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A lot of English learners struggle with articles. There’s a lot of confusion about when you should use a/an and the. In a previous post, I explained which article to use when you have one of something. In this post, I explain another difference between the indefinite articles a / an and the definite article the.

A / an are indefinite articles. Use a / an when you are not talking about something specific:

The is the definite article. Use the when you are talking about something specific:

In conversation or in writing, when you introduce something for the first time, use a / an:

When you talk about the same thing again, use the. It is used when the speaker and the listener (or the writer and the reader) know exactly which thing you are talking about:

In the first sentence, I introduced the topic: a snow storm.

After I mentioned it in the first sentence, everyone knows what I am talking about.

In the second sentence I can say the storm because now everyone knows which storm I am talking about: the snow storm that is affecting the northeastern U.S.

Related Posts:
When NOT to use ‘the’

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A lot of English learners struggle with articles. There’s a lot of confusion about when you should use a/an and the. Let’s begin by looking at which article to use when you have one of something.

1. Whenever you are talking about one of something, it’s much more natural and more common to use a/an instead of saying one. You can replace one with a/an.

How long does it take you to get to work?
~ It takes about an hour. (instead of one hour)

I went shopping today! I bought a pair of pants and a new shirt!

My parents just bought a new house!

Does he have any pets?
~ Yes, he has a dog.

Does Mary have any children?
~ Yes, she has a boy and a girl!

Can I borrow a dollar?

*Remember that a/an are only used with singular, countable nouns!
X: I am looking for an information

2. If only one of something exists, then use the:

the sky
Look at all of the stars in the sky tonight!

the moon
In 1969, the United States was the first country to put a man on the moon.

the sun
The Earth revolves around the sun, while the moon revolves around the Earth

the United Nations
The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York City.

the government
The government has increased taxes again this year.
(*Usually there is only one government at a time, whether it is the government of a country, state, or city.)

Note some fixed expressions:

One of my friends is from Australia!
(*You can’t say ‘a of my friends…’)

…but you can say:

A friend of mine is from Australia!

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This is an English lesson designed to help you practice and improve your English listening and pronunciation skills. The listening lesson is a short story about something that happened in my life in Canada. There is also a short pronunciation explanation about a word or sound I used in the story.

Story: Winter in Canada!
Pronunciation explanation: How to pronounce ‘temperature’!

If you have trouble with your listening skills, here’s something that may help:
How to practice listening

Listen to the podcast:
*Try to listen at least once without looking at the words!

*music by Incompetech

Download the podcast in .mp3 from Podbean.com or itunes!

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. What was the temperature outside today?

2. How cold was it during the cold spell?

3. Do we have lots of snow now?

4. What do you need to put on to go outside when it’s cold?

5. What did I do to winterize my car?

Transcript:

(*The words in blue are links to other posts here on my blog. Click on the links to learn more about the grammar, vocabulary and expressions used in the story!)

It’s definitely winter now in this part of the world! It was -5º C today, which is a normal temperature for December. It’s only the first official month of winter, but we’ve already had a cold spell – a couple weeks ago it was -20º outside!

In November and early December I was worried that we wouldn’t have any snow for Christmas, but now we have lots of snow and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere for a while! It had snowed a few times early in the season, but the snow would melt as soon as it hit the ground or as soon as the sun came out.

We’re used to the cold and snow in Canada! The cold isn’t so bad once you put on a hat, scarf, gloves, warm socks, winter boots and layers of warm clothes underneath your winter coat. I don’t mind the cold! I think it makes us tough! In fact, I always find it funny when people from warm countries, like Australia, complain about the cold weather! I always tell people, it’s not cold until your nose hairs freeze together! The only thing I don’t like about the cold is that it lasts so long. We won’t see warm weather again until late March or early April.

It’s important to winterize my car now, too. I need to put snow tires on my car so that it doesn’t slip and slide on the icy roads. I park my car in the garage now instead of outside, so I don’t have to scrape the ice off the car or brush off the snow every time I want to go somewhere. Newer cars have an ingenious invention: seat warmers! Not only does the heating system heat up the inside of the car, [but] there’s also a heater in the seat, so your bum doesn’t get cold!

