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When I was younger, there was a river that was quite near to my house, the River Eden.
And we used to swim in the river in the summer.
I think it's the Atacama Desert.
And as you cross the border, you get in these old cars and just feels like you're in a film.
Hello and welcome to Learning English Grammar.
I'm Pippa.
And I'm Neil.
We just heard Beth and Phil talking about the outdoors, doing things in nature like swimming in lakes and climbing mountains.
Yes, Beth mentioned a river and the river.
In this episode, we'll learn when and how to use articles.
That's a, an and the.
You can read along with this podcast using the transcript on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
So, Pippa, do you enjoy being outdoors?
Yes, if the weather's good.
I like walking up mountains and hiking round lakes, things like that.
What about you, Neil?
Yeah, I love hiking in the countryside.
I think it's a great way to relax.
Well, I've been speaking to Beth and Phil about their experiences outdoors in the UK and abroad.
As you listen, pay attention to the words a, an and the.
Well, this wasn't abroad, but when I was younger there was a river that was quite near to my house, the River Eden, and we used to swim in the river in the summer.
There were rapids and it was really good fun.
But abroad I actually went swimming this year in Slovenia In Lake Bled.
And that was really nice because it was quite warm, even though it was a lake.
I'm not really much of a climber, so I've never climbed any huge mountains.
But I can tell you about the biggest mountain I've seen or the tallest mountain I've seen.
And that would have to be Aconcagua, which it's in Argentina, very near Chile.
It's in the Andes.
And I saw it from the road and you could see it in the distance with snow on top.
And it was really spectacular looking.
So, when we talk about something for the first time, we use the article a or an.
Beth said there was a river near to her house.
As she told us more, she started to use the.
She said she used to swim in the river.
Yes, this is a general rule about articles.
Use a or an when you first introduce something and then use the when the person you're talking to knows what you're talking about.
But there's lots more to learn about articles.
And here to help us is Georgie, our resident grammar guru.
Hello, I've come to help our listeners with a, an and the.
You've already mentioned the basic rules, but I want to tell you one more.
We don't use an article when we speak in general about something.
Pippa, you said this earlier.
If the weather's good, I like walking up mountains and hiking round lakes, things like that.
Another example would be, I prefer cats to dogs.
We use the plurals cats and dogs because we're not talking about a specific animal.
We're talking in general.
Now, there are a few rules with articles related to geography, aren't there?
That's things like countries, lakes, mountains and deserts.
That's right.
Let's start with countries.
We don't use the word the with most countries.
Beth talked about Slovenia and Phil talked about Argentina and Chile.
It's in Argentina, very near Chile.
But there are some exceptions.
We use the when countries are commonly known by their abbreviations, like the USA or the UK, or if they are related to a group.
The Philippines and the Bahamas are a group of islands.
Earlier, Beth mentioned the River Eden and Phil talked about the Atacama Desert.
Why do they have the before them?
We normally use the with the names of rivers, seas, canals, deserts and mountain ranges.
Think about some famous rivers.
In London there's the Thames.
Then we have the Ganges, the Nile and the Amazon.
And Phil mentioned a mountain range earlier.
It's in the Andes.
OK, so we use the for mountain ranges.
We say the Himalayas and the Alps.
But what about actual names of mountains?
Phil said Aconcagua and we say Everest and Kilimanjaro.
Why don't they have the before them?
Well, we don't normally use the with the names of individual mountains, like you just mentioned, or lakes.
Which lake does Beth mention?
I actually went swimming this year in Slovenia and in Lake Bled.
Beth talked about Lake Bled, and I'd quite like to go to Lake Como in Italy.
It looks beautiful.
OK, let's do a quick recap.
Use a or an when you mention something for the first time.
After this, when it's clear what you're talking about, use the.
Use plural nouns when talking about something generally, like I love mountains.
Now for geography.
We use the with the names of mountain ranges like the Andes, rivers like the Thames, and deserts like the Atacama Desert.
We don't use the with most countries or with individual lakes or mountains.
Well, I feel like I've had a geography class and an English class.
Thanks, Georgie.
No problem.
See you later.
Bye.
Bye.
Right.
We're going to play a game to practice articles.
Neil, I'll ask you to name three things and you have to answer as quickly as you can.
Let's do an example.
Neil, name three mountains.
Mount Everest, Mount Olympus and Kilimanjaro.
Great.
And if you're listening, try to beat Neil and get the right articles.
Now, let's start.
Neil, name three countries with the at the start.
The Netherlands, the Philippines and the United States of America.
Amazing.
Now, name three rivers.
The Thames, the Seine and the Nile.
OK, last one.
Name three famous lakes.
Lake Baikal, Lake Superior and Lake Geneva.
Impressive, Neil.
I'm very impressed with your geography knowledge.
Thank you.
Have you ever swum in a lake or climbed a mountain?
Send an email to learningenglish at bbc.co.uk to let us know.
That's it for this episode.
We've learnt that Neil's got very good geography knowledge.
And we've learnt that most countries don't have the before them.
We'll be back next week to learn some more grammar tips.
In the meantime, you can test what you've learnt in this episode with the worksheet on our website.
Both the and a are pronounced with the most common sound in English.
To learn more about this and to improve your pronunciation, watch the Pronunciation Lounge on our website, bbclearningenglishcom.
Goodbye for now.
Bye.
