Articles – ( Artigos )

Articles – ( Artigos )

Definite article ( Artigo definido )

Existe apenas uma forma para o artigo definido : THE , o mesmo pode ser usado para o masculino ou feminino, singular ou plural: o, a, os ,as

Usos:

1. Antes de substantivos no singular ou no plural, quando se quer expressar seu sentido único e específico.

Ex. -    The conflict between men and women.... (O conflito entre homens e mulheres)

-          She drank the water of this glass ( Ela bebeu a água deste copo)

-          The United States, The black Sea, The Sixties, The Kennedys. ( Os Estados Unidos, O mar Negro, Os anos Sessenta, Os Kennedys)

2. Antes de formas superlativas e nas expressões the first, the last, the only, the movies, the theater.

Ex -    He is the most aggressive person that I know. ( Ele é a pessoas mais   agressiva     que  eu conheço)

-          I doubt it was the first time she’d seen me.( Eu duvido que era a primeira vez que ela tinha me visto)

-          You’re the only one she trusts.( Você é o único em quem ela confia)

Articles in English are invariable. That is, they do not change according to the gender or number of the noun they refer to, e.g. the boy, the woman, the children

'The' is used:

1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned.

An elephant and a mouse fell in love.

The mouse loved the elephant's long trunk,
and the elephant loved the mouse's tiny nose.

2. when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not been mentioned before.

'Where's the bathroom?'
'It's on the first floor.'

3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object:

The man who wrote this book is famous.
'Which car did you scratch?' 'The red one.
My house is the one with a blue door.'

4. to refer to objects we regard as unique:

the sun, the moon, the world

5. before superlatives and ordinal numbers: (see Adjectives)

the highest building, the first page, the last chapter.

6. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people:

the Japanese (List of nationalities in English), the old

7. with names of geographical areas and oceans:

the Caribbean, the Sahara, the Atlantic

8. with decades, or groups of years:

she grew up in the seventies

Não use:

1.      Antes de substantivos no singular ou no plural tomados em sentido genérico ou global.

Ex.  -    Love and hate are very close. ( Amor e ódio são muito íntimos)

       -    Honey is good for your health ( Mel é bom para sua saúde)

2.      Antes de nomes de pessoas ou países (nomes próprios) no singular.

Ex.  -   Pedro likes blond women ( Pedro gosta de mulheres loiras)

       -   We went to Brazil just to see Cristina. ( Nós fomos ao Brasil só pra ver Cristina)

           Germany is an important economic power. ( Alemanha é um importante economia)

           He's just returned from Zimbabwe. ( Ele acabou de chegar do Zimbague)

          (But: I'm visiting the United States next week. - mas: Vou visitar os Estados Unidos na próxima semana)

3.      Antes de pronomes ou adjetivos possessivos.

Ex.  -  Your words insulted her ( Suas palavras a ofenderam )

       -  Carla is a friend of our boss ( Carla é amiga de nosso patrão) 

           4. com nomes de línguas 

• French is spoken in Tahiti. ( Francês é falado no Taití)
  English uses many words of Latin origin.  ( Inglês usa muitas palavras originárias do latim)
  Indonesian is a relatively new language. ( Indonésio é uma língua relativamente nova)

• with the names of meals.
  Lunch is at midday.
  Dinner is in the evening.
  Breakfast is the first meal of the day.

• with people's names (if singular):
  John's coming to the party.
  George King is my uncle.
  (But: we're having lunch with the Morgans tomorrow.)

• with titles and names:
  Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth's son.
  President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
  Dr. Watson was Sherlock Holmes' friend.
  (But: the Queen of England, the Pope.)

• After the 's possessive case:
  His brother's car.
  Peter's house.

• with professions:
  Engineering is a useful career.
  He'll probably go into medicine.

• with names of shops:
  I'll get the card at Smith's.
  Can you go to Boots for me?

• with years:
  1948 was a wonderful year.
  Do you remember 1995?

• With uncountable nouns:
  Rice is the main food in Asia.
  Milk is often added to tea in England.
  War is destructive.

• with the names of individual mountains, lakes and islands:
  Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in Alaska.
  She lives near Lake Windermere.
  Have you visited Long Island?

• with most names of towns, streets, stations and airports:
  Victoria Station is in the centre of London.
  Can you direct me to Bond Street?
  She lives in Florence.
  They're flying from Heathrow.

• in some fixed expressions, for example:
• by car
• by train
• by air
• on foot
• on holiday
• on air (in broadcasting)
• at school
• at work
• at University
• in church
• in prison
• in bed

Indefinite Articles (Artigos indefinidos)

Existem duas formas de artigo indefinido em inglês: A e AN. Na maioria  das vezes, eles são utilizados com nomes contáveis, no singular. A é usado antes de palavras que começam com consoantes,An, antes de palavras iniciadas por vogal:

Ex. A book (um livro)

       An interesting  book ( um livro interessante)

       An idea ( uma idéia )

       A good idea ( uma boa idéia )

            No entanto, devemos tomar cuidado com o fato de que é o som, e não a letra, que determina a escolha de A ou AN. Em certas palavras, o h inicial é mudo; por esse motivo, usa-se An:

       An hour (uma hora)

       An  honour ( uma honra)

            Já em outras palavras, o u inicial tem a pronúncia /yuu/ , isto é. De uma aconsoante, exigindo o uso de A:

       A university (uma universidaade)

        A useless book (um livro inútil)


A / AN

Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels),
'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u)


Examples

• A boy
• An apple
• A car
• An orange
• A house
• An opera

NOTE:
An before an h mute - an hour, an honour.
A before u and eu when they sound like 'you': a european, a university, a unit

The indefinite article is used:

• to refer to something for the first time:An elephant and a mouse fell in love.
  Would you like a drink?
  I've finally got a good job.
• to refer to a particular member of a group or class
• Examples

• with names of jobs:
  John is a doctor.
  Mary is training to be an engineer.
  He wants to be a dancer.
• with nationalities and religions:
  John is an Englishman.
  Kate is a Catholic.
• with musical instruments:
  Sherlock Holmes was playing a violin when the visitor arrived.
  (BUT to describe the activity we say "He plays the violin.")
• with names of days:
  I was born on a Thursday
• to refer to a kind of, or example of something:
  the mouse had a tiny nose
  the elephant had a long trunk
  it was a very strange car
• with singular nouns, after the words 'what' and 'such':
  What a shame!
  She's such a beautiful girl.
• meaning 'one', referring to a single object or person:
  I'd like an orange and two lemons please.
  The burglar took a diamond necklace and a valuable painting.

Notice also that we usually say a hundred, a thousand, a million.

NOTE: that we use 'one' to add emphasis or to contrast with other numbers: 

I don't know one person who likes eating elephant meat.

We've got six computers but only one printer.