Teoria sobre el artículo

ARTICLES

Usamos THE cuando sólo hay una cosa de algo:
What is the longest river in the world?
I’m going away at the end of this month
Pero usamos a / an para decir qué clase de cosa es:
The sun is a star (one of many stars)
The hotel we stayed at was a very nice hotel
1. Decimos:
the sky the sea the ground the country the environment
We looked up at all thestars in the sky
Would you rather live in a town or in the country?
We must do more to protect the environment
2. Decimos ‘space’ no ‘the space’ cuando nos referimos a ‘space in the universe’:
There are millions of stars in space
I tried to park my car but the space was too small
3. Usamos THE antes de same: the same
Your pullover is the same colour as mine
These two photographsare the same
4. Decimos (go to) the cinema, the theatre sin que sea un teatro o cine en particular:
I often go to the cinema, but I haven’t been to the theatre for ages
5. Normalmente decimos the radio, pero television:
I often listen to the radio
I often watch television
We heard the news on the radio
We watched the news on television
Pero,
Can you turn off the television, please?(the TV set)
I’m going to buy a new radio / television
6. Normalmente no usamos artículo con los nombres de comidas (breakfast, lunch,etc.)
What did you have for breakfast?
We had lunch in a very nice restaurant
What time is dinner?
Pero usamos a si hay un adjetivo antes:
We had a very nice lunch
7. NO usamos the antes de un nombre seguido de número:
Our train leaves fromPlatform 5
Have you got these shoes in size 43?
Lo mismo con: Room 126, Page 29, Section A, etc.
8. School, prison, hospital, church – no usamos the cuando pensamos en una idea general de esos lugares y para qué se usan:
Ken’s son is in prison for robbery
Ken went to the prison to visit his brother
Jack had an accident last week. He was taken to hospital. He’s in hospital now(as a patient)
Jill has gone to the hospital to visit Jack. She’s at the hospital now (as a visitor)
When I leave school, I want to go to university
Excuse me, where is the university, please? (the building)
Mr. Kelly goes to church every Sunday (to a religious service)
The workmen went to the church to repair the roof

9. Bed, work, home
Decimos: go to bed / be in bed (no‘the bed’)
It’s time to go to bed now
This morning I had breakfast in bed
Pero,
I sat down on the bed (a particular piece of furniture)

Decimos: ‘go to work / be at work / start work, etc.’
Ann didn’t go to work yesterday
What time do you usually finish work?
Decimos: ‘go home / come home / arrive home / be at home, etc.’
It’s late. Let’s go home.
Will you be at hometomorrow afternoon?
Decimos: ‘go to sea / be at sea’
Keith is a seaman. He spends most of his life at sea
Pero,
I’d like to live near the sea
It can’t be dangerous to swim in the sea

_ Cuando hablamos de cosas o gente en general no usamos the:
I’m afraid of dogs
Doctors are paid more than teachers
Crime is a problem in most big cities
Do you often listen to classical music?_ Decimos: ‘most people / most books / most cars…’ (no ‘the most’)
Most people like George
_ Usamos the cuando nos referimos a gente o cosas en particular:
Children learn a lot from playing (children in general)
We took the children to the zoo
I often listen to music
The film wasn’t very good but I liked the music
All cars have wheels
All the cars in this car park belongto people who work here
Sugar isn’t good for you
Can you pass the sugar, please?

_ Usamos the + nombre contable singular para hablar de un tipo de animal, máquina, ect.:
When was the telephone invented?
The bicycle is an excellent means of transport
The giraffe is the tallest of all animals
The dollar is the currency of the USA
También ocurre lo mismo con instrumentos...