Articles made easy for OET Candidates !

Articles are an important OET grammar component. These always come top of the list when it comes to those tricky bits of English grammar that take a while to click. The terminology can make the use of articles sound confusing, but it is actually quite simple! First thing to remember is that mistakes in ‘articles’ fall under Language in OET Writing Assessment Criteria.

Read this article and have a go at the mini-tasks, and you’ll have solved your article worries in a matter of minutes…

1. Nouns

Articles come before some nouns, so nouns are the best place to start.

A noun can be a person, a place or an object. There are many types of nouns and reading up on them will help you to get your head around articles.

1.1. Indefinite (a/an)

This type of article refers to an unspecified noun or you could say any of the noun type.

Examples:

Mrs. Brooks has a history of diabetes. 

Mr. Jackson was referred to an orthopedist. 

The indefinite article ‘a’ is used before a word that begins with a consonant or consonant sound when pronounced.

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Common medical words that begin with a

The indefinite article ‘an’ is used before a word that begins with a vowel or a vowel sound when pronounced.

Common medical words that begin with a

1.1.1 Abbreviations

Deciding which indefinite article should be used with abbreviations is tricky. You need to understand if the abbreviation is pronounced as a single word, letter by letter or in expanded form.

Here is a list of common

✘ Do not use indefinite articles with uncountable nouns in OET.
For example, information, tenderness, bleeding, etc.

1.1.2 Medical Conditions & Medication

✘ Do not use indefinite articles with medical conditions or medication names.

1.1.3 Treatment Procedures

✘ Do not use indefinite articles with medical/treatment procedures as given below.

However, if a countable noun follows the above, an indefinite article can be used.

1.2 Definite Article (the)

Examples:

On examination, she had pain in the left lower abdomen.

Further investigation confirmed a bacterial infection in the heart.

She presented with a scar on the left cheek.

Mrs X reported noticing a lump in the left breast.

Examples:

Suspecting peptic ulcer, a CT scan was ordered. The scan revealed multiple gall stones.

Today, Mrs. Zara reported experiencing severe chest pain for a day. The pain was constant and lasted for 5 minutes.

Examples:

Mrs Martha reported noticing a lump in her left breast.

An X-ray confirmed a fracture in his right foot.

Examples:

She presented with features of an acute abdomen.

His X-ray revealed an enlarged heart.

On examination, he had a swollen left knee.

2. Job Roles

In your OET writing and speaking test, you will often need to refer to the roles of medical professionals. Job roles will always take an article. You will need to decide whether the role/person you are referring to is general (a/an) or specific (the).  Make up a few phrases with the examples below.

E.g. The doctor has referred her to a psychiatrist.

a/the doctor

a/the nurse

a/the dentist

a/the psychiatrist

a/the support worker

an/the anaesthetist

3. Nouns describing patients

Nouns describing patients will also need to be preceded by an article. In this case, you would sometimes be using the definite article as you are referring to a specific patient. However, there will be some instances where you would use the indefinite article. Have a look at the examples below and put them into some sentences.

E.g. The father of the child is a factory worker.

a/the woman

a/the father

a/the child

a/the widow

a/the factory worker

an/ the alcoholic

4. Uncountable nouns

These are nouns you cannot write article ‘a’ with. Some of the uncountable nouns are”

pain

advice

assistance

cancer

surgery

Now try and put some sentences together using both lists.

And there you have it…articles are easy!

EXERCISE 1

Fill in the following with the appropriate article