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“Take a wife while you are young, that she may make
a son for you while you are youthful…”

(Instructions of Ani)

Marriages were arranged with parental consent needed, as they have been in most societies, especially among the upper classes. But the abundance of love poetry suggests that many couples did fall in love and choose each other as mates. That may be surprising, because most people tend to assume that the Egyptian writing was religious. Here is an example of poetry to show a part of the emotional side of Egyptian daily life:

“Let my love love me best and I shall ordain
Her hands full of lotus blossoms and flowers
Full of buds and perfumes, strong ale
And beer of every brewable kind
Then she’ll give me, her love, a day to remember
Make me drink down this day to its last shadow”

From the Turin Papyrus, in the Ramesside period circa 1100 BC, Egypt.

Early Egyptian wedding rings were simple circular bands, crudely crafted from indigenous materials such as hemp and reeds. In ancient times, wedding rings used to be worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. Ancient Egyptians believed that there was a vein that ran from this finger directly to the heart, and wearing a wedding ring there would connect the couple in love and destiny.

The groom often gave the bride’s family a gift and he also gave his wife presents. Legal texts indicate that each spouse maintained control of the property that they brought to the marriage, while other property acquired during the union was jointly held.
Most marriages had a contract drawn up between the parties. The poorer classes probably did not do that because possessions were probably few to consider and also the cost of a scribe would have been prohibitive.

Marriage settlements were drawn up between a woman’s father and her prospective husband, although most times the woman herself was part of the contract. The sole purpose of the contract was to establish the rights of both parties to maintenance and possessions during the marriage and after divorce if divorce should occur, just like today’s prenuptial agreement. What is really fascinating is the equality women held with men in their rights to own, manage, and receive property.

Clear and concise, Berry. In the event of divorce… Only discuss it once.
If the marriage ended in divorce, the rights of the wife were equally protected. Generally, she was entitled to support from her husband, especially if she was rejected by him through no fault of her own. The amount might equal one third of the settlement or even more. If the bride ended up committing adultery, she still had certain rights to maintenance from her former husband.

Here’s a standard marriage contract that was found among the numerous records left by the ancient Egyptians. The contract contains:

•The date (the year of the reign of the ruling monarch)
•The contractors (future husband and wife)
•The names of both sets of parents
•Husband’s profession (wife’s rarely mentioned)
•The scribe who drew up the contract
•The names of the witnesses

Then the details of the settlement followed. Here is the beginning of a marriage contract from 219 BC:

“The Blemmyann, born in Egypt, son of Horpais,
whose mother is Wenis, has said to the woman
Tais, daughter of the Khahor, whose mother is
Tairerdjeret: I have made you a married woman.
As your woman’s portion, I give you two pieces of
silver…If I dismiss you as wife and dislike you and
prefer another woman to you as wife, I will give you
two pieces of silver in addition to the two pieces of
silver mentioned above… and I will give you one third
of each and everything that will accrue to you and me.”

The finished document was given to a third party for safekeeping or kept among the records of the local temple.

In a few cases there would be a trial marriage for a year to see if pregnancy could occur. All was stipulated in the marriage contract.

In parts of ancient Egyptian society, men were permitted to have concubines, whose did not have the same protective status as wives.

Interestingly, one of the most affectionate titles one could call their love was “brother” or “sister” in ancient Egypt. Here’s love poem written by a young ancient Egyptian woman:

“My brother torments my heart with his voice,
He makes sickness take hold of me;
He is neighbor to my mother’s house.
And I cannot go to him”

(Second Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I)

Using such titles had nothing to do with sibling relations, but led many archaeologists and scholars to wrongly assume that most ancient Egyptians married their siblings.
Actually, Incestuous marriage usually occurred only among royalty, and was not a common occurrence otherwise. Where the principal wives of Kings were almost always of royal blood and were often either the full or half sister of the king. Such incestuous marriages had several practical benefits to the crown ruler;
First of all, kept outsiders away from the royal family, and produced at least a limited number of royal children eligible to inherit the thrown. Furthermore, ensured that a suitably trained princess would be placed in the most important role available to an Egyptian woman: that of queen.
Also monogamy, except for people of nobility and royalty, seemed to be the rule for most ancient Egyptian couples.

The day of the marriage was really quite simple. The bride merely moved her belongings into the home of her husband. He might be living alone or with his parents.
On this special day, the bride wore a long dress or tunic made of linen, which may have been covered from head to toe with bead-net. If she owned any gold, or silver, she probably adorned herself with them too.