So, do you have a winter season in your country? What is winter like in your country?

Pronunciation:

English learners often struggle with the word temperature because there are some misleading letters! Like many words in English, the pronunciation does not match the spelling!

This word is only 3 syllables: /ˈtɛm.prə.tʃɚ/

The first syllable is easy: tem /tɛm/. This is the stressed syllable, so it’s said louder and longer than other syllables.

In the second syllable, forget the 2nd e in the word! It’s not /ˈtɛm.per-əˌtʃɚ/, it’s /ˈtɛm.prə.tʃuɚ/, so the second syllable is: pra / prə/

This occurs in a couple other words in English, where the vowel is ignored before an r, for example:
camera /ˈkæm.rə/ -or-
favourite /ˈfeɪv.rət/

The third syllable in temperature is pronounced: cher /tʃɚ/. Anytime the letters –ture are in a syllable at the end of a word, they are always pronounced ‘cher’ /tʃɚ/, for example:
future /ˈfju:.tʃɚ/
nature /ˈneɪ.tʃɚ/ -or-
picture /ˈpɪk.tʃɚ/

Now, put all three syllables together:
tɛm – prə – tʃɚ
/ˈtɛm.prə.tʃɚ/

Vocabulary:

-5ºC
= minus five degrees Celsius
When writing the temperature in English, it is not necessary to write out each word. ‘Degrees’ is represented by the º symbol, and ‘Celsius’ is represented by the C,
*In Canada, we use Celsius to measure temperature; in the U.S., they use Fahrenheit.

a cold spell
…we’ve already had a cold spell – a couple weeks ago it was -20 degrees outside!
= a short period of time of very cold temperatures
A spell = a short period of time of some continuous activity or a state

it’s not cold until your nose hairs freeze together
*Due to the moisture in your nose, if you go outside in extremely cold temperatures, the hairs in your nose freeze together or freeze to your skin!

to winterize (something – your car, your home)
It’s important to winterize my car now, too.
= to make sure your car or house is prepared for the effects of winter (temperatures below zero, ice, snow, etc.).

ingenious (adjective)
Newer cars have an ingenious invention: seat warmers!
= something smart/clever (in this case, a very clever invention)

This is an English lesson designed to help you practice and improve your English listening and pronunciation skills. The listening lesson is a short story about something that happened in my life in Canada. There is also a short pronunciation explanation about a word or sound I used in the story.

Story: A recent family reunion!
Pronunciation explanation: when the letters ‘t’ and ‘d’ are silent in a word!

If you have trouble with your listening skills, here’s something that may help:
How to practice listening

Listen to the podcast:
*Try to listen at least once without looking at the words!

*music by Incompetech

Download the podcast in .mp3 from Podbean.com or itunes!

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. Why does my family have a reunion in December?

2. Who passed away this year?

3. How many people came to the reunion?

4. What did we talk about at the reunion?

5. What happened after the party?

Transcript:

(*Click on the links to learn more about the grammar, vocabulary and expressions used in the story!)

I have a big extended family. I’m very lucky that both my parents came from big families, so I have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins who are married and have children of their own.

My maternal grandmother’s birthday was close to Christmas. She passed away 10 years ago, but her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren still gather every year in December for a family reunion to remember her. It’s the one time a year that I see many of my cousins. The family reunion this year was even more poignant because my uncle – my grandmother’s oldest child – passed away in October. He was 79.

At this year’s family reunion there were over 30 people in my house. The youngest person was 6 and the oldest was 78! It was a beautiful day. Outside it was snowing and everything was covered in white. Inside there were a lot of laughs and a lot of love. There was also a lot of food! Every family that came brought something to eat. We shared memories of my grandmother and of my uncle, and we caught up on what had happened in each other’s lives over the past year.

