A / An / The

What is an article? Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns. English has two articles: the and a/an. "The" is used to refer to specific or particular nouns; "a/an" is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite article.
the = definite article
a/an = indefinite article
For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I say, "Let's read a book," I mean any book rather than a specific book. Here's another way to explain it: The is used to refer to a specific or particular member of a group. For example, "I just saw the most popular movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use the. "A/an" is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. For example, "I would like to go see a movie." Here, we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking about any movie. There are many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in mind. Let's look at each kind of article a little more closely.
Indefinite Articles: a and an
"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. For example:

* "My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas." This refers to any dog. We don't know which dog because we haven't found the dog yet.
* "Somebody call a policeman!" This refers to any policeman. We don't need a specific policeman; we need any policeman who is available.
* "When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!" Here, we're talking about a single, non-specific thing, in this case an elephant. There are probably several elephants at the zoo, but there's only one we're talking about here.

Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So...

* a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog
* an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan
* a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle
* In some cases where "h" is pronounced, such as "historical," us an:

An historical event is worth recording.
In writing, "a historical event" is more commonly used.
Remember that this rule also applies when you use acronyms:
Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP) handles first-year writing at the University. Therefore, an ICaP memo generally discusses issues concerning English 106 instructors. Another case where this rule applies is when acronyms start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds:
An MSDS (material safety data sheet) was used to record the data. An SPCC plan (Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures plan) will help us prepare for the worst. If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article:

* a broken egg
* an unusual problem
* a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound)

Remember, too, that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate membership in a group:

* I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group known as teachers.)
* Brian is an Irishman. (Brian is a member of the people known as Irish.)
* Seiko is a practicing Buddhist. (Seiko is a member of the group of people known as Buddhists.)

Definite Article: the
The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example:
"The dog that bit me ran away." Here, we're talking about a specific dog, the dog that bit me.
"I was happy to see the policeman who saved my cat!" Here, we're talking about a particular policeman. Even if we don't know the policeman's name, it's still a particular policeman because it is the one who saved the cat.
"I saw the elephant at the zoo." Here, we're talking about a specific noun. Probably there is only one elephant at the zoo.
Count and Noncount Nouns
The can be used with noncount nouns, or the article can be omitted entirely.

* "I love to sail over the water" (some specific body of water) or "I love to sail over water" (any water).
* "He spilled the milk all over the floor" (some specific milk, perhaps the milk you bought earlier that day) or "He spilled milk all over the floor" (any milk).

"A/an" can be used only with count nouns.

* "I need a bottle of water."
* "I need a new glass of milk."

Most of the time, you can't say, "She wants a water," unless you're implying, say, a bottle of water.
Geographical use of the
There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns. Do not use the before:

* names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States
* names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
* names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St.
* names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes
* names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn
* names of continents (Asia, Europe)
* names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands

Do use the before:

* names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific
* points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
* geographical areas: the Middle East, the West
* deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula

Omission of Articles
Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:

* Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian
* Names of sports: volleyball, hockey, baseball
* Names of academic subjects: mathematics, biology, history, computer science

Present Perfect

PRESENT PERFECT

Present Perfect Continuous terdiri dari sebuah subjek, sebuah kata kerja -ing dan dua kata kerja bantu (”been” dan “have”).

Subject + has/have + been + verb+ing

Contoh:

* She has been crying in her room for half an hour now
* We‘ve been waiting for a good offer to buy a car since March
* I‘ve been waiting for you to come (but now you’re back!)

Untuk bentuk negatif ditambahkan not. Contoh:

* I haven’t been sleeping very well recently
* I haven’t been waiting for 50 minutes
* John hasn’t been using his A drive for a long time

Untuk bentuk bertanya kita menukar posisi have/has dengan subjek. Contoh:

* Have you been running?
* Has Tom been walking the dog?
* How long have you been learning English?
* What have you been doing there?

Simple Past Tense dan Past Progressive

SIMPLE PAST TENSE
Simple Past Tense digunakan untuk fakta-fakta atau peristiwa-peristiwa yang terjadi di masa lampau. Contoh:

* I played tennis with some guys from work yesterday.
* We stayed in Shanghai for five days.

Kata kerja simple past tense (kata kerja bentuk ke-2) yang reguler dibentuk dengan menambahkan “-ed” pada akhiran kata kerja. Contoh:

* jump -> jumped: The dog jumped over the fence.
* walk -> walked: I walked 22 kilometers yesterday.
* work -> worked: We worked together as lawyers for 15 years.

