)
• deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas (the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula)

The following is an exercise that i have done.

1. I want __an__ apple from that basket.

2. __The__ church on the corner is progressive.

3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese.

4. I borrowed __a__ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.

5. One of the students said, "__The__ professor is late today."

6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball.

7. I bought __an__ umbrella to go out in the rain.

8. My daughter is learning to play __the__ violin at her school.

9. Please give me __the__ cake that is on the counter.

10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town.

11. Albany is the capital of ____ New York State.

12. My husband's family speaks ____ Polish.

13. __An__ apple a day keeps the doctor away.

14. __The__ ink in my pen is red.

15. Our neighbors have __a__ cat and __a__ dog.

A fad, fashion, or activity of your generation that drives an older generation crazy

Our parents had not played cyber-games in their adolescent years. Thus, most of them could not understand why we teenagers are crazy in it. However, they are indeed driven crazy by it. This is possibly because we spend excessive time on cyber-gaming until we do not have time for study, exercise or even sleep. Parents always want the best of us. They simply have a few expectations for every child: study hard, live healthy and respect the parents. However, many of us cannot meet the basic expectations from our parents due to the addiction in cyber-gaming. Nowadays many teenagers tend to lock their themselves in their own rooms to play computers day and night. They do not want to study and exercise. Sometimes they even forget to eat. Their second life in the online community seem more important than their real life. Parents are very upset because their expectations could not be met. Furthermore, many parents even feel they could not communicate with their children since they could not have a common understanding at all. As a result, cyber-gaming leads to deterioration of family relationship, unhealthy lifestyle and lower literacy.