Even though there was no official ceremony, knowing how much the ancient Egyptians loved music, dance and food, there was a family celebrations in honor of the uniting couple.

If the marriage didn’t work out, divorce was as easily initiated as marriage and could be brought about by either party. Since it was a private matter, the government took no interest in divorce. Relocate to where you were previously discussing divorce.
The most common reasons for a husband to divorce his wife included the inability to bear children, the desire to marry someone else, or that she simply stopped pleasing him. A woman could divorce her husband for mental or physical cruelty or adultery.
In few cases, if the woman chose to divorce, she forfeited her right to communal property.
Once divorced, both men and women could remarry as soon as they wished.

Needless to say, the ancient Egyptian bride, with the ease of marriage, divorce, and the financial protection she generally received, had a better time than other brides in modern times.

Rewrite. Focus on paraphrasing pronouns and demonstrative pronouns in addition to all non-specific terms. 

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Although the great influence on ancient Egyptian life, there was one place where religion had no role at all: the Egyptian marriage. There wasn’t even a civil ceremony. Rather, marriage simply took place when two young people decided to move in together and start a common household. But that doesn’t mean marriage was not taken seriously.

Once a young man was about sixteen to twenty years of age, it was appropriate for him to seek a partner and begin his own family. Females were probably thought to be ready for marriage when they were about fourteen or fifteen years old. The ancient Egyptians were encouraged to marry young, considering that the life span at this time was relatively short.

“Take a wife while you are young, that she may make
a son for you while you are youthful…”

(Instructions of Ani)

Marriages were arranged with parental consent needed, as they have been in all societies, especially among the upper classes. But the abundance of love poetry between young people suggests that many couples did fall in love and choose each other as mates. This may be surprising, because many people tend to assume that all the Egyptian writing was religious. Here is an example of poetry to show a part of the emotional side of Egyptian daily life:

“Let my love love me best and I shall ordain
Her hands full of lotus blossoms and flowers
Full of buds and perfumes, strong ale
And beer of every brewable kind
Then she’ll give me, her love, a day to remember
Make me drink down this day to its last shadow”

From the Turin Papyrus, in the Ramesside period circa 1100 BC, Egypt.

Early Egyptian wedding rings were simple circular bands, crudely crafted from indigenous materials such as hemp and reeds. In ancient times, wedding rings worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. The Ancient Egyptians believed that there was a vein that ran from this finger directly to the heart, and wearing a wedding ring there would connect the couple in love and destiny.

The groom often gave the bride’s family a gift and he also gave his wife presents. Legal texts indicate that each spouse maintained control of the property that they brought to the marriage, while other property acquired during the union was jointly held.
Most marriages had a contract drawn up between the parties. The poorer classes probably did not do that because their possessions were probably few to consider and also the cost of a scribe would have been prohibitive.

Marriage settlements were drawn up between a woman’s father and her prospective husband, although most times the woman herself was part of the contract. The sole purpose of the contract was to establish the rights of both parties to maintenance and possessions during the marriage and after divorce if divorce should occur, just like today’s prenuptial agreement. What is really fascinating is the equality women held with men in their rights to own, manage, and receive property.

If the marriage ended in divorce, the rights of the wife were equally protected. Generally, she was entitled to support from her husband, especially if she was rejected by him through no fault of her own. The amount might equal one third of the settlement or even more. If the bride ended up committing adultery, she still had certain rights to maintenance from her former husband.

Here’s a standard marriage contract that was found among the numerous records left by the ancient Egyptians. The contract contains:

•The date (the year of the reign of the ruling monarch)
•The contractors (future husband and wife)
•The names of both sets of parents
•Husband’s profession (wife’s rarely mentioned)
•The scribe who drew up the contract
•The names of the witnesses

Then the details of the settlement followed. Here is the beginning of a marriage contract from 219 BC:

“The Blemmyann, born in Egypt, son of Horpais,
whose mother is Wenis, has said to the woman
Tais, daughter of the Khahor, whose mother is
Tairerdjeret: I have made you a married woman.
As your woman’s portion, I give you two pieces of
silver…If I dismiss you as wife and dislike you and
prefer another woman to you as wife, I will give you
two pieces of silver in addition to the two pieces of
silver mentioned above… and I will give you one third
of each and everything that will accrue to you and me.”

