Articles
A, AN AND THE
Importance of Articles
An area of special significance for
multilingual writers.
Large variation across languages
Error as a mark of non-native writing.
Concepts
Definiteness
Countability
Definiteness
Definite Article: ‘The’
Indefinite Articles: ‘a’ and ‘an’
Definiteness Examples Does the ___ know what is being referred to?
Writer/Speaker Reader/Listener
Definite I read THE book yes yes
yesterday
Indefinite I read A book on Criminal yes no
Law yesterday
Indefinite I know you read A book no yes
on Criminal Law
Indefinite I will buy A book on no no
Criminal Law
Compare:
A dog bit the plaintiff.
vs.
The dog bit the plaintiff.
Uses of ‘The’
In general, the article THE is used:
1. with noncountable nouns that are made more specific by using a modifying phrase or
clause (underlined below):
Examples:
the defense presented at the trial was especially weak.
the image he projects does not favor his case.
the concept of diversity applies here.
2. and when a noun has a specific reference to something unique:
the 2021 Union budget
The Rashtrapati Bhawan
3. When something is mentioned for the second time in the text:
I wrote a letter of complaint [first mention, indefinite].
Instead,
I wrote a letter of complaint. THE letter had an angry tone [second mention, definite]
4. With the superlative (because it signals there is only one possible referent):
THE son was THE most articulate witness in the case.
5. When only one entity exists:
THE Moon is a satellite. [There is only one satellite we refer to as 'the Moon’]
6. When a phrase modifying the noun provides more information that specifies the reference of
the noun:
THE witness (that) you brought refused to testify.
THE witness from Connecticut refused to testify
THE witness who refused to testify was arrested in a street incident yesterday.
Note:
I read a book about Criminal Law for the exam. (the phrase about Criminal Law is not
specific enough to limit the reference of the noun; it could be ANY book about Criminal Law)
vs.
THE book about Criminal Law that was assigned by the professor was too complicated. (the
phrase that was assigned by the professor limits the reference to only ONE entity; it's not
ANY book: it's the book assigned by the professor.
• When both the writer/speaker and the reader/listener know what is being referred to
(maybe because they are in the same situation):
Open THE window..
I'm going to THE library.
Countability
Countable nouns refer to people, places, or things that can be counted (one contract/two
contracts, one witness/two witnesses). A countable noun can always be made plural--
usually by adding -s or -es or some other plural marker (e.g. trial[s], parti[es], child[ren]).
Some words do not show any variation in form between the singular and plural (e.g., The
sheep is in the field / The sheep are in the field).
Uncountable nouns often refer to drinks and food, other general substances, or concepts
(meat, tea, steel, information, justice):
Some uncountable nouns (except for concepts) can be turned into countable nouns by
preposing a phrase to them (two bottles of wine, a bar of soap, a piece of information, an
act of violence, a burst of anger, a piece of evidence).
Yes
use THE
Yes
e.g., The report he submitted was
Is the exhaustive.
noun No
definite?
use A/AN
How can I distinguish
e.g., His fax consisted of a letter and a flyer. between using a definite or
Is the an indefinite article with a
Noun
Singular?
common noun when i am
Yes not sure which one is
use THE correct?
No e.g., (Pl.) The reports to my office were not clear.
Is the noun eg., (Unc.) The information that the officers got
definite? was accurate.
No
0 (No article)
e.g., (Pl.) The police sent detailed reports on the
case.
A, An and The
Definite article- ‘the’
Indefinite articles- ‘a’ and ‘an’
A or An
Both are used before a singular object
Choice depends on the vowel sound
a boy
An enemy A reindeer
An ink- pad A woman
An orange A horse
An MP A university
An MLA A union
An hour A European
An honest man A unicorn
An heir A one rupee note
Uses-
In its original numeric sense of ‘one’
twelve inches make a foot
Not a word was said
A word to the wise is sufficient
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
In the vague sense of a certain-
A Kishore Kumar is suspected by the police
One evening a beggar came to my door
To make a common noun of a proper noun-
A Daniel came to judgement! (A Daniel= a very wise man)
Uses of ‘the’
1. When we talk about a particular person or thing, or one already
referred to (that is, when it is clear from the context which one
we mean)-
The book you want is out of print.
Let’s go to the park
Before some proper nouns
a. Oceans and seas- the Pacific, the Black Sea
b. Rivers- the Ganga, The Nile
c. Canal- the Suez canal
d. Desert- the Sahara
e. Groups of islands- the West Indies
f. Mountain-ranges- The Himalayas, the Alps
g. A few names of countries which include the words
like republic and kingdom- the Irish Republic, the
United Kingdom, the Ukraine, the Netherlands
Before the names of certain books
The Vedas, The Puranas, The Iliad, The Ramayana
But we say Homer’s Iliad, Valmiki’s Ramayana
Before the names of certain things that are unique of
their kind-
The sun, the sky, the ocean, the sea, the earth.
