冠词的用法详解
英语中冠词分为定冠词the 和不定冠词a/an两种。冠词一般不单独使用,往往放在名词前面,表示不同的意义。
一：a和an区别
A用于辅音前,an用于元音前。特别注意的是an用于元音因素〔发音而不是字母前。
1.拼写以辅音字母开头读音却以元音开头的单词
hour, honest, honor等单词的拼写虽然以辅音字母h开头,但其读音却以元音开头,因此,前面要用an。可熟记下面这句话：
An hour ago, an honest man accepted an honorable task. <一小时前,一位诚实的人接受了一项光荣的任务。>
2.拼写以元音字母开头读音却以辅音开头的单词
useful, university, usual, European, united, one-eyed, one-way等单词的拼写虽然以元音字母开头,但其读音却以元音开头,因此,前面要用a。可熟记下面这句话：
In a university, a European and a one-eyed man walk along a one-way road with a usual tool. This is a usual thing. <在一所大学里,有一个欧洲人和一个独眼龙拿着有用的工具沿着一条单行道行走,这是件平常的事。>如：
Five years ago her brother was ________ university student of ________ physics. <上海卷>
A. a; the B. an; the C. an; / D. a; /
[分析]答案选D。因为university是以辅音[j]开头的要用a,排除B和C；physics是学科名词,前面不用冠词。
3.英文字母前用a还是用an的问题
在26个英文字母中,A [ei], e [i], f [ef], h [eitf]I [ai], l[el]m [em] , n [en] o [ou] r[a] s[es]x [eks]
等12个字母的读音是以元音开头的,因此前面要用an。其余字母则是以辅音开头的。如：
Please pay attention to your spelling. You have dropped ________ "m" here. <全国卷>
A. an B. the C. / D. a
There is a "u’ ,an ‘m’ and a ‘p’ in the word "jump:.
[分析]答案选A。因为字母m的发音是以元音[e]开头的,所以用an；这里的an的意义与one相当,表示"一个"。an NBA star一个篮球明星an MIT student. 一个麻省理工的学生
二：不定冠词的用法
1：表示"一个"与"one "相同
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
He put a finger in his mouth, tasted it and smiled.
2:与专有名词连用,表示"某一"。"一个叫----的人"。
The little boy wants to be a Le Feng.
A professor from Qinghua University will give us a lecture.
A Mr smith is waiting for you at the school gate.
3：表示"每一"相当于per,用于某些表示时间、重量、长度等的单位前。
500 dollars a day , four times a day , twice a day ,8 hours a day
We go swimming four times a week.
4: a +most表示"非常"。
Though it is a most interesting book in these books ,it is not the most interesting one.
This is a most troublesome case.
5: a+序数词,表示"再一"、"又一"
You can try it a second time if you fail
When I sat down a fifth man rose to speak.
6:a<n>+名词,作表语表职业。
He is a professor .
She is a engineer.
但是He turned sailor after he grew up.= He became a sailor after he grew up
7：表示"同一""相同",等于"the same"
They are of an age.=They are of the same age.
Birds of a feather flock together
The two shirts are much of a size.
8:在感叹句中
What a splendid performance it is .
How serious a problem it is .
9:在so, as ,too ,how+形容词之后
He is so famous a poet that he is admired by others
It is as fine a day as I have ever spent,
It is too difficult a book for you to read .
He doesn’t know how precious a thing it is.
10:在half, many , quite ,rather之后
Half a dozen of apples , many a flower ,quite a good idea ,rather a clever boy ,such a funny expression
He is quite a good actor.
Don't be in such a hurry.
11:第一次提到的人或事物,但不特别指明是哪一个
Long long ago there was an old king who had a very beautiful daughter.
weight的用法搭配12;表示一类人和东西
A tiger can be dangerous.
A teacher must love his students.
A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
A dog is a faithful animal.=Dogs are faithful animals.
13:物质名词的具体化,
The people in China like tea and green tea is a wonderful tea.
We don’t have much rain here ,but last night we had a heavy rain.
Please give me a coffee .< a cup of coffee>
14:抽象名词的具体化
The sports meet was a great success.
It is an honour to be invited to the party.
Reading is a pleasure for me.
15：世界上独一无二的东西前有修饰语时：
We hope we can see a full moon tonight.
China hopes to see a peaceful and friendly world in the 21stcentury.
16:在表示季节、月份、日期、三餐前有修饰语时：
We had a very cold winter last year.
This happened on a cold night.
We had a wonderful lunch at that party.
17:首次提到的单数可数名词前
There is a man and an animal at the gate.
18:某些固定短语中：
a great/good deal of ,a good many of ,a number of ,a lot of ,as a result of ,all of a sudden ,get in a word ,have a cold ,go for a walk, in a hurry ,after a while ,once in a while ,as a matte of fact ,once upon a time ,have a word with ,one at a time ,a waste of
三：使用定冠词的情况：
1：表示特定的人或物
The book on the desk is mine.
The girl in blue is my sister.
2:上文提到的人或物前面
I bought a shirt yesterday .The shirt was very beautiful
They have a son and a daughter .The song is a lawyer and the daughter is a nurse.
3:表示谈话人双方都知道的人或物
Jack,close the window please.
The manager is in the office.
3：用于单数可数名词前表示类别,相当于不定冠词表示类别
A lion is a dangerous animal.=The lion is a dangerous animal.=Lions are dangerous animals.
5:在表示整个类别的名词前