The finished document was given to a third party for safekeeping or kept among the records of the local temple.
One of the expectations of the ancient Egyptian marriage was the bringing forth of children. In few cases there would be a trial marriage for a year to see if pregnancy would occur. This was all stipulated in the marriage contract.

In some parts of ancient Egyptian society, men were permitted to have concubines. But concubines did not have the same protective status as wives.

Interestingly, one of the most affectionate titles one could call their love was “brother” or “sister” in ancient Egypt. As in the following love poem written by a young ancient Egyptian woman:

“My brother torments my heart with his voice,
He makes sickness take hold of me;
He is neighbor to my mother’s house.
And I cannot go to him”

(Second Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I)

Using such titles had nothing to do with sibling relations, but led many archaeologists and scholars to wrongly assume that most ancient Egyptians married their siblings.
Actually, this usually occurred only among royalty, and was not a common occurrence otherwise. Where the principal wives of Kings were almost always of royal blood and were often either the full or half sister of the king. Such incestuous marriages had several practical benefits to the crown ruler;
First of all, kept outsiders away from the royal family, and produced at least a limited number of royal children eligible to inherit the thrown. Furthermore, ensured that a suitably trained princess would be placed in the most important role available to an Egyptian woman: that of queen.
Also monogamy, except for people of nobility and royalty, seemed to be the rule for most ancient Egyptian couples.

The day of the marriage was really quite simple. The bride merely moved her belongings into the home of her husband. He might be living alone or with his parents.
On this special day, the bride wore a long dress or tunic made of linen, which may have been covered from head to toe with bead-net. If she owned any gold, or silver, she probably adorned herself with too.
Even though there was no official ceremony, knowing how much the ancient Egyptians loved music, dance and food, there was bound to be speculation family celebrations in honor of the uniting couple.

If marriage didn’t work out, divorce was as easily initiated as marriage and it could be brought about by either party. Divorce was a private matter and the government took no interest in it.
The most common reasons for a husband to divorce his wife included the inability to bear children, the desire to marry someone else, or that she simply stopped pleasing him. A woman could divorce her husband for mental or physical cruelty or adultery.
In few cases, if the woman chose to divorce, she forfeited her right to communal property.
Once divorced, both men and women could remarry as soon as they wished.

Needless to say, the ancient Egyptian bride, with the ease of marriage, divorce, and the financial protection she generally received, had a better time of it than some brides in modern times.

What do you think about it now?

Better, but you still need to do some polishing, Berry. 

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Once a young man was about 16 to 20 years of age, it was appropriate for him to seek a partner and begin his own family. Females were probably thought to be ready for marriage when they were about 14 or 15 years old. The ancient Egyptians were encouraged to marry young, considering that the life span at this time was relatively short.
“Take a wife while you are young,
that she may make a son for you
while you are youthful…” (Instructions of Ani)

Many marriages were arranged with parental consent needed, as they have been in all societies, especially among the upper classes. But the abundance of love poetry between young people suggests that many couples did fall in love and choose each other as mates. This may be surprising, because many people tend to assume that all the Egyptian writing was religious. Here is an example of this kind of poetry to show a part of the emotional side of the Egyptian daily life:

“Let my love love me best and I shall ordain
Her hands full of lotus blossoms and flowers
Full of buds and perfumes, strong ale
And beer of every brewable kind
Then she’ll give me, her love, a day to remember
Make me drink down this day to its last shadow”

From the Turin Papyrus, in the Ramesside period circa 1100 BCE, Egypt.

Early Egyptian wedding rings were simple circular bands, crudely crafted from indigenous materials such as hemp and reeds. In ancient times, wedding rings was worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. The Ancient Egyptians believed that there was a vein that ran from this finger directly to the heart, and wearing a wedding ring there would connect the couple in love and destiny.

The groom often gave the bride’s family a gift, and he also gave his wife presents. Legal texts indicate that each spouse maintained control of the property that they brought to the marriage, while other property acquired during the union was jointly held.

It wasn’t necessary, but most marriages had a contract drawn up between the parties. The poorer classes probably did not do this because they probably had few possessions to consider and also the cost of a scribe would have been prohibitive.

Marriage settlements were drawn up between a woman’s father and her prospective husband, although many times the woman herself was part of the contract. The sole purpose of the contract was to establish the rights of both parties to maintenance and possessions during the marriage and after divorce if it should occur, very similar to today’s prenuptial agreements. What is really fascinating is the equality women held with men in their rights to own, manage, and receive property.