Sometimes ‘the’ is placed before a common noun to give it
the meaning of an abstract noun; At last the warrior (the
warlike or martial spirit) I him was thoroughly aroused
Before a proper noun when it is qualified by an adjective
or a defining adjective clause
The great Caesar, the immortal Shakespeare
The Mr. Roy whom you met last night is my uncle
With Superlatives-
The darkest cloud has a silver lining
This is the best book of Criminal Law
With ordinals-
He was the first man to arrive
The ninth chapter of the book was very interesting
Before musical instruments-
He can play the flute
Before an adjective when the noun is understood
The poor are always with us
Omission of the Article
Before the names of the substance and abstract nouns (i.e.
uncountable nouns) used in a general sense
Sugar is bad for your teeth
Gold is a precious metal
Wisdom is the gift of heaven
Honesty is the best policy
Virtue is its own reward
Uncountable nouns take ‘the’ when used in a particular sense-
Would you pass me the sugar?
The wisdom of Solomon is great.
I can’t forget the kindness with which he treated me.
Before plural countable nouns used in general sense
Children like chocolates
Computers are used in many offices
( Where are the children?)--- explain ..
Before Languages-
We are studying English
They speak Punjabi at home.
Before most proper nouns- (except those referred to earlier)
Names of people-
Names of continents, countries, cities, etc.
Names of individual mountains – Mount Everest
Individual island lakes, hills, lakes etc.
Before names of meals (used in general sense)-
What time do you have lunch?
Dinner is ready.
We use ‘a’ when there is an adjective before breakfast, lunch,
dinner etc. We use ‘the’ when we specify
I had a late lunch today
The dinner we had at the Tourist Hotel was very nice
Repetition of the article
Two or more adjectives qualify the same noun, the
article is used before the first adjective only: but when
they qualify different nouns, expressed or understood,
the article is normally used before each adjective
I have a black and white dog.
I have a black and a white dog.
The Secretary and Treasurer is absent.
The Secretary and the Treasurer are absent.
In expressing a comparison, if two nouns refer to the
same person or thing, the Article is used before the
first noun only-
He is a better mechanic than clerk
He is a better poet than novelist
He is a better thinker than debater
He would make a better engineer than lawyer
Directions: Fill in the blank with the appropriate
article, a, an, or the, or leave the space blank if no
article is needed.
1. I want ____ apple from that basket.
2. ____ church on the corner is progressive.
3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese.
4. I borrowed ____ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.
5. One of the students said, "____ professor is late today."
6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball.
7. I bought ____ umbrella to go out in the rain.
8. My daughter is learning to play ____ violin at her school.
9. Please give me ____ cake that is on the counter.
10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town.
11. Albany is the capital of ____ New York State.
12. My husband's family speaks ____ Polish.
13. ____ apple a day keeps the doctor away.
14. ____ ink in my pen is red.
15. Our neighbors have ____ cat and ____ dog.
Write the following paragraphs, inserting a, an,
and the where needed.
1. I have horse of my own. I call her Pretty Girl.
She is intelligent animal, but she is not
thoroughbred horse. I could never enter her in
race, even if I wanted to. But I do not want to.
She is companion, for my own pleasure. I took
her swimming day or two ago.
2. Most working people have fewer hours to give to
time-consuming activities of clubs than they used to
have, but most people in small town belong to club or
two. One of clubs is likely to be social and benevolent
organization, such as Rotary or Elks. Business people
are likely to belong, also to either Kiwanis Club or
Lions. Such business people's organizations may meet
as often as once a week in one of private dining rooms
of town's leading hotel for lunch. They have good
lunch, hear good program, and continue their
fundraising program for worthy organization, such as
local hospital.
3. Horse knows when he is going to race. How does he know? His
breakfast was scanty. (He is angry about that.) He does not have
saddle on his back. He is being led, not ridden, to grandstand. He
is led under grandstand into unusual, special stall. Horse is
nervous. Sometimes he does not know what to do when starting
gate flies open and track is before him. If he does not begin to
run instantly, other horses are already ahead of him. During
race, when he sees another horse just ahead of him, he will try
to pass him. Sometimes jockey holds him back to save his
energy for last stretch. Eventually horse gets to run as fast as he
can. Exercise boy, watching owner's favorite jockey riding horse
he has exercised day after day, says nothing. Secretly, he is
planning for day when he will be jockey himself, and his horse
will be first to cross finish line.