more specifically, the rules where we have exceptions in using articles. So when I'm

更具體的說，是使用冠詞的例外條件

observing people's English, all the time I'm hearing the same mistakes with articles. So

當我在觀察人們說英文時，我常常都會聽到相同的冠詞錯誤

what you will learn to do in this lesson is how to avoid those really, really common mistakes

在這個課程裡你會學到如何避免這些錯誤

I hear all the time.

這些我常聽到，非常常見的錯誤

If you're somebody who just doesn't use articles at all because in your native language, you

如果你不太會使用冠詞，是因為你的母語裡沒有冠詞

don't have articles, I understand it can be really, really hard to start using them. But

那我可以了解，要開始使用冠詞是非常困難的

they are an important aspect of grammar, and you should be using them. So if you watch

冠詞是英文文法很重要的一部分，你應該要會使用

this lesson, you'll get some tips for using articles, where you need them, and where you

所以你如果收看了這個課程，你就會知道使用冠詞的小技巧。什麼地方該使用

shouldn't use them. And also, if you're someone who's getting articles right nearly all the

什麼地方不該使用。如果你常常使用冠詞

time, I'm quite sure that you will pick up one or two rules here that you didn't know

我也可以保證你會發現一至二個規則，是你先前不知道的

before. So let's get started.

讓我們開始吧

There are eight different rules. Rule No. 1: When we're talking about countries, most

這裡有八個不同的規則。規則一：當我們提及國家時

countries we don't use an article. So here some sentences. "She lives in England. They

大部分的國名前不使用冠詞。這裡有一些句子。她住在英國

live in America." We don't use articles. But if the country's considered to be a nation

他們住在美國。這裡都沒有使用冠詞。但如果一個國家是屬於聯邦時

state, a collection of different states, or a collection of different countries in one

由不同的州祖成，或由不同的小鄉村組合成一個大州

bigger state, then we use articles. Here are examples. So "the U.S.A., the U.K., the U.A.E."

那我們就會使用冠詞。這裡有一些例子：美國、英國、阿拉伯聯合大公國

-- where I spend a lot of my time -- and here are -- also, we need to mention islands. When

我在那裡待了很長的一段時間。然後，我們討論一下島嶼

a country is a group of islands, we always use articles. So we would say "the Virgin

當一個國家由一群島嶼組成時，我們也會使用冠詞，所以我們會說''維京群島''

Islands", and we'd say "the Philippines" as well.

''菲律賓''

It's interesting that we can say, "She lives in England" because England is one country,

很有趣，我們可以說''她住在英國''，因為英國是一個國家

but when talking about the same -- okay, it's not exactly the same place, the U.K., because

但我們也可以說''英國''。這兩個地方是不一樣的

it's -- the U.K. is more than one country. It's more than just England. But sometimes

the U.K.英國是由幾個不同聯邦組成的，不只是England

people think of it as being the same place. It's not. When we're talking about the U.K.,

有時候人們會以為兩個是一樣的。當我們說the U.K

we need an article, but just for "England", it's okay not to use an article.

我們需要冠詞，但只要說England就好，不需要冠詞

Let's take a look at rule No. 2. Rule No. 2 -- this is a really subtle rule, here. And

讓我們來看看規則二。規則二：這不是很細緻的規則，

this one I always correct in sentences. When people talk about meals -- breakfast, lunch,

但我常常需要在句子中修正。當說到餐─早餐、午餐、晚餐

dinner, also brunch is a meal you might not know. It's in between breakfast and lunch.

你可能不知道早午餐也算是一餐，在早餐和午餐之間吃的餐點

-- we don't use articles. So here's a correct sentence. "I don't eat breakfast." I'm talking

我們不會在餐之前加冠詞。以下是正確的句子：我不吃早餐

in general there. "I don't eat breakfast." That's okay to say. However, if I'm being

一般狀況而言，你可以說：我不吃早餐。然而，

specific, "We didn't like the dinner", it's okay to use an article here. You need to.