If the marriage ended in divorce, the rights of the wife were equally protected. Generally, she was entitled to support from her husband, especially if she was rejected by him through no fault of her own. The amount might equal one third of the settlement or even more. If the bride ended up committing adultery, she still had certain rights to maintenance from her former husband.
Here’s a standard marriage contract that was found among the numerous records left by the ancient Egyptians. It contained:
•The date (the year of the reign of the ruling monarch)
•The contractors (future husband and wife)
•The names of both sets of parents
•Husband’s profession (wife’s rarely mentioned)
•The scribe who drew up the contract
•The names of the witnesses
Then the details of the settlement followed. Here is the beginning of a marriage contract from 219 BC:

“The Blemmyann, born in Egypt, son of Horpais,
whose mother is Wenis, has said to the woman
Tais, daughter of the Khahor, whose mother is
Tairerdjeret: I have made you a married woman.
As your woman’s portion, I give you two pieces of
silver…If I dismiss you as wife and dislike you and
prefer another woman to you as wife, I will give you
two pieces of silver in addition to the two pieces of
silver mentioned above… and I will give you one third
of each and everything that will accrue to you and me.”

The finished document was given to a third party for safekeeping or kept among the records of the local temple.
One of the expectations of the ancient Egyptian marriage was the bringing forth of children. Sometimes there would be a trial marriage for a year to see if pregnancy would occur. This was all stipulated in the marriage contract.

In some parts of ancient Egyptian society, men were permitted to have concubines. But concubines did not have the same protective status as wives.

Interestingly, one of the most affectionate titles one could call their love was “brother” or “sister” in ancient Egypt. As in this part of a love poem written by a young ancient Egyptian woman:

“My brother torments my heart with his voice,
He makes sickness take hold of me;
He is neighbor to my mother’s house.
And I cannot go to him”

(Second Stanza, from Papyrus Chester Beatty I)

This had nothing to do with sibling relations, but led many archaeologists and scholars to wrongly assume that most ancient Egyptians married their siblings.
Actually, this usually occurred only among royalty, and was not a common occurrence otherwise. Where the principal wives of Kings were almost always of royal blood and were often either the full or half sister of the king. These incestuous marriages had several practical benefits to the crown ruler; they kept outsiders away from the royal family, and produced at least a limited number of royal children eligible to inherit the thrown. Furthermore, they also ensured that a suitably trained princess would be placed in the most important role available to an Egyptian woman: that of queen.

Also monogamy, except for people of nobility and royalty, seemed to be the rule for most ancient Egyptian couples.

The day of the marriage was really quite simple. The bride merely moved her belongings into the home of her husband. He might be living alone or with his parents.
In this special day, the bride wore a long dress or tunic made of linen, which may have been covered from head to toe with bead-net. If she owned any gold, silver or lapis, she probably adorned herself with those, too.

Even though there was no official ceremony, knowing how much the ancient Egyptians loved music, dance and food, there was bound to be family celebrations in honor of the uniting couple.

If it didn’t work out, divorce was as easily initiated as marriage and it could be brought about by either party. It was a private matter and the government took no interest in it.
The most common reasons for a husband to divorce his wife included the inability to bear children, the desire to marry someone else, or that she simply stopped pleasing him. A woman could divorce her husband for mental or physical cruelty or adultery. In some cases, if the woman chose to divorce, she forfeited her right to communal property.
Once divorced, both men and women could remarry as soon as they wished.
It’s also apparent that the ancient Egyptian bride, with the ease of marriage, divorce, and the financial protection she generally received, had a better time of it than some brides in modern times.

Fantastic content, Berry.  Now, get to work. 

Although I visited the Pyramids before, I felt the same strange feelings as if it was really my first time. It was a mix of amazement, fear, and greatness. You will never know what I am talking about till you have the chance to experience those feelings yourself.

Egypt contains a large number of pyramids (about ninety), but the most known ones are the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.

The first one is the Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops which is the only remaining monuments of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

It is also the largest pyramid ever built (2.3 million stone blocks, weighing an average of 2.5 to 15 tons each). This pyramid built around 2550 B.C. Its original height was 147 meters, but it is 137 meters now.

The Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface, but what is seen today is the underlying core structure.

The pyramid of Khufu contains three burial chambers; the fist one is under ground, the second one is above ground and called the queen’s chamber, and the third one is the king’s chamber which still contains the Khufu’s sarcophagus almost exactly at the center of the pyramid.

