Penulisan Count and Non-count nouns , how to use " A", "AN" and "The"

THE NOUN PHRASE

The noun phrase is a group of words that ends with a noun. It can contain determiners (the, a, this, etc.), adjectives, adverbs, and nouns. It CANNOT begin with preposition. Remember that both subjects and g

COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

Count nouns is refer  to things  that can be divided up into smaller  units which are separate and distinct from another , they usually refer to what can individually be seen or heard

Table               Finger

Chair               bottle

Word               award

Remark            candidate

Non-count nouns refer to things that cannot be counted because they are regerd as wholeswhich cannotbe dividen into part . they are refer to abstractions and occasionally have a collective meaning : 

Anger              education

Warmth           Progress

leisure              weather

Some determiners can be used only with count or non-count nouns, while others can be used with either. Memorize the words in the following chart.

WITH COUNT NOUNS	WITH NON-COUNT NOUNS
a(n), the, some, any this, that, these, those none, one, two, three, … many a lot of a {(large)} number of    {(great)} (a) Few fewer . . . than more . . . than	the, some, any this, that none much (usually in negatives or questions) a lot of a large amount of (a) little less . . . than more . . . than

It is very important to know if a noun is count or non-count. Be sure that you know the plurals of irregular count nouns. The following list contains some irregular count nouns that you should know.

person-people    child-children    tooth-teeth foot-feet              mouse-mice       man-men woman-women

The following list contains some non-count nouns that you should know.

sand         soap               physics            mathematics news        mumps          air                     politics measles   information  meat                home work food         economics     advertising*   money

*NOTE: Although advertising is a non-count noun, advertiser ent is a count noun. If you wish to speak of one particular advertisement, you must use this word.

A AND AN

Use "A" before all words that begin with consonant sounds. In English, nearly all words that begin with consonants will be preceded by the article "A.

For example: a pet, a door, a green onion, a cat, a hysterical joke.

Understand that there are some exceptions to this rule. Some words may be spelled beginning with vowels but be pronounced with initial consonant sounds. Words that begin in h, y, u, and eu or "e" are common words that can cause confusion.

• Use "A" when u makes the same sound as the y in you: a union, a unicorn, a used napkin, a usability study.
• Use "A" when o makes the same sound as w in won: a one-legged man.
• Use "A" when eu or "e" makes the same sound as y: a European trip, a ewe lamb
• Do not use "A" when the h is silent.

An is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. A is used before words that begin with a  vowel sound.  As the article, "A"  meaning is one.

            a book             A lady             A tiger                A leaf             

Some words can be confusing because the spelling does not indicate the pronunciation.

            A house                                   (begins with a consonant sound)

            An hour                                   (begins with a vowel sound)

            A university                (begins with a consonant sound)

            An umbrella                (begins with a vowel sound)

Read words aloud if you're unsure. Sometimes, the way the word looks on the page is not enough to tell you which article to use. Read the word aloud in the way it sounds appropriate to you, and then base your article use on that

The following words begin with a consonant sound and thus must always be preceded by a.

Eruopean   eulogy         euphemism   eucalyptus house          home          heavy              half uniform      university   universal        union

Using an and a does not depend on the spelling of the word it comes before, it depends on the pronunciation of the word. In most cases though, an is used before words that begin with vowels (a, e, i, o u.):
an apple
an elephant
an igloo
an oven
an umbrella

Understand that there are also some exceptions to this rule. Some words may be spelled beginning with consonants but be pronounced with initial vowel sounds. Words that begin in h are the most common causes of confusion, but there are some other letters that can pose a challenge, too.

• Use "An" before a silent h: an hour, an honorable peace, an honest error.
• Use "An" before words that are spelled with consonants but pronounced with vowel sounds: an MBA.

The following words begin with a vomel sound and thus must always be preceded by an.

hour    heir            herbal         honor uncle   umbrella   unnatural   understanding

The initial sound of the word that immediately follows the indefinite article will determine whether it should be a or an.

                        an umbrella                  a white umbrella

                        an hour                        a whole hour

THE

The is used to indicate something that we already know about or something that is common knowledge.

The boy in the corner is my friend.     (The speaker and the listener know which boy.)

The earth is round.                              (There is only one earth.)

With non-count nouns, one uses the article the if speaking in specific terms, but uses no article if speaking in general.

Sugar is sweet.                                                (general-allsugar)

The sugar on the table is form Cuba.  (specific-the sugar that is on the table)

Normally, plural count nouns, when they mean everyting within a certain class, are not preceded by the.

Oranges are green until they ripen                  (all oranges)

Athletes should follow a well-balanced diet. (all athletes)

Normally a proper noun is not preceded by an article unless there are several people or things with the same name and the speaker is specifying one of them.

There are three susan parkers in the telephone directory.

The susan parker that I know lives on first avenue.

Normally words such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, school, church, home, college, and work do not use any article unless to restrict the meaning.

We ate breakfast at eight o’clock this morning.

We went to school yesterday.

Use the following generalizations as a guide for the use of the article the.

USE THE WITH	DON’T THE WITH
oceans, rivers, seas, gulfs, plural lakes the Red sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the Great Lakes mountains    the Rocky Mountains, the Andes earth, moon the earth, the moon	singular lakes Lake Geneva, Lake Eric mounis     Mount Vesuvius, Mount McKinley Planets, constellations Venus, Mars, Earth, Orion