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Natalli. Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Article (a/an, the)

Hi

Dear teachers, could anyone of you suggest me a link or a book where I can find exercises on Articles.

My students need more practice.

Thank you in advance

Regards

Nata
  

Top answer

From the point of view of current American usage, the general rule is that if you're a non-native speaker and you're in doubt about whether or not to use an article (any article, whether it be a, an, or the), put the article in, even if you make a grammatical error. In American usage, leaving an article out when it should be put in is a much more serious grammatical error than putting in an article where it should not be. ", really grates on American ears (this could almost be considered insulting to an American).

— Anonymous

  • From the point of view of current American usage, the general rule is that if you're a non-native speaker and you're in doubt about whether or not to use an article (any article, whether it be a, an, or the), put the article in, even if you make a grammatical error.
  • In American usage, leaving an article out when it should be put in is a much more serious grammatical error than putting in an article where it should not be.
  • ", really grates on American ears (this could almost be considered insulting to an American).
  • Leaving the article out here shows that the speaker has serious shortcomings in the language.
  • ", although it is grammatically incorrect, nevertheless doesn't seem as bad to American ears (Americans love their articles), because this shows that the speaker - although obviously still shaky in the language - has a better feel for the language and understands that in American speech articles are much beloved.
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8 Answers
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From the point of view of current American usage, the general rule is that if you're a non-native speaker and you're in doubt about whether or not to use an article (any article, whether it be a, an, or the), put the article in, even if you make a grammatical error. In American usage, leaving an article out when it should be put in is a much more serious grammatical error than putting in an art
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Natalli.Dear teachers, could anyone of you suggest me a link or a book where I can find exercises on Articles.
My students need more practice.
Have you tried using Google?

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Hi again CalifJim

Well, Emotion: big smile so easy..I had forgotten
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Hi Anon,

I agree with much of the advic eyou gave, but I'm surprised by this comment.

For example, saying, "I'm going to store.", instead of the correct, "I'm going to the store.", really grates on American ears (this could almost be considered insulting to an American).

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Clive, Americans love their articles, and for a non-native speaker to glaringly leave one out like this shows that the speaker apparently doesn't care much about articles, something that Americans dearly love, so this is almost as though the speaker doesn't like our language.
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Hi,

Thank you.

This surprises me. The few times I've been in the US in the company of a learner of English, I've found Americans very accepting of people who have imperfect English.

Clive
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Hi

I do agree with Clive. Although I have not been to America, I have the perception that people who have imperfect English are very well accepted by the native speakers. Finally, it is not easy to master a foreign language perfectly.

Regards

Nata
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I have to agree with Clive on this. Although it's true (as the original Anon stated) that leaving out articles where they're required "really grates on American ears" I certainly never considered it anything like an insult.
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