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A, an, some, any y the A y an significan un, una indistintamente, y se emplean con nombres contables en singular. A se pone cuando la palabra siguiente empieza por consonante; an, por vocal. A cat (Un gato) An ocean (Un océano) An orange bike (Una bici naranja) Obsérvense los siguientes ejemplos: An hour (Una hora --> Nótese que la h es muda, por lo que hour empieza por un sonido vocálico.) A hot dog (Un perrito caliente --> La h se pronuncia aquí.) A university student (Un estudiante universitario --> La u de "university" no tiene un sonido vocálico, sino que más bien, consonántico. Equivaldría a decir yu en castellano.) An unusual situation (Una situación poco corriente o inusual -->La u es una vocal aquí.)

El plural de a o an es some: Some cats (Unos gatos) Some oceans (Unos océanos)

Some se usa también para sustantivos incontables: some milk (leche, un poco de leche).

En negativa y en interrogativa se emplea any en vez de some: There wasn't any milk. (No había leche o nada de leche.) Has she sent you any photos? (¿Te ha enviado fotos, alguna foto?)

Sin embargo, en los casos siguientes empleamos some en las interrogativas: en peticiones, en ofrecimientos o cuando esperamos una respuesta afirmativa. Would you like some coffee? (¿Quieres café, un poco de café?)

Is there some ham in the fridge, mum? I'm very hungry. (¿Hay jamón de York en la nevera, mamá? Tengo mucha hambre. -->El hablante le está pidiendo a su madre de una forma indirecta jamón, y espera que ella le diga que sí.)

El artículo definido the (el, la, los, las) se utiliza para referirnos a cosas ya introducidas en el discurso o para referirnos a algo único: A man and a woman were walking along the path. The man was wearing a red jumper and the woman, a pink jacket. (Un hombre y una mujer paseaban por el sendero, camino. El hombre llevaba un jersey rojo y la mujer, una chaqueta rosa.) I would like to go to the moon. (Me gustaría ir a la luna.)

Some, any y the no se mencionan cuando los sustantivos expresan una idea general: I love bananas. (Me encantan los plátanos.) Milk is very good for children. (La leche es muy buena para los niños.)

ACTIVITIES A. Put a, an, some, any, or a dash (-), if that does not add anything in the blanks. (Ponga a, an, some, any o una raya (--), si no hay que añadir nada, en los espacios en blanco). 1. I need __________ volunteer to sweep the sitting-room and the kitchen. 2. Let's buy __________ grapes for the party. 3. May I have __________ water, please? 4. There aren't __________ strawberries. 5. It was __________ easy exam. Everybody passed it. 6. There is __________ lady at the door who asks for you. 7. We don't have __________ coke. 8. She hasn't got __________ friends 9. "Are there __________ trees?"

"No, there aren't __________ (trees). It's a desert place." 10. __________ elephants never forget.

B. Put a, an, some, any, the or a dash (-), if that does not add anything in the blanks. (Ponga a, an, some, any, the o una raya (--), si no hay que añadir nada, en los espacios en blanco). 1. __________ onions aren't in __________ cellar. They are in __________ kitchen. 2. __________ whales and __________ elephants are __________ biggest mammals on earth. 3. There were __________ books and __________ comics. __________ books were broken, but __________ comics weren't. 4. "Could you give me __________ sweets, granny?" "Of course, love!" 5. I've lost __________ crayons I bought yesterday. 6. She hates __________ garlic, but I love it. 7. We would like to spend __________ week in Barcelona. 8. __________ pollution is destroying __________ earth. 9. There isn't __________ apple juice left. Let's buy __________ (apple juice). 10. "Did they drink __________ wine?" "No, they didn't."

"much" / "many" / "a lot of" se traducen por "mucho".

Las reglas que se aplican son las siguientes, si bien cabe cierta flexibilidad: a) En oraciones afirmativas: "a lot of" b) En oraciones negativas e interrogativas: b.1) Con sustantivos contables: "many" many books, many coins, many girls... b.2) Con sustantivos incontables: "much" much time, much effort, much energy 2.- "little" / "few" se traducen por "poco". a) Con sustantivos contables: "few" few books, few pencils, few tickets... b) Con sustantivos "incontables": "little" little sugar, little rain, little water... Ejemplos: She is very friendly and has a lot of friends I don't have many paintings in my flat When you were unemployed, did you receive much help from your family? This bookshop has few books about Spanish history There is little hope that the hostage will be released ACTIVITIES There are ________ people who prefer to work part-time We don't have ________ time to listen to your arguments You need ________ time to finish your homework Look at the sky! You can see ________ birds flying southwards Have you received ________ letters from your friend? ________ people know that you worked abroad for ten years I can see that you have ________ interest in helping me Translate all the sentences of the activities.