一 基本规律 (Basic rules)
1. Indefinite article (不定冠词)
我们用 “a , an “当我们不知道他是诸多人或事中的哪一个：
* is one of many. ( 是许多个中的一个)
He is an artist.(=there are many artists)
* is not unique. (不是唯一的)
I have just bought a book
* has not been mentioned before. (之前没有提到过)
There was a new student in class today.
2. Definite article (定冠词)
我们用 “the “当我们知道他是诸多人或事中的哪一个：
* is unique (or unique in that context) (是唯一的)
The Australian Prime Minister. (=there is only one)
I looked inside, the engine was in a terrible state. (=there is only one engine, in this case)
* has been mentioned before. (之前提到过)
The man gave me a ticket. I looked at it, and saw that the ticket was a single.
* is defined by the phrase which follows it. (要被接下来的短语详细说明)
What is the new student‘s name?
3. No articles (无冠词)
我们不用冠词当我们普遍地提及事物的时候：
* using plural or uncountable nouns (在使用复数或不可数名词时)
Do you like sport?
* with the names of people or places, but there are many exceptions (人名和地名的时候不用冠词，但是地名有许多例外，下文一一介绍)
He is Professor Jones
4. Fixed phrases ( 固定短语)
有许多固定搭配需要用或者不用冠词，我们应该来单独学习，他们包括：
a few at home at work at the beginning atthe end go to bed
go to the cinemas, shops, station in the world once a week
sixty kilometres an hour the next the other the other day
the same
二 经常发生问题的区域 (Areas that often cause problems)
1. Jobs (工作)
如果有许多人做这个工作我们用 a 或 an.：
My husband is an architect. (=there are many architects)
但是如果一个工作特别对应一个人，我们就要用“the”了：
He is having talks with the French foreign minister(外交部长). (=there is only one)
2. Superlative (超高级)
我们使用“the”在形容词超高级前面：
She is the best person for the job.
3. Last and next
有一些形容词如 “last” 和 “next ”同时可以用也可以不用定冠词“the”但是句意会发生变化
I saw James last night. (=the one before this one)
It is the last night of our holiday. (=the fanal one)
I will see you next week.(=the one after this one)
4. Institutions: school, prison, university, church, home, hospital
和以上机构连用时我们不用定冠词“the”
My sister had to stay in hospital overnight.
然而，如果我们指的是这个建筑，我们就要用“the”
Our flat is opposite to the hospital.
