（一）. 不定冠词的用法
1. 用在可数名词前表示 “一个” 相当于“one”(类指) 。
There is a book on the desk.
I’ll return in a day or two.
2. 用在专有名词前, 表示“某一个” 相当于“a certain”.
A Mr. White is waiting for you downstairs.
3. 表示 “一类” 相当于“any”(泛指).
A horse is a useful animal.
4. 表示 “每一” 相当于“per”.
The doctor asked me to take the medicine three times a day.
The envelopes are one yuan and twenty fen a dozen
5. 用在某些固定词组中.
a bit, a few, a pair of, have a good time, for a while, for a long time，a knowledge of ; have a gift for; give sb. a ride; a couple of; keep a diary; in a hurry; once in a while; at a loss; tell a lie; do sb. a favor
6. 用在抽象名词前，表具体的介绍:a + 抽象名 词，即抽象名词具体化。如：
This little girl is a joy to her parents.
It is a pleasure to talk with you.
It is an honour to me to attend the meeting.
7. 与物质名词连用，表示“一种，一阵、一份”。
What a heavy rain! A Sprite, please.
What a good supper! He bought a Toyota.
Please give me a black coffee!
8. “a” 用在辅音开头前, “an” 用在元音开头前.
a useful book, a European country, a one-year-old child,
an hour, an honest boy, an 800-metre-long bridge,
There is an “s” in the word “smile”.
(f, h, l, m, n, r, s, x)
(二). 定冠词的用法
1. 表示文中再次提到的人或物.
There is a book on the desk. The book is an English book.
2. 表示特指的人或物(即:谈话时彼此都知道的人或物).
Look at the blackboard.
Open the door, please.
3. 用在单数可数名词前表示泛指
The horse is a useful animal.
Horses are useful animals.
4. 表示世界上独一无二的东西
the sun, the earth, the capital, the sky, the universe
but: in nature, in space, in society, in history
5. 用在由普通名词构成的国家、党派等专有名词前以及江、河、湖、海、山川、群岛的名词前。
the United States, the People’s Republic of China, the Yellow River, the Rocky Mountains,
the Philippines, the Pacific Ocean, the China of 1840, the Paris of the east, the late Mr. Brown
6. 用在序数词、形容词最高级前。
the second story, the largest room, the third longest river
7. 用在方位名词前或某些表示时间的词组或习惯语中。
on the left, in the east / west, in the morning, on the other hand, in the end
8. 用在形容词或分词前表示一类人。
the poor / rich / dying / young / living / wounded
9. 在姓氏复数形式前，表示全家人或夫妇二人。
The Smiths are sitting at the breakfast table
10. 弹奏乐器时，乐器名词前
Do you like to play the piano or the violin?
11. 在表示发明物的单数名词前加定冠词
The compass was invented in China four thousand years ago.
12. 年代前
In the 1870’s/1870s, when Marx was already in his fifties, …
13. 在表示阶级、阶层的词前
the ruling class, the working people
14. 用在一些习惯用语中。如：
in the morning (afternoon, evening), by the way,
in the water/field/light/shade/distance/middle/country/rain
tell the truth/on the other hand/on the way home
15. 定冠词使用特殊的场合。
① He hit him in the face.
beat sb. on the nose, take sb. by the arm,
pat sb. on the head
② the elder of the two,
the most beautiful of the three
③ The sooner, the better.
④ He got paid by the hour.
by the yard/the dozen/the month/the piece
但：by weight按重量
另外:绰号的表达法如下Peter the Great, John the Lion-hearted, William the Conqueror
（三）不用冠词的情况(零冠词)
1. 专有名词、物质名词、抽象名词、人名、地名等名词前
China , America, John,
Air is a matter.
Failure is the mother of success.
But: He is the Mr. Zheng you are looking for.
He is a living Lei Feng.
The Shanghai of today is quite different from what it was .
Longjing is a famous tea.
a heavy rain, a strong wind, a soup
It is a pleasure to talk to him.
He wanted to give me a pleasant surprise
2. 可数名词前有物主代词、指示代词、不定代词、名词所有格限制时
This book is mine.
3. 季节、月份、星期、节日、一日三餐名称前
spring, summer, autumn / fall, winter, Sunday, October, National Day
but: in the spring of that year,
I met him on a Monday last month.
4. 称呼语，表示头衔的名词作表语、宾语补足语及同位语时
What’s this, Mother?
He was made monitor.
George W. Bush is president of the USA.
5. 学科名词，球类、棋类名词前
Do you study mathematics?
He likes playing football / chess.
6. 泛指复数名词前
Computers are widely used in our daily life.
They are workers.