你也可以說：我們不喜歡這晚餐，在這裡，使用冠詞是可以的

So what does the sentence actually mean? Imagine that we were out last night, and we had a

所以這個句子到底是什麼意思呢？想像昨晚我們外出吃晚餐

meal. And now, we're talking about it. "Well, the place was nice, but I didn't like the

而現在，我們正在討論它。''那地點真好，但我不喜歡昨晚的餐點''

dinner." Being specific about that experience we had. If I'm talking in general, "I don't

是具體的想要表達我們的經驗。如果我是在說大部分時候的狀態，''我不喜歡晚餐''

like dinner", that would just mean all the time, okay? So it's a very big difference

這就代表你''總是''不喜歡晚餐

in meaning.

他們是非常不同的意思

Now, we'll look at rule No. 3 for jobs. Jobs take the indefinite article. That's a grammar

現在我們要來看規則三：職業。職業會和''不定冠詞''放在一起。''不定冠詞''是文法的專用字

word. And "indefinite article" means "a". We don't use "the". Here's our example. "I

''不定冠詞''就是a或是an，不是the。以下是例子

want to be a politician." I actually really don't want to be a politician, but maybe some

''我想要當政治人物''。事實上我一點也不想當政治人物，但是收看這些影片的其中一些人可能想

of you watching this do. If you want to be a politician, you should really study English

如果你想要當政治人物，你需要非常努力的讀英文

really hard. It's very important.

這很重要

Let's have a look at the next rules. No. 4 -- do you know this English language board

讓我們看看下一個規則。第四個：你知道有種英文木板遊戲叫做"Scrabble"?

game called "Scrabble"? In this board game, you get points for spelling words. And if

這個木板遊戲，你會透過拼字來得到分數

you can spell a long word, that's better, usually. It depends. But sometimes, you'll

如果你會拼很長的單字通常比較好。但有時候，

have a long word that everybody knows, but actually, you can't get any points for it

你如果拼了大家都知道的長單字，你在Scrabble裡就無法得分

in Scrabble because it's a proper noun. And that basically means a noun that takes a capital

因為它是專有名詞。也代表它是第一個字母大寫的名詞

letter. So it could be a word that everybody knows like "June, August, Friday" or a place

可能是大家都知道的，像是''六月''、''八月''、''星期五，或是地名''倫敦''

name like "London". And you don't get any points for that in Scrabble. Also, how it

你拼了這些字你就無法在Scrabble裡得到分

relates to this lesson is when we're using proper nouns, we don't use "the". We don't

跟這個課程相關的，我們討論專有名詞，專有名詞前我們不加the

use the definite article. But we can use prepositions. So "See you on Monday" or "He is in London."

我們不會用定冠詞(the)，但我們可以用介詞。''星期一見''或''他在倫敦''

It's okay with proper nouns, but not the definite article.

專有名詞這樣使用是可以的，但是不加定冠詞

Rule No. 5: When we're talking about languages, we don't use articles there either. So we

規則五：當說到語言時，我們也不會使用冠詞。所以可以說：

can say, "He speaks English." That's a perfectly good sentence.

''他說英文''。這樣是個完整的句型

And rule No. 6, okay. When there's only one of something, then we use "the". So what things

規則六：當東西只有一個時，我們使用the

are there only one of something? Well, if you look up in the sky, and it's night. There's

什麼東西只有一個呢?當你抬頭看天空時，現在是晚上

only one moon. And there's only one sun in our solar system. So when we're using the

只有一個月亮，太陽系中也只有一個太陽

moon and the sun, we always use "the" with it. And maybe this one is a confusion sometimes

所以當我們說太陽跟月亮時，會加上the。這個規則有時候可能會讓你困惑

because in your language, maybe "moon" and "sun" are names, so you think they don't use

因為你的母語的關係。你可能認為月亮和太陽是名字，所以不加冠詞

an article. Well, anyway, in English, they do take an article, so it's really important

總之，在英文中，他們是需要加冠詞的。

that you don't forget to use "the". And -- oh, yes. Here's another one that there's only

所以很重要，別忘記他們要加上the。還有一個東西，是世界上只有一個的

one of something in the world. The Internet, okay? There's just one Internet. There are

網路。只有一個網路

all these different computers and devices connected to it, but there's just one Internet.

