ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Articles ...

Yoong Liat — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:51:06 GMT

The Graduate

Thank you very mcuh dear, actually you raised a good point that I have not heared about before now. I believe your new point will help me to understand the use of articles much better

much heard

Re: Articles ...

The Graduate — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:38:33 GMT

Thank you very mcuh dear, actually you raised a good point that I have not heared about before now. I believe your new point will help me to understand the use of articles much better

Re: Articles ...

Cool Breeze — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:48:16 GMT

I'll butt in, Graduate, if you don't mind. You are referring to a period of time, and what's even more important, there is an adjective before time. Adjectival attributes often influence the use and choice of articles. There are numerous expressions in which a is used because of an adjective. Some examples:

He spent a long time in hospital. But: I need time to think about it.
Birds were flying in a blue sky. But: Birds were flying in the sky.
I had an early lunch. But: I had lunch.

Re: Articles ...

The Graduate — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:36:02 GMT

Thank you very mcuh Mister Micawber for your reply. but I am still confused about your answer to the second example, it has been a long time since I posted something here, I know that time can be both countable and uncountable depending on the context. in this example, I believe time is uncountable, please correct me if I am wrong.

Re: Articles ...

Mister Micawber — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:30:43 GMT

.
These are correct:

- You need to sit down with (a) pen and (a) paper in order to write your essay. -- They are singular countable nouns, but 'pen and paper' is also idiomatic.
- It has been a long time since I posted something here.
- I went to the stock market last night.
- It seems that history repeats itself.

Articles ...

The Graduate — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:22:37 GMT

Good day everyone,

It has been long time since I posted something here.

My question is; sometimes I feel that it is difficult to decide on whether to use articles or not, please take a look at the following examples:

- You need to sit down with (a) pen and (a) paper in order to write your essay.

- It has been (a) long time since I posted something here.

- I went to (the) stock market last night.

- It seems that (the) history repeats itself.

I know there are general rules for using articles, I went through them and could not apply them to the above examples. I may need help from somebody who is really good in this area

Thank You Very Much In Advance!