English Grammar Articles

Yup, this is my first posting. I went through hell of trouble to fix this. Forget the small details, I present you English Grammar - Article. Hope you find it useful ;)

1     Articles and one, a little/a few, this, that

1        a/an (the indefinite article)

The form a is used before a word beginning with a consonant, or a vowel with a consonant sound:

          a man                   a had                    a university            a European

a one-way street

The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or words beginning with a mute h:

          an apple                an island                an uncle

          an egg                   an onion                an hour

or individual letters spoken with a vowel sound:

          an L-plate              an MP                   an SOS                 an ‘x’

a/an is the same for all genders:

          a man                   a woman                an actor                 an actress             a table

2        Use of a/an

a/an is used:

A       Before a singular noun which is countable (i.e. of which there is more than one) when it is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or thing:

          I need a visa.       They live in a flat.          He bought an ice-cream.

B       Before a singular countable noun which is used as an example of a class of things:

A car must be insured

All cars/Any car must be insured.

A child needs love

All children need/Any child needs love.

C       With a noun complement. This includes names of professions:

          It was an earthquake.       She’ll be a dancer.         He is an actor.

D       In certain expressions of quantity:

          a lot of                  a couple
          a great many         a dozen (but one dozen is also possible)
          a great deal of

E       With certain numbers:

a hundred    a thousand   (See 349.)

Before half when half follows a whole number;

1 ½ kilos = one and a half kilos or a kilo and a half

But ½ kg = half a kilo (no a before half), though a + half + noun is sometimes possible:

a half-holiday    a half-portion    a half-share

 With 1/3, ¼, 1/5 etc. a is usual: a third, a quarter etc., but one is also possible. (See 350.)

F       In expressions of price, speed, ratio, etc.:

5p a kilo                  £1 a metre               sixty kilometres an hour

10 p a dozen            four times a day

 (Here a/an = per)

G       In exclamations before singular, countable nouns:

Such a long queue! What a pretty girl!          But

Such long queues!              What pretty girls!

(Plural nouns, so no article. See 3.)

H       a can be placed before Mr/Mrs/Miss + surname:

a Mr Smith   a Mrs Smith     a Miss Smith     a Mr Smith

means 'a man called Smith' and implies that he is a stranger to the speaker. Mr Smith, without a, implies that the speaker knows Mr Smith or knows of his existence.

(For the difference between a/an and one, see 4. For a few and a little, see 5.)

3          Omission of a/an

a/an is omitted;

A       Before plural nouns.

a/an has no plural form. So the plural of a dog is dogs, and of an egg is eggs.

B       Before uncountable nouns (see 13).

C       Before names of meals, except when these are preceded by an adjective:

We have breakfast at eight.

He gave us a good breakfast.

The article is also used when it is a special meal given to celebrate something or in someone's honour:

I was invited to dinner (at their house, in the ordinary way) but

I was invited to a dinner given to welcome the new ambassador.

4          a/an and one

A  a/an and one (adjective)

1   When counting or measuring time, distance, weight etc. we can use either a/an or one for the singular:

£1 = a/one pound   £1,000,000 = a/one million pounds (See chapter 36.)

But note that in The rent is £100 a week the a before week is not replaceable by one (see 2 F).

In other types of statement a/an and one are not normally interchangeable, because one + noun normally means 'one only/not more than one' and a/an does not mean this:

A shotgun is no good. (It is the wrong sort of thing.)

One shotgun is no good. (I need two or three.)

2   Special uses of one

(a)    one (adjective/pronoun) used with another/others:

One (boy) wanted to read, another /others wanted to watch TV.

(See 53.)

One day he wanted his lunch early, another day he wanted it late.

(b)    one can be used before day/week/month/year/summer/winter etc. or before the name of the day or month to denote a particular time when something happened:

One night there was a terrible storm.

One winter the snow fell early.

One day a telegram arrived.

(c)    one day can also be used to mean 'at some future date':

One day you'll be sorry you treated him so badly.

(Some day would also be possible.)

 (For one and you, see 68.)

B  a/an and one (pronoun)

one is the .pronoun equivalent of a/an:

Did you get a ticket? ~ Yes, I managed to get one.

 The plural of one used in this way is some:

Did you get tickets? ~ Yes, I managed to get some.

5          a little/a few and little/few

A          a little/little (adjectives) are used before uncountable nouns:

a little salt/little salt

a few/few (adjectives) are used before plural nouns:

a few people/few people

All four forms can also be used as pronouns, either alone or with of:

Sugar? ~ A little, please.

Only a few of these are any good.

B          a little, a few (adjectives and pronouns)

a little is a small amount, or what the speaker considers a small amount, a few is a small number, or what the speaker considers a small number.

only placed before a little/a few emphasises that the number or amount really is small in the speaker's opinion:

Only a few of our customers have accounts.

But quite placed before a few increases the number considerably:

I have quite a few books on art. (quite a lot of books)

C          little and few (adjectives and pronouns)

little and few denote scarcity or lack and have almost the force of a negative:

There was little time for consultation.

