1.
The Definite
Article
How
simple English is !!
There is only one
definite article, and that is "the";
the only difficulty is knowing when to use it, and when it is not
needed.
Use
of the definite article depends
on the nature or type of noun that is being used.
As in other
languages, nouns in English can be
divided into two distinct categories, called: count
nouns
and
non-count nouns.
► Count
nouns are nouns referring to items that can be counted, for
example:
One
car, two pencils, three people,
four guitarists, five hotels etc.
These nouns can be used in the singular or the plural
In the singular, count
nouns must
The dog is happy.
(or This
dog is happy, etc: but not:
Dog
is happy )
I'm reading the book you gave me.
In the plural, they may
require a determiner, depending on context.
►Non-count
nouns
are nouns referring to abstractions, substances or
generalizations, or
example:
Oxygen,
health, money, heat, astronomy
In the singular, non-count
nouns
do not require a
determiner.
They can NOT usually be used in
the plural.
THE BIG
QUESTION concerns plural nouns:
Generalisation or not?
Sometimes it
is not easy to decide if a plural
noun is being used as a generalization, or in a restrictive context :
often
the speaker or writer can choose. Look at these two sentences:
a)
London buses are red
b)
The London buses are red.
In example
(a), the writer is clearly implying
a generalisation on the noun group
"London
buses": All
London buses are
red.
In example
(b), he is referring to a restricted
or defined category of the noun:
"buses",
London buses are red, but other buses
may be of other colours.
In cases
like these, one therefore has a choice;
but the choice is not always completely free, as it often depends on context.
Is it more important or more logical to imply a generalization, or a
limitation?
Deciding
whether it is best to use an article
in such cases is a skill that has to be mastered!
2.
The
Indefinite
Article
English has two
indefinite articles, a
and an
a is used before nouns starting
with a consonant
or a semivowel
an is used before nouns
starting
with a phonetic
vowel
Examples:
a
dog, a cat, an apple, an orange, an uncle,
but a
university (because the word university
starts
with phonetic [ju], which is not a vowel).
Indefinite articles can only be used with count nouns. They are used
when a count noun in the singular refers
to a non-specified or non defined entity.
Examples:
a)
There's a train (= unspecified)
coming in 5 minutes. It's the train (= specified)
for London.
b) Look! I can see an elephant over there ! (=
a non-identified elephant)
There is no
indefinite article in the plural. The word "some"
is occasionally said to be a plural indefinite article, but really it
is a quantifier (like
many,
few, etc.)
By definition, plural nouns refering to non-specified entities are generalisations,
therefore need no article.
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