Articles 2

Geography

We use the with names of oceans, seas, rivers, geographical use. 

The ship sailed across the Pacific.

Sthe sun sises in the East. 

Our company sells air conditioning equipment in the Middle East. 

The DAnume is the longest river in the European Union.

We use the for locations, but zero article for general directions.

The sun rises in the east. 

The road runs from north to south. 

We use zero article with countries, lakes, continents. 

Lake Geneva borders France and Switherland. 

Moroccon is a counrty in the Nourth-west of Africa. 

Mames of mountains vary:

Hi's climbed Everest and Mont Blanc but not the Matterhorn. 

Island are normally with zero article unless part of post-modifications with of. 

I've been to Crete/Majorca/Cuba.

I haven't been to the Isle of Wight. 

They lived many years on the Island of Crete. 

We use the with deserts. 

Parts of the Sahara can be cultivated. 

Academic subject

We use zero articles for academic subjects such as geography and history.

I'd rather study physics than biology.

Note that these words can be used as adjectives. In this case the use of articles depends on the noun.

I've started a physics course.

The biology teacher is really good. 

Nationality

We use the with nationality adjectives that ends -ese, ch, sh, ss refer to all the people of the nationality, e.g. Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, British, Swiss, Dutch.

The Japanese eat a diet that includes a lot of fish. 

We use the with the nationality nouns in the same way e.g. Russians, Americans, Poles, Greeks, Turks, Germans, Belgians:

The Russians and the Poles are used to cold weather. 

We use a/an with a singular examples.

a Swiss, an Australian. a Greek, a Turk, a Chinese, a Japanese, a Russian, a Pole, a Romanian, a Bulgarian, an Egyptian, a Jordanian.

Some nationalities (end in -man/-woman) have unique names

an Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman, a Welshman, a Frenchman, a Dutchman, a Spaniard, a Cypriot, a Thai, a Pakistani, an Iraqi, a Saudi, a Filipino.

Calendar

We use zero article when we refer to days, months or parts of the day.

I'l lsee you on Monday at midday.

The couse begins in September. 

The with a day of week refers to a  day in a particular week and with a monthe to a month in a particular year. 

During the week the weather worsened, and on the Friday it rainded all day. 

A/an with a day of the week refers to the day as typical example.

It was a Tuesday afternoon in August amd nothing much was happened. 

Home, school, prison, hospital, work, university

We use zero articles is with at home, at school, at university, at bed, in prison hospital when we speak about the use or purpose of the place

Maria is in hospital (she’s ill)
Alan is at university (he’s student)

We use zero article with verb of movement e.g home, to school, to bed

Are you going home? 

No/ i'm going to school.

We use the when we refer to the building, place

The bus stops outside the university. 

Leave the towels on the bed. 

I was walking past the hospital.

There was a riot in the prison. 

Compare

Alan's in bed. 

There's a beetle in the bed! 

Generalized locations and activities. 

We use zero arrtice in these phrases when we are more intested in what people are doing than where they are. 

on holiday, on tour, on location, on stage, od duty, at work.

We're on holiday for three weeks. 

He's on stage for eight perfomances a week. 

For specific instances we use a/an or the

They decided to take a holiday abroad.

He ran onto the stage. 

Changes of meaning. 

Uncountable nouns can change meaning in context as shown by the use of the article.

Ta/an: a coffee, a cap of coffee, - Can i buy you a coffee?

the: the cofee (a definite example) - Put the coffee on the table.

zero: (some) coffee (in general) - Do you like coffee? 

MAny names of substances have a change on meaning when reffers to objects. 

glass

glassed

iron

paper, a paper

Some food names which usually have no plural have a technical use as a singular noun with a/an

I try to eat as much fresh fruit as i can

This is a fruit that only grows in the tropical,

Wine, beer, cheese, meat, oil