1. Articles
Huge Mistakes to Avoid!

2. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
As you know, there are 2 types of articles:
DEFINITE
INDEFINITE

3. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
Definite articles show us that the writer knows EXACTLY which thing they are talking about. In English, we only have one: THE
THE sun
THE man with a silly hat
THE best city in THE world

4. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
We use definite articles for these reasons:
A) There is only 1 (the sun, the world)
B) We give extra information about them (the man with the strange hat) (the best city in the world)
C) We already talked about them. (A cat bit me. The cat was orange.

5. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
IF YOU USE “THE”, you are telling the reader that you know EXACTLY which one you are talking about!

6. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
It is the same if the thing we are talking about is singular or plural.
THE suns
THE men with silly hats
THE best cities in THE world

7. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
INdefinite articles (as well as general nouns) show us that the writer DOES NOT knows EXACTLY which thing they are talking about or the things are NEW.
A teacher (this could be any teacher)
A man came into the room (this is a new idea; we didn’t know about him before).

8. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
The indefinite articles you know are a, an, and some.
An apple was on the table.
Some apples were on the table.

9. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
When we are talking about an idea, though, or something you CANNOT SEE, we call it a GENERAL NOUN. DO NOT USE ARTICLES!
I like the apples.
Can you see the apples? NO! This is a general noun!
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT RULE!!!

10. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
Subject/Verb Agreement is very important, but many ESL students make big mistakes with this.
In the PRESENT and PAST, please remember that he/she/it (and words they can replace) MUST BE followed by a verb with an “S” in the present or was in the past!!!

11. Articles, Plurals, and S/V Agreement
In the PRESENT and PAST, please remember that he/she/it (and words they can replace) MUST BE followed by a verb with an “S” in the present or was in the past!!!
If we’re talking about something PLURAL, DO NOT ADD S!
People ARE, (not people IS)