This Great Pyramid was the centerpiece of an elaborate complex, which included three small pyramids, five boat pits, a mortuary temple, a causeway, a valley temple, and many flat roofed tombs for officials and some members of the royal family.

The second pyramid or Khafre built around 2520 B.C. It is shorter than the first one where its height is 144 meters. But it surrounded with a more elaborate complex.

Outside this pyramid all the typical elements of a pharaonic mortuary temple are seen in one place for the first time: entrance hall, colonnaded courtyard, niches for royal statuary, storage chambers, and interior sanctuary.

The third pyramid or Menkaure’s pyramid built about 2490 B.C. It is the smallest one where its height is 65 meters. His mortuary temple was much elaborated than the one at the Khufu’s temple.

The Sphinx is the largest and oldest statue in the world. It is a human-headed lion, wearing the headdress of the Pharaohs. This great statue is the embodiment of Khafre. It faces east and has a small temple between its paws.

Ancient Egyptians called this place “Kher neter” which means the necropolis, and also imentet which means the west since they believed that: East is the symbol of life while West is the symbol of death, taking the Sun in their consideration where it always born in the east and die in the west.

Some legends claim that the Great Pyramid has a hidden chamber which holds the key to realizing the full secrets of knowledge and also to the mystery of life and its creation.
For me, I do not believe this story for a minute, rather than I believe that the Ancient people left us a message, but it was too simple to be recognized and this message is: the human brain is capable of much greater potential than we ever imagined. It possesses amazing power that can create the greatest things we can possibly dream of.
But we always find a great pleasure in searching for the unknown, forgetting that what we are looking for may be really closer than we think just as St. Augustine said:

“People travel to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses or rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and they pass by themselves without ever wondering.”

Hope you liked it…

Fantastic! Now, correct and add an interactive presentation. 

“Learning to speak another language means taking one’s place in the human community by reaching out to others across cultural and linguistic boundaries. Language is far more than a system to be explained. Language is our important link to the world around us. Language is culture in motion. It is people interacting with people.”

Learning a new language is an interesting experiment and considers as one of the best ways that could remove the boundaries between people through introducing them to a new world of knowledge. But learning is a skill and it can be improved. All you need is determination.

For instance, English language. There are different ways to learn and improve your English. Here I will try to mention some of those ways that I try myself:

First of all, you should have passion for the target language. Needless to say, there is a difference between learning because you just have to do and learning because you like to learn.

Second, you need to determine how advanced you are, and which activities you need to get you to the top.

In order to better yourself, you have to motivate yourself by setting achievable goals. You could start by improving your vocabulary, by exposing yourself to as much English as possible and the best way for doing that is regular reading. To make it more useful, choose subjects that you are interested in to learn about. Of course it will not be easy at first, but using a dictionary will sure help.

Another great source is watching movies that will help you to improve all aspects of your English. Try to watch them in English, if you find that hard, you can use it with subtitles.

Try to think in English and to write meaningful sentences without worrying about mistakes. Get your mistakes corrected and count it as a learning experience.

You also have to let your ears get used to the sound of English by many ways like; listening to radio, music, or by practicing with a native English speaker (this way would also improve your pronunciation). Even if you couldn’t find anyone to practice with, you could imagine situations and talk to yourself (but please try not to do that in public unless you would like others to think that you are crazy)…

Anyway, whenever you have a chance to talk or test yourself never waste it, because usage is the best language teacher.

Also learning from a professional teacher will be much better, but you have to remember that teacher just opens the door, but you have to enter yourself which means in all cases you have to work hard.

Finally, remember that learning a language takes time. So be patient and have confidence in yourself and enjoy learning…

Gradual improvement.

“Learning to speak another language means taking one’s place in the human community by reaching out to others across cultural and linguistic boundaries. Language is far more than a system to be explained.
Language is our important link to the world around us. Language is culture in motion. It is people interacting with people.”

Learning a new language is an interesting experiment and considered as one of the best ways that could remove the boundaries between people through introducing them to a new world of knowledge. But learning is a skill and it can be improved. All you need is determination.

For instance, English language. There are different ways to learn and improve your English. Here I will try to mention some of those ways that I try myself:

First of all, you should have passion for target language, because there is a difference between learning because you just have to and learning because you like to learn.