After the party, my parents and I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up. It took 3 dishwasher loads to clean up all the glasses and dishes! There were a lot of empty beer and wine bottles, too. My goodness my family drinks a lot! Two days after the party we’re still eating leftovers!

I look forward to next year’s reunion.

Pronunciation:

In English, particularly American English, there are a lot of words with silent letters. In the story, I talked about my grandmother.

Can you hear the ‘d’ in ‘grandmother’?

Can you hear the ‘t’ in 78 or 79?

In ‘grandmother’ and ‘seventy,’ the ‘t’ and ‘d’ come after the letter ‘n.’

To make the ‘n’ sound, your tongue is pressed to the top of your mouth: /n/

The ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds have the same mouth position. Both sounds begin with the tip of the tongue moving up to touch the top of your mouth – the same tongue position as the ‘n’ sound.

So, instead of raising your tongue up for the ‘n’ sound, and then again for the ‘t’ or ‘d’ sounds, just leave the tongue up and forget about the ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds!

Listen again:
Grandmother
78
79

The silent ‘t’ and ‘d’ often occur when people are speaking quickly. Listen to some more examples:

I have a dentist appointment on Thursday.
(Did you hear the word ‘dentist’? When I said it quickly, I said ‘dentist.’)

You can find the information on the internet.
(Did you hear the word ‘internet’? When I said it quickly, I said ‘internet.’)

The Christmas party will be at the community centre.
(Did you hear the word ‘centre’? When I said it quickly, I said ‘centre.’)

Vocabulary:

an extended family
I have a big extended family.
= grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.; your ‘immediate family’ is your parents and siblings, or your husband/wife and children.

maternal (adjective)
My maternal grandmother’s birthday was close to Christmas.
= used to talk about your mother’s side of the family

great-grandchildren
…her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren still gather every year in December …
= the adjective ‘great-‘ is added to any generation after grandparents/grandchildren (great-grandmother, great-grandfather, etc.)

a family reunion
…her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren still gather every year in December for a family reunion to remember her.
= a party/event where family members who haven’t seen each other for a long time spend time together

poignant (adjective)
The family reunion this year was even more poignant because my uncle – my grandmother’s oldest child – passed away in October.
= something that causes a strong, sharp feeling of sadness

leftovers
Two days after the party we’re still eating leftovers!
= food leftover from the previous day; there was a lot of food at the reunion but not all of it was eaten at the party.

Are you looking for the perfect gift for your friend or family member? How about English lessons?! Give someone a gift certificate for lessons with English Teacher Melanie!

What is a gift certificate?

You buy one or more English lessons for someone. You pay me for the lessons. I send you the above gift certificate. You give the gift certificate to someone. It is your gift to them! You can put it in a card or envelope! The person you give the gift to then contacts me to schedule his/her lesson!

Or….

Someone can buy English lessons for you!!! Have you asked Santa yet for any Christmas presents? Do you have a birthday coming up? Tell your family and friends about my gift certificates!

What kind of classes do you offer and how much are your lessons?

You can read more about private lessons with me here.

1-hour lesson = $25 US
30-minute lesson = $15 US

Pronunciation Assessment: $70 US

*Packages of lessons are also available! You can buy 2, 3, 4 or more!
For example:
4 one-hour lessons = $90 US
4 30-minute lessons = $50 US

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Did you ever write a letter to Santa when you were a kid? What did you ask him for?

Every year on Christmas Eve, Santa Claus travels around the world in his sleigh pulled by reindeer, delivering presents to children everywhere!

Before Christmas, kids can write a letter to Santa telling him what they want for Christmas! They should tell him if they have been naughty or nice (and apologize if they have been naughty and promise to do better), and tell him what they would like for Christmas. Santa and his Postal Elves answer each and every letter sent to him.

In reality, the ‘Postal Elves’ are 11,000 active and retired Canada Post workers who volunteer their time. Every year, they answer over 1 million letters sent to Santa at the North Pole! Since Canada is a bilingual country, kids can send their letters in English or French!

