Articles
The 3 articles in English are a,
an and the. The learner has to decide noun-by-noun which one of
the articles to use*. In fact, there are 4 choices to make, because sometimes
no article is necessary. Native-speakers, of course, use the articles correctly
without thinking in everyday spoken langauge. English learners, on the other
hand, need to have some guidelines for making the right choice - particularly
those learners whose own language does not have articles, such as Japanese or
Korean. The guidelines that follow here should help ESL students to a basic
understanding of English article use.
The most important first step in
choosing the correct article is to categorize the noun as count or uncount
in its context**:
- A count noun is a noun that
can have a number in front of it: 1 teacher, 3 books, 76 trombones,
1,000,000 people.
- An uncount noun is a noun
that cannot have a number put in front of it: 1 water, 2 lucks, 10 airs,
21 oils, 39 informations. Once you have correctly categorized the noun (using
your dictionary if necessary), the following "rules" apply:
Uncount nouns
- You cannot say a/an with an uncount noun.
- You cannot put a number in front of an uncount noun.
(You cannot make an uncount noun plural.)
- You use an uncount noun with no article if you mean
that thing in general.
- You use the with an uncount noun when you are
talking about a particular example of that thing.
Count nouns
- You can put a number in front of a count noun. (You can
make a count noun plural.)
- You can put both a/an and the in front of
a count noun.
- You must put an article in front of a singular
count noun.
- You use a plural count noun with no article if you mean
all or any of that thing.
- You usually use a/an with a count noun the first
time you say or write that noun.
- You use the with count nouns:
- the second and subsequent times you use the noun in a
piece of speech or writing
- when the listener knows what you are referring to
(maybe because there is only one of that thing)
- You use an (not a) when the next word
(adverb, adjective, noun) starts with a vowel sound.
Note:
- The above rules apply whether there is or there is not
an adjective in front of the noun.
- Some nouns can be either count or uncount,
depending on the context and meaning:
- Do you have paper? I want to draw a picture. (uncount
= a sheet of paper)
- Can you get me a paper when you’re at the shop?
(count = a newspaper)
- Uncount nouns are often preceded by phrases such as: a
lot of .. (luck), a piece of .. (cake), a bottle of ..
(milk), a grain of .. (rice).
* Instead of an article, the noun can also be preceded by a
determiner such as this, that, some, many or my, his, our, etc.
Following are some of the most
important guidelines listed above, with example sentences:
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1. You use an uncount noun with no
article if you mean all or any of that thing.
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- I need help!
- I don't eat cheese.
- Do you like music?
|
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2. You use the with an
uncount noun when you are talking about a particular example of that thing.
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- Thanks for the help you gave
me yesterday.
- I didn't eat the cheese. It
was green!
- Did you like the music they
played at the dance?
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3. You usually use a/an
with a count noun the first time you say or write that noun.
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- Can I borrow a pencil,
please?
- There's a cat in the garden!
- Do you have an mp3 player?
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4. You use the with count
nouns the second and subsequent times you use the noun, or when the listener
already knows what you are referring to (maybe because there is only one of
that thing).
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- Where's the pencil I lent you
yesterday?
- I think the cat belongs to
the new neighbours.
- I dropped the mp3 player and
it broke.
- Please shut the door!
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5. You use a plural count noun
with no article if you mean all or any of that thing.
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- I don't like dogs.
- Do they have children?
- I don't need questions. Give
me answers!
|
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6. The above rules apply whether
there is or there is not an adjective in front of the noun.
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- I don't eat German cheese.
- Can I borrow a red pencil,
please?
- There's an extremely large
cat in the garden!
- I don't like small, noisy
children.
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Note: This page contains short,
generalized information about this enormously complex aspect of English
grammar. For more detailed information, consult a good reference work such as Swan's
Practical English Usage. And do not worry too much about article mistakes -
only very rarely will they cause your listener or reader to misunderstand you!
