5. But none of the “rules” work
completely!
Katrina hit New Orleans.
(English speakers don’t follow the
rule because they don’t even know
that New Orleans is plural—it is
from French.)
6. However, usually a plural place
name has “the.”
Recently, a terrible storm hit the
Philippines.
He is from the Netherlands = He is
from Holland.
7. We live in the United States.
Tatiana is from Russia.
She is from the former Soviet
Union.
8. At first, Katrina was a Category 1
hurricane.
No article with Katrina because is is
a singular name. We give
hurricanes the names of people.
This is the first time I’ve mentioned
the storm category, so I use “a.”
9. Katrina was one of the largest disasters in U.S.
history because of the failure of the levee
systems.
I’m not talking about failure in general. I’m
talking about a specific event –the fact that the
levees broke and caused flooding.
We often use “the” for a specific noun that you
are picturing in your head when you say it.
10. There was great criticism of the way
the government handled the crisis.
I’m talking about a specific way and
a specific crisis.
12. O n the afternoon of Jan. 12, 2010,
I’m talking about a specific
afternoon.
HOWEVER, don’t an article with an
actual date:
On Jan. 12, 2010,
13. The country of Haiti was struck
“The” is for a specific country, BUT
Don’t use it with the country name:
Haiti was struck
14. by a devastating earthquake.
I use “a” because it’s the first
time I have mentioned it.
15. that measured 7.0 on the
Richter Scale.
I am describing a specific kind of
scale.
16. The epicenter of the quake
Now I am continuing to talk
about an earthquake that I have
already mentioned, so I use
“the.”
17. was near Leogane, a town
approximately 16 miles west of
Port-au-Prince, the country’s
capital.
18. We use “a” when we define things
or explain the location of things:
Leogan is a town in Haiti.
Laney is a community college in
Oakland.
A hurricane is a very powerful wind
storm.
19. According to the Haitian
government
I am telling you which government
20. at least 230,000 were killed,
300,000 injured, and 1,000,000 left
homeless. There was extremely
severe damage.
NO ARTICLE
Never use “a/an” with a non-noun
noun because a = one.
21. Would you like a cup of tea?
Would you like (some/any) tea?
22. However, you can use “the” with a
non-count noun:
The meat we had for dinner was
spoiled, so we all go sick.
43. Plastic Pollution: Answer Key
10. The 11. a 12. no article
13. an
14. the 15. the 16. The 17. the
18. no article
19. the 20. the 21. no article
22. the 23. the