7. 在与by 连用的交通工具名称前
by car( bus, train, water, air, land)
8. 某些固定词组中
(1). 名词词组
husband and wife, brother and sister, day and night, knife and fork
(2). 介词词组
to / at / from school, in class, in prison, to / at / from work
in front of / in the front of
at table / at the table
out of question / out of the question
in charge of / in the charge of
in possession of / in the possession of
by sea / by the sea
9. as 引导的让步状语从句中，作表语的名词不带冠词。
Child as she is, she knows a lot of French.
10. 系动词turn （作“变成”解）后作表语的单数可数名词前习惯不用冠词。
The young girl has turned writer.
= The young girl has become a writer.
11. 在单数名词 + after + 同一单数名词（表示“一个接一个”）结构中，单数可数名词前不加冠词。
She did experiment after experiment.
shop after shop, mistake after mistake
12. 形容词的最高级前、序数词前也有不用定冠词的情况。
①“most + 形容词原级”作“十分、非常、极”解时，前面不用定冠词。
Oh, it’s most beautiful.
(a most beautiful picture= a very beautiful picture)
③当形容词最高级作表语，不表示与其他人或物相比时，其前不用定冠词。
The market in the country is busiest in winter.
②当两个形容词最高级并列修饰同一个名词时，第二个形容词前通常不用定冠词。 She is the tallest and fattest girl in our school.
④形容词最高级前有名词所有格或物主代词时，不能用定冠词。
A wolf in a sheep’s skin is our most dangerous enemy.
⑤序数词前面一般加定冠词表示“第……”之意，但在second 、third 等词前加不定冠词表示“又一，再一”之意。
…why you took a second arrow
注意：下句中“a first”表示“第一名、冠军”。
He is a top student in our class, for he often gets a first in maths.
13. no 与such 连用时应放在such 之前，such 后面的名词不用冠词。
No such thing has ever happened in this village
14. 固定词组
go to school (college, court, prison, work, church)
be in school ...
比较:
He went to college last year.
He went to the college last Sunday
1. George is ___ English boy. His homeland “England” is ___ European country. A.a; a
B.an; an C.an; a D.a; an
2. ___ a faithful animal. A.Dog is B.Dogs are C.A dog is D.An dog is
3. He had done the experiment seven times without success, so he tried ___ eighth time.
A.a B.an C.the D./
4. Hangzhou is ___ most beautiful city. A.a B.an C.the D./
5. ___ animals sleep under the snow in winter. A.Great many B.Many a C.A great
many D.A great deal
6. I came across my first teacher ___. A.on a Sunday B.on the Sunday C.on the
Sunday D.on Sundays
7. Longjing is ___ wonderful Chinese tea. A.a B.an C.the D./
8. ___ who lacks one or both parents is called an orphan. A.A child B.An child
C.The child D.Child
9. Where are ___ ? A.a pair of slipper B.a pair of slippers C.slippers D.the
slippers
10. ___ Park Hotel is no longer the highest building in Shanghai now. A.A B.An
C.The D./
11. The teacher patted the boys ___ affectionately. A.on their head B.on their heads
C.on the head D.on the heads
12. We are now living in the room whose windows face ___. A.in the south B.in south
C.to the south D.to south
13. Her hometown is ___ . A.near Mississippi B.near the Mississippi C.in
Mississippi D.in the Mississippi
14. As we all know, ___ sun rises in ___ east. A.the; the B./; / C.the; / D./; the
15. I like playing __ football, while my sisiter likes playing ___ piano. A./; / B.the; the
C.the; / D./; the
16. Bats sleep in ___ daytime and come out of hunt for food at ___ night. A.the; the
B./; / C.the; / D./; the
17. We celebrate ___ Internationas Women’s Day on ___ 8th of March. A.the; the B./;
/ C.the; / D./; the
18. My husband usually does not have much for ___ breakfast, but he had ___ big
breakfast today. A. the; the B. / ; / C. /; a D. a; the
19. My uncle lives in ___ Seventh Street in ___ London. A. the; the B. /; / C.the; /
D. /; the
20. ___ is making rapid progress in ___ new China. A. The science ; the B. Science; /
C. The science; / D. Science; the
21. Bill Clinton was elected ___ president of the United States in 1992. A. a B. an
C. the D./
22. She was put to ___ bed whenever she did something wrong. A.a B.an C.the
D./
23. Jumping out of ___ airplane at ten thousand feet is quite ___ exciting experience. A./;
the B./; an C.an; an D.the; the
24. --- Have you seen ___ pen? I left it here this morning. ---Is it ___ black one? I think I
saw it somewhere. A.a; the B.the; the C.the; a D.a; a
25. 25. Many people agree that ___ knowledge of English is a must in ___ international
trade today. A.a; / B.the; an C.the; the D./; the
26. 26. Alexander Graham Bell invented ___ telephone in 1876. A./ B.a C.the
D.one