Simple past tense digunakan untuk menyatakan sebuah tindakan yang telah selesai dilakukan. Contoh:

* We watched a movie at the weekend (kami menonton film di akhir pekan)
* She arrived on Thursday (dia tiba hari Kamis)

Waktu spesifik harus dinyatakan atau diisyaratkan. Contoh:

* I walked to work this morning - Dalam kalimat ini waktunya disebutkan
* I walked to work - Dalam kalimat ini waktu tidak disebutkan, tetapi konteks kalimatnya dapat membuat kita memahami waktu yang dimaksud (yakni waktu lampau).

Kalimat negatif

Kalimat negatif simple past tense dibuat dengan did dan not. Did adalah bentuk lampau dari kata kerja to do. Did dan not sering disingkat menjadi didn’t. Contoh:
- I arrived in London on Monday -> I didn’t arrive on Sunday.
- They stayed at the Vivaldi Hotel -> They didn’t stay at the Carlton Hotel.

Karena “did” merupakan bentuk lampau, maka kata kerja utama tidak mengalami perubahan. Contoh:

* We didn’t live in Italy. Did adalah bentuk lampau sehingga live tidak dirubah menjadi bentuk lampau.
* We didn’t lived in Italy. Kalimat ini tidak benar

Kalimat bertanya

Pertanyaan dibuat dengan menempatkan did sebelum subjek. Contoh:

* You lived in Japan -> Did you live in Japan?
* They stayed at the Vivaldi Hotel -> Did they stay at the Vivaldi Hotel?

Kata kerja utama juga tidak berubah (tidak diganti menjadi bentuk lampau), contoh:
- You lived in Japan -> Did you lived in Japan? (tidak benar)
- You lived in Japan -> Did you live in Japan? (benar)

PAST PROGRESSIVE

past progressive alias pas continuous. bentuk kalimat yang satu ini kita pakai untuk menjelaskan pekerjaan yang sedang berlangsung di waktu tertentu di masa lalu.

contoh
at around this time yesterday, we were still working. sekitar jam segini kemarin, kami masih bekerja.

she was still chatting with her friends at 9pm last night. sekitar jam 9 kemarin malam, dia masih saja bercakap-cakap dengan teman-temannya.

i was still sitting in my classroom at 1pm yesterday. saya masih duduk di dalam kelas jam 1 siang kemarin.

Simple Present dan Present Progressive

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

Ada beberapa penggunaan dari simple present tense, yaitu :
1. untuk menyatakan kegiatan yang berulang
2. untuk menyatakan generalisasi atau kegiatan yang biasa berlangsung
3. Untuk menyetakan kegiatan saat ini.

Untuk lebih jelasnya perhatikan penjelesan di bawah ini

1. Repeated Actions (Kegiatan berulang)
Simple present dapat digunakan untuk menyatakan gagasan atau kegiatan yang dilakukan sering dilakukan berulangkali seperti bangun tidur, atau kebiasaan seperti berolahraga, jadwal pemberangkatan kendaraan dan lain sebagainya, kegiatan tersebut dapat berupa kebiasaan, hobby, kegiatan sehari-hari, jadwal, dan juga kebiasaan yang selalu tidak dilakukan.

EXAMPLES:
I play tennis.
She does not play tennis.
The train leaves every morning at 8 am.
The train does not leave at 9am.
She always forgets her purse.
He never forgets his wallet.
Every twelve months, the Earth circles the sun.
The sun does not circle the Earth.

2. Menyatakan Kebenaran atau keadaan yang umum (Facts or Generalizations)
Simple Present dapat juga digunakan untuk mengekspresikan suatu kejadian yang benar pada masa lampau, sekarang maupun yang akan datang, misalnya matahari terbit dari barat, satu jam 360 menit dan lain sebagainya. Selain itu Simple Present juga digunakan untuk menyatakan generalisasi (keadaan yang umum) terhadap pikiran orang, misalnya orang batak suka musik, burung mempunyai sayap dan lain sebagainya

EXAMPLES:
Cats like milk.
Birds do not like milk.
Jakarta is in Indonesia
Surabaya is not in the United Kingdom.
Windows are made of glass.
Windows are not made of wood.
Jakarta is a small city. (It is not important that this fact is untrue.)

3. Keadaan Sekarang Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)
Simple Present digunakan juga untuk menyatakan kegiatan yang berlangsung maupun tidak berlangsung saat ini secasra spontan. Namun hanya bisa digunakan dengan Non-continuous Verbs dan Mixed Verbs.

