Simple Way to Use Definite and Indefinite Articles in English
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hi everybody welcome back to ask Alicia
the weekly series where you ask me
questions and I answer them maybe first
question comes from Hamid hi Mohammed
Mohammed says which one is correct
seeking for a job or seeking to a job or
seeking a job thanks the correct answer
is seeking a job seeking a job when you
use the verb seek you can follow seek
with the thing you are looking for so
you can hear there though if you change
the verb if you use the verb look you
also need to change your pattern there
like looking for a job is correct
looking to a job is not correct and
looking a job is not correct but seeking
a job is correct so I hope that this
helps you thanks very much for the
question ok let’s move on to your next
question next question comes from
Antonio Locke oh hi Ann again Antonio
Antonio says hi Alicia I noticed
sometimes we use that and sometimes not
for example Alicia told me that she was
busy yesterday versus Alicia told me she
was busy yesterday is there a rule for
when we should use that or is it up to
the person yeah both examples are
correct so we use that before noun
clauses so we’re introducing some
information we can include it or we can
choose not to include it depending on
some like style guides especially if
you’re writing some style guides tell
you specifically kind of strictly when
not to use that but in everyday speech
it like you suggested it’s just up to
the person we choose to include that or
not include that so it’s up to you for
everyday speech if you want to get
really technical you can check a style
guide hope that helps you thanks for the
question ok let’s move on to your next
question the next question comes from
China ah hi Chun Appa China bus says
today I told my friend you can do it
I’ll always cheer you up and he replied
you better I asked him what does it mean
so I want to ask you Alisha what does
you better mean
yeah you better is a casual way of
saying yes you should do the thing you
just mentioned so it’s like agreeing
with you and saying yes you should do
that like you had better do that so we
use this with friends and you might hear
parents say this to children as well you
can use it in the positive and in the
negative and you should be careful about
your intonation so let’s look at two
examples so a positive example between
friends might sound like I’m gonna study
a lot this year yeah you better and
between like a parent and child sorry
mom I won’t do it again
you better not so the mom says you
better not meaning you had better not do
that thing again it’s better if you
don’t do that thing again so you had
better do or not do the thing you just
said that’s what it means hope that
helps you thanks very much for the
question let’s continue on to your next
question next question comes from Agatha
Agatha Agatha says hello could you
please explain in a simple way when to
use a definite and indefinite article
thanks yes if it’s not already up on the
YouTube channel it will be soon I made a
whiteboard video about this recently
let’s start with the indefinite article
the indefinite article is up or and we
use the indefinite article before is
singular noun so we use up before a
singular noun that starts with a
consonant sound and and before a
singular noun that starts with a vowel
sound please keep in mind this is a
sound based decision not a spelling
based decision so for example a word
like ours starts with an H but is
pronounced with a vowel sound ours so we
need to make sure we use an like an hour
for example so we use indefinite
articles when we want to introduce the
first instance of a noun or we need to
like introduce a new noun to a story or
to a situation so for example I saw a
dog or I ate an apple so these are like
new nouns coming into the situation then
we
use the definite article the when we
want to refer to a specific noun we
introduced earlier in the conversation
or story or we want to introduce a noun
that is known like everybody know is
from the situation what that noun is so
initially I said I saw a dog I ate an
apple I could say I pet the dog I threw
away the Apple so when I use the it
means that thing that I talked about
earlier in this case the dog and the
Apple so we use the when we want to talk
about the thing we talked about before
if that makes sense I hope that that
helps you understand definite and
indefinite articles a little bit though
so there will be more information
available very soon hope that helps you
thanks for the question ok let’s move on
to your next question next question
comes from MonaVie hi mom V Mon V says
could you tell me the meaning of
smartypants McGee smartypants McGee yeah
this is funny this is kind of a nonsense
word honestly this is a nonsense joke
word we need to break down let’s start
with the end part McGee
so you might see this spelled a couple
different ways like Mac key or McGee
actually McGee is a surname so McGee
could be someone’s last name but we pair
that with the expression smartypants so
a smartypants is someone who maybe is
actually very intelligent they’re quite
smart but they have like a lot of pride
about it like they’re smart and they
know it and they like to show it off
maybe a little bit we would use this
expression to talk about kids especially
I feel like she’s being a smarty pants
like she knows something and she’s like
excited and she wants to like show off
kind of so when we say smarty pants
McGee we’re kind of like teasing or
joking with someone because they are
kind of nerdy kind of uncool but they
maybe know a little bit about a subject
and they’re showing off a little bit
about it so we might say like oh stop
talking like smartypants McGee you’re
like aren’t you special smartypants
McGee that kind of thing this this is
not a word I would use but I’m sure
it’s like it’s used on the internet
somewhere it’s it would be like a joking
phrase you could use when your friend is
sharing lots of information and they
start to sound kind of like nerdy or
uncool I guess that’s what it means I
hope that that helps you let’s move on
to your next question then next question
comes from Carlos hi Carlos Carlos says
number one why is the double-o sound in
floor or door not like in book and look
is there a rule to when is the letter I
pronounced as I or with other sounds
like signal or idiom is there a rule for
this number three when do we use do or
make what is the difference wow that’s a
lot of questions regarding question 1
and question 2 no there’s no rule is the
easy answer is the short answer I would
suggest for the double-o sounds that you
try to remember the exceptions to the
rule so an exception is something that’s
like outside the regular pronunciation
so instead of trying to follow a rule
and think about a rule for something try
to memorize the exceptions the things
that are not typical regarding the I
sound there’s not an easy rule for this
one I would say it’s just gonna take
practice in time so I would say just
practice listen to the way native
speakers say the word if you find a word
in a book or something else and you
don’t know how to pronounce it you can
find in dictionaries online now there’s
a pronunciation button you can use like
Google has one merriam-webster has one
I’m sure for British English
dictionaries as well you can find a
similar function just search for the
word there should be an audio button
somewhere where you can click and it’ll
give you the pronunciation so that’s
another tool you can use to find the
correct pronunciation for things
regarding your final question the
difference between do and make this is
quite an open question so I’ll give
quite an open answer make is used for
things that we create so there’s some
kind of like creation process happening
there we use do to talk generally about
like our activities maybe we’re not
actually making things some examples I
want to make a video let’s make a cake
why don’t you make a plan for do I do
the dishes every day she does her
homework every night can you do your
exercises somewhere else these are kind
of activity related things make refers
to creation so that’s a very open answer
but I hope that it helps you a little
bit thanks very much for the question
all right that’s everything that I have
for you for this week thank you as
always for sending your questions
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