Second, you need to determine how advanced you are, and which activities you need to get you to the top.
In order to better yourself, you have to motivate yourself by setting achievable goals. You could start by improving your vocabulary, by exposing yourself to as much English as possible and the best way for doing that is regular reading. To make it more useful, choose subjects that you are interested in to learn about. Of course it will not be easy at first, but using dictionary will help.

Another great source is watching movies that will help you to improve all aspects of your English. Try to watch them in English, if you find that hard, you can use it with subtitles.

Try to think in English and to write meaningful sentences without worrying about mistakes. Get your mistakes corrected and count it as a learning experience.

You also have to let your ears get used to the sound of English by many ways like; listening to radio, music, or by practicing with a native English speaker (this way would also improve your pronunciation). Even if you couldn’t find anyone to practice with, you could imagine situations and talk to yourself (but please try not to do that in public unless you would like others to think that you are crazy)…

Anyway, whenever you have a chance to talk or test yourself never waste it, because usage is the best language teacher.

Also learning from a professional teacher will be much better, but you have to remember that teacher just open the door, but you have to enter yourself which means in all cases you have to work hard.

Finally, remember that learning a language takes time. So be patient and have confidence in yourself and enjoy learning…

I wish that all of my students would heed your advice. 

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You might think an animal like this has no chance to survive, but nature always have a solution.

Animals use color to blend in with their habitat to became almost invisible. This is what we call: camouflage or the art of concealment.

The term camouflage comes from the French word “camoufler” meaning “to blind or veil.”

Camouflage, also known as a kind of protective concealment, means to disguise an object, in plain sight, in order to conceal it from something or someone.

There are various ways for animals to camouflage or blend in with their environment.

Good improvement, Berry. 

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Although imitating sound is not a simple matter as some people believe, some birds are able to mimic human speech with great clarity.

This talent to imitate, which observed in a number of bird species, is not an ability that can be acquired by coincidence.

For a bird, reproducing a sound requires:

1- Excellent auditory organs.

2- High level of consciousness in terms of tone, stress, and expression.

3- Good memory to be able to remember and repeat sounds.

4- Strong powers of observation.

For example, the lyre bird is able to mimic the sounds of: cameras, camera shutters, rifle shots, and car alarms.

This talent makes him one of the world’s best imitators, and also proves that this bird is intelligent and does have not a primitive brain as people may think.

Outstanding! 

Happy New Year.

Countable nouns:
Refer to people, places, or things that can be counted which means there can be more than one of them.
For example: one apple/three apples.

These nouns can be used in the plural, usually by adding (s) or some other variation of the plural ending.
For example: book/books, country/countries, child/children.

A few words are the same in the singular and plural forms.
For example: deer, sheep.

Uncountable nouns (also called non-count or mass nouns):
Refer to things that can not be counted.
For example: sand, water.

These nouns aren’t usually used in the plural.
For example: temperature, money, news, advice.

Some uncountable nouns can be made countable by using a count frame in front of them.
For example: Three gallons of milk.

Uncountable nouns fall into several categories:
•Abstractions: laughter, information, beauty, love, work, knowledge.
•Fields of study: biology, medicine, history, civics, politics.
•Recreational activities: football, camping, soccer, dancing.
•Natural phenomena: weather, rain, sunshine, fog, snow (but events are countable: a hurricane, a blizzard, a tornado).
•Whole groups of similar/identical objects: furniture, luggage, food, money, cash, clothes.
•Liquids, gases, solids, and minerals: water, air, gasoline, coffee, wood, iron, lead, boric acid.
•Powders and granules: rice, sand, dust, calcium carbonate.
•Diseases: cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia (but traumas are countable: a stroke, a heart attack, etc.)

Nouns that are both countable and uncountable:

Some nouns can be countable in one meaning and uncountable in another. When they are countable, they can be made plural. When they are uncountable, they can’t be made plural.
For example: light, coffee
a- The light of the sun (uncountable)/turn on the lights (countable).
b- A jar of coffee (uncountable)/ three coffees, please (countable).

Now, we are ready to talk about articles.
Articles belong to a group of words which are known as determiners. Determiners are used in front of nouns to indicate whether you are referring to something specific or something of a particular type.
English language has two types of articles: indefinite and definite articles.

The indefinite articles (a, an):

(a) Is used in front of singular nouns that begin with a consonant or a vowel but it have a consonantal sound.
For example: a- a man, a book, a rock.
b- A European man, a useful idea, a university, a uranium isotope.