The postal code is H0H 0H0 – because the sound that Santa makes is written as “Ho Ho Ho!”

The national postal service, Canada Post, also has a special section on its website called “Santa’s Corner.” Kids can print out their own holiday paper to write their letters on. In keeping with the times, kids can also email Santa now too!

Vocabulary

the North Pole
= the northernmost point on earth; where Santa Claus lives!

a return address
= when you send a letter, you must include your own address someone on the letter, so that it can be returned to you if it can’t be delivered

a postal code
= all addresses in Canada include a series of letters and numbers called a postal code. It helps the post office sort the mail faster

to answer a letter
= to reply to a letter that someone wrote to you

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A senior citizen
= a polite term used to refer to older people; usually it means anyone over the age of 65.

A senior moment
= when you do something – like forget where you put the car keys or temporarily forget the name of a friend or family member – that suggests you are getting old!

I had a senior moment. I walked around the parking lot for 15 minutes trying to remember where I parked my car!

10/20/etc. years one’s senior
= _____ years older than someone

Have you seen Holly’s new boyfriend? He’s 20 years her senior! He must be rich.

ripe old age
= someone who is old, but is doing something that someone much younger usually does; a positive expression

At the ripe old age of 89, she still drives herself around town!

in this day and age
= nowadays, at the present time

In this day and age it’s rare to see someone using a typewriter!

A woman of a certain age
= a pleasant way of saying a woman who is not young anymore!

Women of a certain age should not wear a bikini!

to come of age
= originally this was used to describe the time period when someone leaves their childhood behind and becomes an adult, but it is now also used to say something has ‘become fully formed’

The Baby Boomers came of age during a time of great changes in society.

He came of age as an actor when he moved to New York and had his first role in a Broadway play.

The neighbourhood came of age when the car factory opened up. It brought jobs and life to the area!

*You may hear this a lot in American TV shows and movies. Often the TV show or movies is described as “a coming-of-age story” where the young main character has an experience that matures him/her into an adult.

‘Stand By Me’ was such a great coming-of-age movie.

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Every month I say “this was the biggest month ever” for my website, but every month it gets bigger and better! I’d like to thank all of you for continuing to visit my website. I’m really happy that so many people enjoy my blog, videos and podcasts and that you find everything useful! I am lucky to have such great readers and listeners!

Once again, thank you so much to EnglishClub.com for choosing my website as their ESL Site of the Month for November 2010!

This month I also announced a new pronunciation assessment package of private lessons! This is a great opportunity to improve your American English pronunciation.

Thanks to all of you who listen to my podcast every week, it is often in the Top 10 Popular Podcasts on Podbean.com (my podcast hosting site), and today it was included in the ‘New and Noteworthy’ section! In the month of November, all my podcast episodes were listened to 89,000 times! That blows my mind!

You may have noticed a new section on my blog called Recommended Books! I have put together a list of books that I think English learners will find helpful.

If you haven’t done so already, remember to ‘subscribe’ or ‘follow’ my blog [if you have a Blogger profile] so you can get my new posts as soon as they’re published!

Each week begins with a new listening and pronunciation lesson. Then, each post for the rest of the week explains or relates to something that I said in the lesson.

This Month’s Posts:

Listening Lesson: An Afternoon at the Opera

Listening Lesson: I Can’t Get Enough of Twilight!

Listening Lesson: Library Books
Grammar: Adverbs of Frequency
Expressions with ‘Book’

Listening Lesson: The Must-Have Christmas Present

Listening Lesson: Senior’s Day
Grammar: Articles – A/An = One (of something)

Study Tips:
How to Improve Your Pronunciation
How to Speak English Fluently, Part 1

Canada Fun Facts
#5 – When William Becomes King of England, Kate Middleton will be Queen of Canada, too!

Christmas is December 25th!
What is Christmas?
Who is Santa Claus?

Most Read Post this Month:
Listening Lesson: An Afternoon at the Opera!