More about articles
This is in reply to Marina's latest post
Hi Marina
Thanks once again for completing your last task so promptly, and for making good on your promise to tell us all about your native town (notice how 'make good' is used here!)
You tell us about the languages in your family - do your parents also speak other languages, Korean for example? And so you speak Russian and English - do you speak any other languages? Are Russian and Kazakh spoken equally, or are there parts of the county where one or the other is more widely spoken? What languages are taught in schools?
The photos you have included in your post are great, especially the photos of your grandparents and your uncle. How do you feel walking down a street that is named after a member of your family? Lots of questions!
I am afraid that today's post will be short as I am about to go away for a couple of days - but I will reply at greater length on my return! I am off to Bath, a Georgian city not far from here which is famous for its hot springs. Things to see include Roman baths and a spa. You can find out more about it on the Visit Bath website:
https://visitbath.co.uk/
Before I go I will just comment on some of the language used in your last post. Note the mistakes below:
Am I right saying > Am I right in saying...
In the same time > At the same time...
The most of houses are belong to Soviet architecture period > Most of the houses belong to the Soviet period of architecture
Later Zhezkazgan copper deposit was recognized the biggest one in USSR > Later the Zhezkazgan copper deposit was recognized as the biggest one in the USSR
There are two monuments in Zhezkazgan that dedicated to the first space flight of Yuri Gagarin > There are two monuments in Zhezkazgan that are dedicated to the first space flight of Yuri Gagarin (again, be careful when you use the passive...)
The majority of the errors in your text are with articles.
These expressions don't use an article:
After the World War II (1941-1945) my ancestors came to build the industrial settlement > After World War II (1941-1945) my ancestors came to build the industrial settlement (we don't use an article when we say World War 11)
One of the Zhezkazgan streets is named in an honor of my uncle Victor Taraday > One of the Zhezkazgan streets is named in honor of my uncle Victor Taraday (we say 'in honour of...' - it is a set expression that just doesn't use an article)
I think that maybe this sentence was a slip - you need an article for the countable noun 'figure':
Alasha Khan was well-known historical figure > Alasha Khan was a well-known historical figure
There are a couple of problems with using 'a/the' when referring to specific/non-specific nouns:
Kazakhstan was the part of Russia for almost 260 years > Kazakhstan was a part of Russia for almost 260 years (we need to use 'a' here as there were other parts too. If you say 'the part' then it means that there was only one part)
In the same time the group of soviet geologists was studying the territory > At the same time a group of Soviet geologists was studying the territory (we need to say 'a' here because if you say 'the' it means that there was only one group of Soviet geologists)
By the end of 1954 almost 30,000 people had been living there and later the settlement officially became the city > By the end of 1954 almost 30,000 people had been living there and later the settlement officially became a city (there are lots of cities!)
I am not setting a written task today. Instead, perhaps it would be useful to look at the use of articles especially using 'a' and 'the' as homework. Have a look at these links:
https://bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page36.shtml
https://bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv83.shtml
https://bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv198.shtml
https://bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv255.shtml
That's it from me today, I will write again soon.
Best wishes,
Kim
Vocabulary
promptly = quickly
Georgian = belonging to the period when Kings George I, II and III ruled Britain (1714 to 1811)
springs = a place where water comes out of the ground
spa = a town where water comes out of the ground - people drink or bathe in the water to improve their health
Comment number 1.
At 04:18 16th Aug 2010, Marina wrote:Hi Kim!
Thanks a lot for extra information about using articles! It's a really hard topic for me as we don't have any articles in Russian language. But I'll do my best!
Thanks for your questions also. You see, my grandparents spoke Korean but I don't although my father speaks it a little bit. Mum speaks only Russian. I used to have really good spoken skills in French but I don't have a lot of practise so now I've almost lost them. But I'm going to recover my knowledge in the near future. And I'm going to learn Polish and Chinese as well.
Kim! You are really lucky having a trip! I've read about Bath and I'm sure that place is fantastic!!!
Have a good time!
Marina
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Comment number 2.
At 08:27 16th Aug 2010, YONG wrote:Hi ,Marina
You are a talent in language,you can convey complex thought with simple sentence.you are proficient in at least 4 languages.I am glad to know that you are going to learn chinese. I think it is difficult for you to study Chinese,since chinese is pictographic,there is no relation between
pronunciation and word. I believe and hope you can grasp it,since I am a Chinese.
Best Regards
Yong
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Comment number 3.
At 14:12 16th Aug 2010, Ashish wrote:Hi Kim,
I've already downloaded the picture of ‘Royal Crescent' from the link page of Bath and accordingly set it as desktop view. The sites really seem to be lucrative as well as enjoyable. I think you surely will enjoy there. Wish you a nice trip.
Anyway, I've found the link pages on Article really effective. Thanks for it again and bye for now.
Ashish.
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Comment number 4.
At 10:55 18th Aug 2010, Kim wrote:Good to hear that the links to information about articles were useful - as I have said before, this is quite a complex area of English. Good to hear that you liked the pictures of Bath too! Good luck with the Chinese and Polish Marina!
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Comment number 5.
At 16:05 18th Aug 2010, Kim wrote:I also forgot to say that I had a great time in Bath thank you! There were 100 life-size statues dotted around the city as part of a public art event, each one decorated in a different style. You can find out about it here: https://www.lionsofbath.com/home
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