(an) Is used in front of singular nouns that begin with a pure vowel or a consonant but it have a vowel sound semiconsonant.
For example: a- an umbrella, an old custom.
b- An honest person, an heir to the throne, an hour-long lecture.
That means using a/an depends on pronunciation not spelling.

When to use a/an?

In certain situations, we always use “a” or “an.” These situations include:

1- In front of a countable noun that is being mentioned for the first time. But for each subsequent reference for that noun we use (the).
For example: she has two children: a boy and a girl. The boy is nine and the girl is seven.

2- In front of professions.
For example: He is an architect and she is a teacher.

3- It can also be used instead of per to give the rate of something.
For example: a- He earns $200 a week.
b- He drove at 60 mile an hour.

4- In front of “little” and “few” to give a positive meaning.
For example: The teacher gave a few good examples. (Indicates the presence of good examples) while: the teacher gave few good examples (shows the lack of good examples).

The definite article (the):
It is used to restrict the meaning of a noun to make it refer to something that is known by both of you and the person you are communicating with.
For example: Did you get the visa you applied for?

When to use (the)?

In certain situations, we always use “the” because the noun or the context makes it clear that what we’re talking about. Examples of these situations include:

1-Second mention with explicit first mention.
For example: You can get a giant ice cream cone downtown. If you can eat the cone in five seconds, you get another one free.

2-When the existence of something is common knowledge because of the context in which it is mentioned.
For example: Dr. Smith performed a complicated surgery. He said the patient is recovering nicely.

3-Shared knowledge (both participants know what’s being referred to, so it’s not necessary to specify with any more details).
For example: The boss asked about the report.

4-Unique nouns.
For examples: The earth, the moon, the sun, the environment, etc.

5-Ordinals numbers and superlatives (first, next, primary, most, best, least, etc.)
For example: a- Today is the best day of my life.
b- He was the first man to set foot on the moon.

6-In front of countable nouns to represent a whole class or category.
For example: a- The computer is a marvelous invention.
b- We have to look after the old.
7-In front of oceans, seas, rivers, island and mountain chains, deserts, countries with plural names, and with geographical areas.
For example: The Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile river, the Himalayas, the Sahara, the United States, and the Middle East.

8-In hotel names.
For example: The Hilton hotel.

9-For newspapers.
For example: The New York Times.

10-With the names of the musical instruments.
For example: He plays the piano.

11-Before the holy books.
For example: The Quran, the Bible.

12-To refer to different forms of entertainment except television (as a medium).
For example: a- the opera, the cinema, the radio, the theatre, and the circus.
b- In the evening I like to watch television.
13-For organizations and institutions except those you can read as whole words).
For example: The United Nations (the UN), the Commonwealth, the World Health Organization (the WHO). But we said NATO and OPEC without using “the”.

14-With some proper names consisting of nouns or adjective + noun.
For example: The Empire State Building, the British Museum, the White House.

There are some cases in which we don’t need to use any article at all (called zero articles) and these cases are:

1- When using the abstract nouns in a general sense.
For example: a- Money makes the world go around.
b- Volcanoes are formed by pressure under the earth’s surface.

2- With single mountains.

3- In front of most roads, streets, parks, squares or bridges.
For example: Stadium Road, Oxford Street, Central Park, Times Square, and Tower Bridge.

4- In front of company names.
For example: Microsoft.

5- For most places consisting of just the name of a person, or the name of a person/place followed by a noun.
For example: McDonald’s, Kennedy Airport, Buckingham palace.

6- With (school, college, university, hospital, prison, court, bed) when used for their primary purpose. If they are used for any other purpose, then “the” is required.

7- With the names of meals, unless it is a formal occasion.

8- With names of games or sports.

9- In the titles of books, movies, music and other works of art.

10- In headlines to save space.

To summarize, we have three basic rules that help using articles correctly:

Rule #1:
Every time we mention a noun, we are referring to:
1-Generalizations; all of them everywhere (also called general reference).
2-Indefinite reference (one of many).
3-Definite reference (this one exactly).

Rule # 2:
Every kind of reference has a choice of articles:
1-Generalizations………(No article, a/an, or the).
2-Indefinite reference……(No article, or a/an).
3-Definite reference……(No article, or the).

Rule # 3:
The choice of article depends upon the noun and the context.

Hope it was useful…

Absolutely fantastic, Berry!