EXAMPLES:
I am here now.
She is not here now.
He needs help right now.
He does not need help now.
He has a car.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

subject + to be + verb ~ing
contoh ya

i am doing my homework. saya sedang mengerjakan peer.
she is washing the dishes. dia sedang mencuci piring.
they are playing football. mereka sedang bermain sepakbola.

yak benar! bentuk ~ing yang mengindikasikan sesuatu pekerjaan sedang berlangsung.

ketiga contoh diatas menunjukkan pekerjaan-pekerjaan yang sedang berlangsung sekarang, as we speak. meski demikian ada juga yang ga musti as speak, tapi pekerjaan yang sedang dibicarakan masih berlanjut sekarang. kalo pusing, liat aja contoh dibawah ini.

paul sedang makan siang dengan john ketika john bertanya
john : what are you doing now?
paul : i am working on a project.

saat mengatakan i am working on a project, paul sebenarnya sedang makan siang kan, dan bukannya mengerjakan proyek yang dia bicarakan. tapi pada saat ini proyek yang sedang dia kerjakan masih berlangsung, belum selesai.

contoh lain
nina : what book are you reading now?
nana : i am reading old man and the sea.

ANOTHER, OTHERS dan THE OTHERS.

Kata other, another, dan others dapat diartikan dengan : yang lain atau lainnya. Ketiga kata tersebut sangat mudah membingungkan. Maka untuk menentukan bagaimana menggunakannya dengan tepat masing-masing kata itu harus diperhatikan empat hal.

1. Jika kata itu singular (tunggal) atau plural (jamak).
2. Jika kata itu definite –the- (tentu) atau indefinite –a- (tak tentu)
3. Jika kata itu berfungsi sebagai adjective yang menerangkan noun atau senantiasa bersama dengan noun.
4. Jika kata itu berfungsi sebagai pronoun yang dapat berdiri sendiri.

Perhatikanlah contoh-contoh berikut :
a. I have another (adj.) book
b. I have another (pron.)

“Perhatikan bahwa another digunakan hanya untuk menunjuk kepada an indefinite (tak tentu). Dan dengan benda tunggal (singular)”

c. I have other (adj.) books.
d. I have others. (pron)
e. I have the other book (adj.)
f. I have the other (pron.)
g. I have the other books (adj.)
h. I have the others (pron).

“Perhatikan bahwa Others hanya digunakan sebagai plural pronoun yang tidak bersama dengan noun(dapat berdiri sendiri). Sedangkan other dapat digunakan untuk semuanya”

i. I have three books, two are mine. The other book is yours. (The others is yours).
j. I have three books, one is mine. The others are yours. (The others are yours).
k. If you are still thirsty, I’ll make another pot of coffee.

Example :
OTHER -- the singular form. The word refers to something that is different from something else. For instance, Director A makes a movie based on a famous novel. Director B makes a different movie based on the same novel.

Luke: "Did you like Director A's movie?"
Ted: "Yes, but I liked the OTHER version much better."

Luke: "What do you think of my new wrist watch?" [On his right wrist.]
Ted: "I think you should wear it on your OTHER wrist."

Two senators write two different pieces of legislation about the same topic. "I like Senator Luke's legislation, but the OTHER one will probably be approved."

So, when we use the singular word "other," we are actually referring to something different from something else: X is fine, but I think the OTHER ["Y"] is more acceptable.

*****

OTHERS -- the plural form, for more than one "other"

Some essays are easy to read; OTHERS are much more difficult.

Many people chose to vote in the election. OTHERS simply stayed at home, not interested in voting at all. [OTHERS clearly indicates the "different" or "non-voting" people.]

*****

THE OTHERS -- same as above, but used in cases where the article "the" is necessary.

Luke: "Would you like to have THESE shirts?"
Ted: "No, I think THE OTHERS look more presentable."

The "chosen" people lived in the wealthy homes; all THE OTHERS lived in very poor houses. ["The others" in this example means "the people who are NOT wealthy" or THE OTHERS.]

*****

ANOTHER -- The dictionary definition is this: "different or distinct from the one first considered" OR "additional" OR "later."

Different or distinct --

Luke: "Are you going to write your essay about global warming?"
Ted: "I had thought I would, but I have changed my mind and will write on ANOTHER topic."

Additional --

Luke: "Did you get enough to eat?"
Ted: "No, I think I'll have another piece of pie."

