A/An and The - General statements

One very difficult and confusing issue (at times) is the proper use of the articles a/an and the.

According to what you want to say, the use of a/an and the differs.

Today I will write about using a/an and the when talking about General Statements.

With singular nouns we use a/an and the to make general statements.
A bear can be dangerous.                                       The bear is a dangerous animal.
Here, a bear and the bear mean all bears, bears in general. We usually use the in specific, formal and academic contexts. A/an with a singular noun is the informal.

e.g. A dishwasher can be very useful.              The fly is a common insect.
       A tower is a tall building.                                 Who invented the camera?

With plural nouns or uncountable nouns we use the for a specific meaning. Without the the meaning is a general statement.
e.g. Yachts are expensive to buy. (general statement)
       The yachts were bought by two brothers. (Two specific yachts)

       Bears are dangerous animals. (general statement)
       The bears searched for food in the forest. (specific bears)

       I always need money. (general statement)
       I paid the money I owed yesterday. (specific money)

       I love to listen to music in the morning! (general statement)
       He had the music on very loud and I couldn't concentrate! (specific music)

Special uses of the: We use the with musical instruments, means of transport, and with countryside, seaside, cinema, theatre and radio.
e.g. She plays the piano very well.                     
       He takes the train to work every day.
       We love going to the countryside in autumn.   
       They went to the seaside today!
       Do you enjoy going to the cinema/the theatre?       
       Let's listen to the radio!           


:) :)
     

Some and Any

Some or Any?

Many are confused as to when to use some and when any.

Some and any go before a plural or uncountable noun.
e.g. On her desk there was a computer, some papers and some coffee.

Some has a positive meaning, but any means that there may be none. We normally use some in positive sentences and any in negative sentences or ones with a negative meaning.
e.g.
Positive:  I've got some information for you about Greece.
                 I need some money to buy groceries.  There is some on the table!
                 There were some great new jackets in the shop yesterday.

Negative: I haven't got any money. (I've got no money)
                 There aren't any apples in the bowl.
                 I never see any children in the park.
                 There's hardly any milk left. (There's almost no milk left)

BUT we can use any in a positive sentence with if:

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Please tell any callers that I'll be back at 12pm. (=if there are any callers)

Send any complaints to the manager. (=if there are any complaints)

Any is more usual in questions. The answer to the question is usually yes or no.
e.g. Have we got any orange juice?  Yes / No / I (don't) think so.
       Did you get any work done? Yes, I did / No, I didn't.
       Will there be any music at the event tonight? Yes / No / I don't know.

BUT we can use some to make the questions more positive, especially in offers and requests. When we use some, it means that we expect the answer to be YES!

Would you like some coffee? 

Could you help me make some cookies?

Can we get some chocolate on our way home?

YES! YES! YES!

Any questions?? :) :) :)

So and Such

Let's talk about so and such.

When do we use them and how do we use them?

First of all, we NEVER use so or such after a/an.

e.g.       a so big house       or       a such nice day.

Big mistake!

We use these patterns:
be + so  + adjective        and        such + a/an + adjective + noun

e.g. Their house was so big!         They have such a big house!
        The film is so funny!               It is such a funny film!

We can also use so and such with uncountable nouns or a plural noun. In the case of such we simply omit the article a/an since it's plural.

e.g. The food was so good!                           It was such good food!
       The people were so nice!                       They were such nice people!
       The students are so quiet!                     They are such quiet students!



 After a phrase with so or such we can add a clause:

Their house was so big that it took us an hour to go around it!
It was such a funny film that we couldn't stop laughing!
The food was so good (that) we booked a table for tomorrow!
They were such nice people (that) I bought them a 'thank-you' present!

:) :)