Little is known about the side-effects of this drug.

Few towns have such splendid trees.

This use of little and few is mainly confined to written English (probably because in conversation little and few might easily be mistaken for a little/a few). In conversation, therefore, little and few are normally replaced by hardly any. A negative verb + much/many is also possible:

We saw little = We saw hardly anything/We didn't see much.

Tourists come here but few stay overnight =

Tourists come here but hardly any stay overnight.

 But little and few can be used more freely when they are qualified by so, very, too. extremely, comparatively, relatively etc. fewer (comparative) can also be used more freely.

I'm unwilling to try a drug I know so little about.

They have too many technicians, we have too few.

There are fewer butterflies every year.

D          a little/little (adverbs)

1          a little can be used:

(a) with verbs: It rained a little during the night.

They grumbled a little about having to wait.

(b) with 'unfavourable' adjectives and adverbs:

a little anxious        a little unwillingly

a little annoyed       a little impatiently

(c) with comparative adjectives or adverbs:

The paper should be a little thicker.

Can't you walk a little faster?

rather could replace a little in (b) and can also be used before comparatives (see 42), though a little is more usual. In colloquial English a bit could be used instead of a little in all the above examples.

2          little is used chiefly with better or more in fairly formal style:

His second suggestion was little (= not much) better than his first.

He was little (= not much) more than a child when his father died.

It can also, in formal English, be placed before certain verbs, for example expect, know. suspect, think:

He little expected to find himself in prison.

He little thought that one day . . .

Note also the adjectives little-known and little-used:

a little-known painter    a little-used footpath

6          the (the definite article)

A          Form

the is the same for singular and plural and for all genders:

the boy      the girl      the day

the boys    the girls     the days

B          Use

The definite article is used:

1          When the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be unique:

the earth    the sea    the sky    the equator    the stars

2          Before a noun which has become definite as a result of being mentioned a second time:

His car struck a tree; you can still see the mark on the tree.

3          Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause:

the girl in blue                    the man with the banner

the boy that I met               the place where I met him

4          Before a noun which by reason of locality can represent only one particular thing:

Ann is in the garden, (the garden of this house)

Please pass the wine, (the wine on the table)

Similarly: the postman (the one who comes to us), the car (our car), the newspaper (the one we read).

5          Before superlatives and first, second etc. used as adjectives or pronouns, and only:

the first (week)    the best day    the only way

C          the + singular noun can represent a class of animals or things:

The whale is in danger of becoming extinct.

The deep-freeze has made life easier for housewives.

But man, used to represent the human race, has no article:

If oil supplies run out, man may have to fall back on the horse.

the can be used before a member of a certain group of people:

The small shopkeeper is finding life increasingly difficult.

the + singular noun as used above takes a singular verb. The pronoun is he, she or it:

The first-class traveller pays more so he expects some comfort.

D          the + adjective represents a class of persons:

the old = old people in general (see 23)

E          the is used before certain proper names of seas, rivers, groups of islands, chains of mountains, plural names of countries, deserts, regions:

the Atlantic           the Netherlands

the Thames          the Sahara

the Azores            the Crimea

the Alps               the Riviera

and before certain other names:

the City                the Mall                   the Sudan

the Hague            the Strand               the Yemen

the is also used before names consisting of noun + of + noun:

the Bay of Biscay             the Gulf of Mexico

the Cape of Good Hope     the United States of America

the is used before names consisting of adjective + noun (provided the adjective is not east, west etc.):

the Arabian Gulf   the New Forest    the High Street

the is used before the adjectives east/west etc. + noun in certain names:

the East/West End   the East/West Indies

the North/South Pole

but is normally omitted:

South Africa   North America   West Germany

the, however, is used before east/west etc. when these are nouns:

the north of Spain     the West (geographical)

the Middle East      the West (political)

Compare Go north (adverb: in a northerly direction) with He lives in the north (noun: an area in the north).

F          the is used before other proper names consisting of adjective + noun or noun + of + noun:

the National Gallery    the Tower of London

It is also used before names of choirs, orchestras, pop groups etc.:

the Bach Choir   the Philadelphia Orchestra   the Beatles

and before names of newspapers (The Times) and ships (the Great Britain).

G          the with names of people has a very limited use. the + plural surname can be used to mean 'the . . . family':

the Smiths = Mr and Mrs Smith (and children)

the + singular name + clause/phrase can be used to distinguish one person from another of the same name:

We have two Mr Smiths. Which do you want? ~ I want the Mr Smith who signed this letter.

the is used before titles containing of (the Duke of York) but it is not used before other titles or ranks (Lord Olivier, Captain Cook), though if someone is referred to by title/rank alone the is used:

The earl expected . . .   The captain ordered . . .

Letters written to two or more unmarried sisters jointly may be addressed The Misses + surname: The Misses Smith.

