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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > A little confused, can anybody help?
A little confused, can anybody help?
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refis24
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A little confused, can anybody help?
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Hi, I am a new teacher. I was teaching a pre entry lesson today and we were learning He is, She is etc. I was talking about my husband and I said �he is at home �
One of my students then wrote �he is at Supermarket � I said it should be �he is at the supermarket � she said why and I was stumped! In honesty, I do get confused with �the � :/ I must do some more study on it.
Is there a simple rule that I can teach my students?
Thanks in advance :))))) |
15 Mar 2013
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spinney
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There is only one home but "the" supermarket because it �s a specific supermarket out of many, er, I suppose!
However, I always tell them that with regards to verbs of locomation (walk, go, swim, fly etc.) we never use "to" with the following three words:
home, here, there.
I don �t know if that �s any help.  |
15 Mar 2013
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edrodmedina
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Unless the store is called Supermarket then it should be lower case letters. Supermarket is a generic name for a store that sells groceries. It is not a proper noun. That is as if someone has a dog and its name is Dog, then it would be capitalized. Ed |
15 Mar 2013
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ueslteacher
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don �t make it too complicated though... just give a set of phrases with common places like at the supermarket, at the hospital, at the airport (the more the better) and then a list of phrases like at home (btw this one is an idiom so you could tell your student it �s a set phrase), at school , etc. and just practice them in sentences and they will remember. It �s essential for beginners/young learners to have prompts to work with, in this way you �ll be able to avoid mistakes like that.
Sophia |
15 Mar 2013
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anaram
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Some people include "home" as one of the cases of zero
article, together with public buildings when used for their specific purpose
(school, you are a student; hospital, you are ill etc.) There are some
more cases like meals, bed, etc.
Another possible explanation, which I consider more accurate, is that �home�
here is an adverb and adverbs don�t take articles, the same goes for �here� and �there�
Anyway, when �home� is a noun it doesn�t take article
either but it can go with possessive adjectives: �my own home�
I hope it helps.
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15 Mar 2013
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refis24
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That �s for you replies everybody. :)))
Edrodmedina - that capital S for supermarket was a typo error, but thanks for the advice :) |
15 Mar 2013
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Jayho
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Hi refis
Sophia�s suggestion is perfect for beginners.
In regards to the theory for your own info, as anaram said, some nouns have zero article. These are special cases. Most other countable nouns use a determiner of some sort.
Here are some special cases of zero article and how the article changes the meaning
He is:
- at work (working)
- at home (his own home)
- at the home of (in some-one elses home)
- at school (attending classes)
- at the school (visiting a school)
- at church (worshipping)
- at the church (visiting the church)
- in jail (detained by the law)
- at the jail (visiting the jail)
For more info, take a look here and point 4 of here .
Hope this helps
Cheers
Jayho |
15 Mar 2013
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GoreGo
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Hi Sophia!! The use of "at" or "in" are the same with supermarket as they are with theater, restaurant, stadium, etc.
If you say "at" it means anywhere in or immediately around it. If you say "in" you are referring specifically to the interior.
I would use "the" in most cases, even if the person I �m speaking with doesn �t know (or care) which market I use. I would use "a" to ask something like "Can you tell me where there �s a supermarket in town? I need to pick up some groceries."
(In fact, I use "grocery store" and not "supermarket" in my day-to-day vocabulary.) |
21 Mar 2013
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