Later --

Luke: "Are you taking a trip this weekend?"
Ted: "I think I'll wait until ANOTHER time."

Adjectives, Nouns, and Pronouns

Adjectives + prepositions followed by the gerund

Accustomed to, afraid of, capable of, fond of,
Intent on, interested in, successful in, tired of.

- Jean is not capable of understanding the predicament.
- Alvaro is intent on finishing school next year.
- Craig is fond of dancing.

Nouns + prepositions followed by the gerund

choice of , excuse for, intention of, method for,
possibility of, reason for, (method of),

- George has no excuse for dropping out of school.
- There is no reason for leaving this early.
- Connie has developed a method for evaluating this problem.

Any time a preposition is followed directly by a verb, the verb will be in the gerund form.

- After leaving the party. Ali drove home.
- He should have stayed in New York instead of moving to Maine.

Adjective followed by the infinitive

anxious, boring, dangerous, hard,
eager, easy, good, strange,
pleased, prepared, ready, able*,
usual, common, difficult.

*able means the same as capable in many instance, but the grammar is very different. While able is followed by the infinitive, capable is followed by of + [verb + ing].

- These students are not yet able to handle such difficult problems\
- These students are not yet capable of handling such difficult problem.

Examples of adjectives followed by infinitive

- Muhammad is anxious to see his family.
- We are ready to leave now.
- It is difficult to pass this test.

Some verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or gerund, but the meaning changes.

stop, remember, forget.

- John stopped studying. {John is not going to study anymore}
- John stopped to study. {John stopped doing something in order to study}

Pronouns before the gerund or infinitive:

allow, ask, beg, convince, expect, instruct,
invite, order, permit, persuade, prepare, promise, remind, urge, want.

Subject + verb + complement form {pronoun / noun} + [to + verb]. . .

- Joe asked Marry to call him when she woke up.
- We ordered him to appear in count.
- You should prepare your son to take this examination.

However, before the gerund, a noun or pronoun must appear in the possessive form.
Subject + verb + possessive form {noun / pronoun} + [verb + ing]. . .

- We understand your not being able to stay longer.
- He regrets her leaving.
- We object to their calling at this hour.

Pronouns
Subject : a, you, she, he, it, we, you, they.
Complement : me, you, her, him, it, us, you, them.
Passive Adjective : my, your, her, his, its, our, your, their.
Possesive : mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours, yours, theirs.
Reflective : myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Verbs as Complements

Verbs that are always followed by the infinitive.
Some verbs can take another verb as the complement instead of a noun. Sometimes the verbs functioning as the complement mustbe in the infinitive (to + verb) and sometimes it must be in the gerund ( verb + ing) form.The following verbs are always followed by the infinitive if the complement is a verb.

agree, attempt, claim, decide, demand,
desire, fail, forget, hesitate, hope,
intend, learn, need, offer, plan,
prepare, pretend, refuse, seem, strive
ten, try, want, wish.

- The president will attempt to reduce inflation in the next four years.
- The soldiers are preparing to attack the village.
- Cinthya has agreed to act as a liason between the two countries.


Verbs that are always followed by the gerund.
Other verbs must alwaysbe followed by the gerund. These verbs include:

admit, appreciate, avoid, can’t help, consider,
delay, deny, enjoy, finish, mind,
miss, postpone, practice, quit, recall,
regret, report, resent, resist, resume,
risk, suggest.


- John admitted stealing the jewels.
- Would you mind not smoking in this office?
- Michael was considering that building in its present condition.

Note : These sentences are made negative by adding the negative particle not before the infinitive or gerund.

- John decided not to buy the car.
- We regretted not going to the party last night.

The following verbs can be followed by either the infinitiveor the gerund with no change in meaning.

begin, can’t stand, continue, dread, hate,
like, love, prefer, start.

- He started to study after dinner, OR, He started studying after dinner.
- Joan hates to ride her bicycle to school, OR, Joan hates riding her bicycle to school.

Verbs + prepositions followed by the gerund

approve of , be better of, count on, depend on,
give up, insist on, keep on, put off,
rely on, succeed in, think about, think of,
worry about.

The following expressions contain the preposition to. The word to in these expressions must not be confused with the to in the infinitive. These verb + preposition expressions must also be followed by the gerund.

object to, look forward to, confess to.

- Marry insisted on taking the bus instead of the plane.
- Fred confessed to stealing the jewels.
- Henry is thinking of going to France in August.