7          Omission of the

A          The definite article is not used:

1  Before names of places except as shown above, or before names of people.

2  Before abstract nouns except when they are used in a particular sense;

Men fear death but The death a/the Prime Minister left his party without a leader.

3  After a noun in the possessive case, or a possessive adjective:

the boy's uncle = the uncle of the boy It is my (blue) book = The (blue) book is mine.

4  Before names of meals (but see 3 C):

The Scots have porridge/or breakfast but The wedding breakfast was held in her/other's house.

5  Before names of games: He plays golf.

6  Before parts of the body and articles of clothing, as these normally prefer a possessive adjective:

Raise your right hand.    fie took off his coat.

But notice that sentences of the type:

She seized the child's collar.

I patted his shoulder.

The brick hit John's face.

could be expressed:

She seized the child by the collar.

I patted him on the shoulder.

The brick hit John in the face.

Similarly in the passive:

He was hit on the head.    He was cut in the hand.

B          Note that in some European languages the definite article is used before indefinite plural nouns but that in English the is never used in this way:

Women are expected to like babies, (i.e. women in general)

Big hotels all over the world are very much the same.

If we put the before women in the first example, it would mean that we were referring to a particular group of women.

C          nature, where it means the spirit creating and motivating the world of plants and animals etc., is used without the:

If you interfere with nature you will suffer for it.

8          Omission of the before home, before church, hospital, prison, school etc. and before work, sea and town

A          home

When home is used alone, i.e. is not preceded or followed by a descriptive word or phrase, the is omitted:

He is at home.

home used alone can be placed directly after a verb of motion, i.e. it can be treated as an adverb:

He went home.    I arrived home after dark.

But when home is preceded or followed by a descriptive word or phrase it is treated like any other noun:

They went to their new home.

We arrived at the bride's home.

For some years this was the home of your queen.

A mud hut was the only home he had ever known.

B          bed, church, court, hospital, prison, school/college/university

the is not used before the nouns listed above when these places are

visited or used for their primary purpose. We go:

to bed to sleep or as invalids        to hospital as patients

to church to pray                          to prison as prisoners

to court as litigants etc.                 to school/college/university to study

Similarly we can be:

in bed, sleeping or resting             in hospital as patients

at church as worshippers              at school etc. as students

in court as witnesses etc.

We can be/get back (or be/get home) from school/college/university.

We can leave school, leave hospital, be released from prison.

When these places are visited or used for other reasons the is necessary:

I went to the church to see the stained glass.

He goes to the prison sometimes to give lectures.

C          sea

We go to sea as sailors. To be at sea = to be on a voyage (as passengers or crew).

But to go to or be at the sea = to go to or be at the seaside. We can also live by/near the sea.

D          work and office

work (= place of work) is used without the:

He's on his way to work.    He is at work.

He isn't back from work yet.

Note that at work can also mean 'working'; hard at work = working hard:

He's hard at work on a new picture.

office (= place of work) needs the: He is at/in the office.

To be in office (without the) means to hold an official (usually political) position. To be out of office = to be no longer in power.

E          town

the can be omitted when speaking of the subject's or speaker's own town:

We go to town sometimes to buy clothes.

We were in town last Monday.

9          this/these, that/those (demonstrative adjectives and pronouns)

A          Used as adjectives, they agree with their nouns in number. They are the only adjectives to do this.

This beach was quite empty last year.

This exhibition will be open until the end of May.

These people come from that hotel over there.

What does that notice say?

That exhibition closed a month ago.

He was dismissed on the 13th. That night the factory went on fire.

Do you see those birds at the top of the tree?

 this/these/that/those + noun + of + yours/hers etc. or Ann's etc. is sometimes, for emphasis, used instead of your/her etc. + noun:

This diet of mine/My diet isn't having much effect.

That car of Ann 's/Ann's car is always breaking down.

Remarks made with these phrases are usually, though not necessarily always, unfavourable,

B          this/these, that/those used as pronouns:

This is my umbrella. That's yours.

These are the old classrooms. Those are the new ones.

Who's that (man over there)? ~ That's Tom Jones.

After a radio programme:

That was the concerto in C minor by Vivaldi.

 this is is possible in introductions:

ANN (to TOM): This is my brother Hugh.

ANN (to HUGH): Hugh, this is Tom Jones.

telephone CALLER: Good morning. This is/I am Tom Jones . . .

I am is slightly more formal than This is and is more likely to be used when the caller is a stranger to the other person. The caller's name + here (Tom here) is more informal than This is. those can be followed by a defining relative clause:

Those who couldn't walk were carried on stretchers.

this/that can represent a previously mentioned noun, phrase or clause:

They're digging up my mad. They do this every summer.

He said I wasn 't a good wife. Wasn 't that a horrible thing to say?

C           this/these, that/those used with one/ones

When there is some idea of comparison or selection, the pronoun one/ones is often placed after these demonstratives, but it is not essential except when this etc. is followed by an adjective:

This chair is too low. I'll sit in that (one).

I like this (one) best.

I like this blue one/these blue ones.