Mary Bright
Junior Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Belarus
- Current Location
- Belarus
Articles are very difficult indeed. You usually learn them when just starting studying the language and at first everything seems very simple, very obvious. Nonetheless the more you practice English, the more you realize that articles are far more difficult than they can seem at first sight. I myself have many times come across the situation when you need to choose between "a" and "the". I can't give many general recommendations because some have already been posted here, but I know that there are some common truths when you use only "the". For example we usually say "the" before "sky", "earth", "atmosphere", and other nouns that exist only in single numbers.
Yeah, we can learn the rules. But the problem in all this is that when you get involved in spoken English you realize that rules don't work. :shock: :-| Sometimes I come across either of articles in a phrase or a sentence, usage of which no rule about articles can explain. So, the question turns to be quite rhetorical :-D.
I suppose the only way of mastering the usage of articles is communication with natives and watching movies in English. Eventually you will understand how to use them correctly. You will develop your intuition.
It will help but not much, I'm afraid. :-| The only way I see is to live in the country which language you're learning till it can be called your second native one. Until then you are in doubts and rhetorical whys for sure :crazyeye: But you probably meant the same. I just let myself express what I think ;-)