有許多不同的電腦和裝置是藉由網路聯繫著，但只有一個網路

So we use "the" with "Internet".

所以我們要把網路和冠詞一起使用

When we come back, we're just going to look at the final rules for using articles, the ones

再來，我們看最後兩個使用冠詞的規則

that people get wrong all the time.

這兩個總是被人們誤用的

Okay, let's take a look at the last two rules for articles. No. 7 is uncountable nouns.

讓我們來看看最後兩個使用the的規則。規則七：不可數名詞

What are uncountable nouns? These are nouns that we don't add S to, and we find them most

什麼是不可數名詞呢?是我們不會加上s的名詞，不可數名詞大部分是食物

of the time when we're talking about food. For example, "bread". Usually we don't put

例如''麵包''

a plural with "bread" or "pasta" or "rice". These kinds of things are uncountable nouns.

通常我們不會將麵包、義大利麵、米表達成複數。他們是不可數名詞

So usually, we're not going to use "the" with them if you're talking in general. If you

所以通常，我們不會把the和不可數名詞加在一起

say, "I like bread", we're talking in general, just as a statement. But if you say, "I like

如果你說''我喜歡麵包''，這是大部分的情形，就是一個陳述。但如果你說

the bread", we're talking about something in the room with us, something we can see,

''我喜歡這麵包''，這是在說跟我們在同一個空間、可以看見的麵包

something at the table with us now, some specific bread.

正放在桌上的麵包，特定的麵包

Rule No. 8 is very similar: abstract nouns. Again, these don't take a plural. What abstract

規則八非常相似：抽象名詞。抽象名詞不使用複數

nouns are is they represent concepts, not real things that we can touch in the world.

抽象名詞代表了一個概念，而不是真實、我們可以觸摸到的東西

They're ideas, concepts. So "information" is an abstract noun, and "freedom" is an abstract

它們是想法、概念。像''資訊''是抽象名詞、''自由''是抽象名詞

noun". And when do we use an article with these?when don't we use an article? Let's

那抽象名詞什麼時候要加the什麼時候不用呢?讓我們來看看

have a look. "The information was helpful." Here, we're being specific. I'm maybe talking

''這個資訊很有用''，這裡我們指特定的資訊。我可能在說我手裡有的資訊

about something I'm holding in my hands. Whereas, "Freedom is worth dying for" -- there is no

反之，''自由值得為之獻身''，這裡沒有冠詞

article here because that's a general grand statement about freedom. And if we put abstract

因為這是個對於自由的盛大聲名。如果我們將抽象名詞放在句子的一開始

nouns at the beginning of sentences, usually we don't want an article there because we're

我們通常不會加上冠詞

talking in general.

因為我們是在說一個總體的情況

So there are my eight irregular rules for articles. If you apply these, that will help

這些是我對於冠詞的整理。如果你學會運用他們的話

take your English to a higher level because many of these rules people miss out and not

這會幫助你的英文更上層樓，因為很多人都忽略了這些規則

using articles where they need to be, or the other way around. So if you want to take this

沒有在該用的時候用冠詞，或是用其他的錯誤方式使用冠詞。所以如果你想要更進一步的學習

a little bit further, you can go to the website, and you can do the quiz on the website. Also,

你可以去我們的網站，你可以在網站上做小測驗

if you like this video, you can subscribe. Subscribe here on my engVid channel. And also,

如果你喜歡這部影片，可以訂閱。按這裡訂閱我的engVid頻道

on my other YouTube channel where I've got more than 200 videos to help you learn English,

還有訂閱我其他的YouTube頻道，我有超過兩百部的影片幫助你學英文

as well. So yes. I'm finished now. And I hope you come back soon for more English with me.

好，現在要結束了，我希望很快能再看到回來跟我學英文

Bye-bye.

再見