1.- Artículo
indefinido: a / an
Se omite:
a) Delante de un sustantivo en plural:
a car / cars
a house / houses
You can see a house over
there / You can see houses over there
b) Delante de nombres génericos de sustancias
(wine, milk, gold, wood, silver, petrol, blood...):
I like milk
I don't drink wine
No obstante, si un sustantivo genérico
se utiliza con un sentido concreto, para hacer referencia
a algo determinado, entonces sí lleva artículo:
What a good wine!
c) Delante de nombres abstractos (happiness,
justice, fear, help, love, future, hope...):
The children have fear of
phantoms
The drug addicts especially need
understanding and help
d) Delante de nombres de comidas; breakfast,
lunch, dinner,...
We have dinner at 8 o'clock
This morning I had breakfast very
late
Salvo cuando van precedidos por un adjetivo calificativo:
What a delicious dinner
you have prepared!
2.- Artículo
definido: the
Se omite:
a) Con nombres abstractos , salvo que se utilicen
con un sentido particular:
Justice is the basis of any
political system
In Spain the justice works
very slowly
b) Delante de nombres de deportes:
He plays tennis (football)
c) Delante de nombres genéricos en plural:
Sport cars are always expensive
Men practise sport more
than women
Children learn foreign
languages more easily than adults
In Spain dentists are very
well paid
Salvo cuando se utilizan con un sentido concreto:
Last weekend we went to Paris with
the children
All the dentists I know
advise you to brush your teeth after every meal
d) Con los sustantivos "home"
/ "work":
Last Friday I stayed at home all
evening
He goes to work
e) Con los sustantivos "bed"
/ "church" / "prison"
/ "school" / "university"
... cuando se hace referencia a su finalidad básica:
To go to bed (to sleep)
To go to church / to come back
from church (to pray)
To be in hospital / to leave hospital
(as a patient)
To stay in prison (as a prisoner)
To be back from university / to
leave school (as a student)
Pero cuando se hace referencia a estos lugares por otros
motivos (por ejemplo, ir a un hospital de visita) entonces sí
llevan artículos:
I went to the hospital to visit
my wife
I went to the university
to ask for information
