SEMINAR 3 -- ARTICLES with COMMON NOUNS

   

   QUESTIONS  (to answer after you have studied the seminar handout carefully)

    1. Generic reference - the following example is wrong. Explain why and rephrase the sentence
       in 3 possible ways:

   

                Mobile phone has become an inseparable part of modern life.

   

   

    2. Give examples of your own (in sentences) where `a' expresses:

   a) quantity

   b) price

   c) distance

   d) frequency

   

              

    3. Compare the use of `a' and `the' in the following sentences. What's the difference in
       meaning:

   

   a) A house on the corner is for sale.

   b) The house on the corner is for sale.

   

   

    4. Some exclamatory sentences contain `a', others don't. Give examples.

   

   

    5. What are the rules for using articles (a / an) with illnesses? Give examples:

   

   

    6. Sometimes the definite reference is derived from `immediate situation'. Give an example
       and explain what is extralinguistic context:

   

   

    7. Explain the difference between anaphoric and cataphoric reference, give examples to
       support your explanation:

   

   

    8. Explain the usage of articles in the following sentence:

   

   When she tried to open the front door, she couldn't get the key into the lock.

   

   

    9. `Meals' are not used with articles, but not always. In what context can we say `a dinner'
       and `the dinner'? Give examples:

   

   

   10. Explain why we say:

   

   a) Her children go to school.         but    b) Their mother went to the school to meet.

                                                                            the headmaster.

   

             Which other nouns are like `school'?

   

   11. Do we use articles with various means of transport? Give examples.

   

     

          12. Give examples of the so-called `parallel structures':