1. Indefinite article (不定冠词)

　　我们用 "a , an " 当我们不知道他是诸多人或事中的哪一个：

　　* is one of many. ( 是许多个中的一个)

　　He is an artist.(=there are many artists)

　　* is not unique. (不是唯一的)

　　I have just bought a book

　　* has not been mentioned before. (之前没有提到过)

　　There was a new student in class today.

　　2. Definite article (定冠词)

　　我们用 " the " 当我们知道他是诸多人或事中的哪一个：

　　* is unique (or unique in that context) (是唯一的)

　　The Australian Prime Minister. (=there is only one)

　　I looked inside, the engine was in a terrible state. (=there is only one engine, in this case)

　　* has been mentioned before. (之前提到过)

　　The man gave me a ticket. I looked at it, and saw that the ticket was a single.

　　* is defined by the phrase which follows it. (要被接下来的短语详细说明)

　　What is the new student's name?

　　3. No articles (无冠词)

　　我们不用冠词当我们普遍地提及事物的时候：

　　* using plural or uncountable nouns (在使用复数或不可数名词时)

　　Do you like sport?

　　* with the names of people or places, but there are many exceptions (人名和地名的时候不用冠词，但是地名有许多例外，下文一一介绍)

　　He is Professor Jones

　　4. Fixed phrases ( 固定短语)

　　有许多固定搭配需要用或者不用冠词，我们应该来单独学习，他们包括：

　　a few at home at work at the beginning atthe end go to bed

　　go to the cinemas, shops, station in the world once a week

　　sixty kilometres an hour the next the other the other day

　　the same

　　二 经常发生问题的区域 (Areas that often cause problems)

　　1. Jobs (工作)

　　如果有许多人做这个工作我们用 a 或 an.：

　　My husband is an architect. (=there are many architects)

　　但是如果一个工作特别对应一个人，我们就要用“the”了：

　　He is having talks with the French foreign minister(外交部长). (=there is only one)

　　2. Superlative (最高级)

　　我们使用“the”在形容词最高级前面：

　　She is the best person for the job.

　　3. Last and next

　　有一些形容词如 “last” 和 “next ”同时可以用也可以不用定冠词“the”但是句意会发生变化

　　I saw James last night. (=the one before this one)

　　It is the last night of our holiday. (=the fanal one)

　　I will see you next week.(=the one after this one)

　　4. Institutions: school, prison, university, church, home, hospital

　　和以上机构连用时我们不用定冠词“the”

　　My sister had to stay in hospital overnight.

　　然而，如果我们指的是这个建筑，我们就要用“the”

　　Our flat is opposite the hospital.