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A or The
(The Golden Ticket)

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I’m starving! I forgot my lunch today.

We use a in front of a noun when there is one of something or someone. 

 

If a noun starts with a, e, i, o, u we use an.

 

  • an apple

  • an ear

  • an idea

  • an onion

  • an umbrella

Rory is walking home with his friend, Paul...

I have an apple if you want it.

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No thanks! Do you want to go to the shop?

Paul is talking about a specific shop near their school, so he uses the.

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We use the when we talk about a specific thing or person.

 

For example….

I got a new Playstation game. It took all night to download but the game is really good!

 

  • a new game (there are many games and I downloaded one of them) 

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  • the game (that I downloaded) is really good

I’m going to get a bag of Tasto. What do you want?

There are many bags of "Tasto" crisps. The boys just want a bag of "Tasto" each. They don’t want a specific bag. Any bag of "Tasto" will do. So they use a.

Yeah, come on.

I think… a bag of Tasto too.

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Oooooh! There’s something in the bag.

What?

Rory uses the instead of a because he’s talking about a specific bag of crisps in his hand.

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It’s a ticket for a prize!

What's the prize? 

There are many tickets and prizes. Rory has just found one...so he uses a for ticket and prize.

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Paul uses the because now they are talking about the specific prize on the ticket.

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It’s a trip for two families to go to Tasto Park!

Rory uses a here because he introduces the idea of a trip.

 

We don’t generally use a or the for places, so Rory says, “...go to Tasto Park!”

 

  • We live in Dublin.

  • Let’s go to Buenos Aires.

  • We want to see Athens.

  • We’ve been to Tokyo.

  • I’ve been to Disneyland.

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Woah! Ahhh, stop!

Right at that moment, a bus goes by...

We use a for bus here because it’s new to the story.

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Paul uses the for "ticket" because he is talking about the ticket that was in the bag of crisps. He is talking about a specific ticket.

Oh no! It’s flying away!

Don’t lose sight of the ticket!

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After lunch, Mac likes to chat with Tucker, his friend...

What’s this? It looks like...a ticket...

What?

Sometimes, we don’t use the, for example…

 

  • I have the lunch with my friends.

  • After the dinner, we watched TV.

  • We go to the school every day.

  • He’s tired, so he’s going to the bed.

  • She’s going the home.

  • They eat bread for the breakfast. 

X

X

X

X

X

X

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Mac, don’t let go of the ticket!

It’s your boy! And a friend.

What’s this?

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You are such a hero, Mac!

Well, I do my best!

Huh?

  • to be starving: to be really hungry

  • Tasto Park: an imaginary theme park

  • theme park: for example, Disneyland

  • to lose sight of something: when you can’t see something anymore

  • to chat: to have a relaxing talk with someone

  • hero: a person who saves people or a situation

Glossary

crisp (UK English)

potato chip (US English)

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Quiz

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Choose another grammar story now

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