However, some
of the rules in these sections will probably be useful. Note especially the following.
In English, when we are talking about people or things in general we do not usually use the with
uncountable or plural nouns. (See 68 for more details.)
Life is complicated. (NOT The life is complicated:)
My sister loves horses. (NOT.. . the horses.)
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co \L-). auxiixixcuy m me n
3
63
i 1
2
3
In English, we normally put a/an with a noun that is used for classifying -saying what class, group or type
somebody or something belongs to, what job, role or position somebody or something fills, etc. (See 66. Ic
for more details.)
She's a dentist. (NOT She's dentist.)
I'm looking forward to being a grandmother. (NOT ... to being grandmother.}
I used my shoe as a hammer. (NOT.. . as hammer.)
speakers of other languages
If a student does not already have a very good knowledge of one of the languages listed in paragraph 2
(or a related language), he or she may have more difficulty with the correct use of articles. Most of the
important problems are dealt with in the following sections.
articles (2): summary of the rules
articles are determiners
The articles a/an and the belong to a group of words called 'determiners'. (Determiners also include
possessives like my, demonstratives like this and quantifiers like all. For more information, see 157.)
Articles normally come at the beginning of noun phrases, before adjectives.
For the word order in structures like How strange an idea, see 16.
For the word order in quite a... , see 154.2,5; for rather a..., see 154.2; for such a..., see 544.1; for whata...
, see 201.2.
What are articles used for?
A/an is called the 'indefinite article'. The is called the 'definite article'. Some/any is often used as the plural
of a/an. And if we use no article, this has a different meaning from all the others. So there are really four
articles.
Articles are used to show whether we are referring to things that are known both to the speaker/writer and
to the listener/reader ('definite'), or that are not known to them both ('indefinite').
Articles can also show whether we are talking about things in general or particular things.
the = 'we know which one(s)'
We say the doctor, the salt or the dogs (for example), when we expect the listener/reader to know which
doctor, salt or dogs we are talking about, hi other cases, we use a/an, some/any or no article. Compare:
- I've been to the doctor. (You know which one: my doctor.) A doctor must like people. (= any doctor at all)
- Could you pass me the salt?
(The listener knows that it is the salt on the table that is meant.) We need some more salt. (not particular'
known' salt) >
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- Have you fed the dogs?
(The listener obviously knows which dogs are meant.) Do you like dogs? (= dogs in general)
For more details, see 65.
4 particular and general
We can use articles to show whether we are talking about particular things or things in general. Compare:
- There are some children in the garden. (= particular children) Children usually start walking at around
one year old. (= children in general)
- They're delivering the oil tomorrow. (= particular oil)
Oil has nearly doubled in price recently. (= oil in general) Note that with plural and uncountable nouns we
use no article, and not the, to talk about people or things in general.
Oil has nearly doubled in price. (NOT The oil...) -• ."• Children usually start walking... (NOT The children...)
But we can sometimes use the + singular countable noun to generalise. Who invented the telephone?
For more details, see 68. For more information about some and any, see 54,521 and 522.
1 articles (3): countable and uncountable nouns
Articles are used in different ways with countable and uncountable nouns. 1 the difference
Countable nouns are the names of separate objects, people, ideas etc which we can count.
a cat three cats
a secretary two secretaries
a plan two plans
Uncountable nouns are the names of materials, liquids and other things which we do not usually see as
separate objects.
water (NOT a water, -two waters)
wool (NOT a wool, two wools)
weather (NOT a weather, two weathers)
energy (NOT an energy, two energies)
use of articles
A singular countable noun normally has an article or other determiner (see 157) with it. We can say a cat,
the cat, my cat, this cat, any cat, either cat or every cat, but not just cat. (There are one or two exceptions
- see 69.) Plural
and uncountable nouns (e.g. cats, water) can be used with or without an article or other determiner.
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amcies (4J:me (details.) es
3 a/an
Plural nouns cannot be used with a/an (because a/an has a similar meaning to 'one'), and uncountable
nouns are not generally used with a/an, though there are a certain number of exceptions (see paragraph
4).
4 exceptions: uncountable nouns treated as countable
Many normally uncountable nouns can be treated as countable to express the meaning 'a type of or 'a
portion of.
Have you got a shampoo for dry hair?
Three coffees, please. Many other normally uncountable nouns can have 'partly countable' uses:
they do not have plurals, but can be used with a/an. This can happen when the meaning is particular
rather than general.
We need a secretary with a knowledge of English.
You've been a great help.
I need a good sleep.
But some uncountable nouns (e.g. weather, progress) cannot normally be used in this way.
We're having terrible weather. (NOT ... a terrible weather.)
You 've made very good progress. (NOT .. .-a-wry good progress:) Note also:
She speaks very good English. (NOT ... a very good English.) Some nouns that are countable in other
languages are uncountable in English. Examples are information (NOT an information), advice (NOT -an
advice); see 148.3 for a more complete list.
For detailed information about countable and uncountable nouns, see 148.
65 articles (4): the (details)
1 the = 'you know which one (s)'
The usually means something like 'you know which one(s) I mean'. We use the before a noun when our
listener/reader knows (or can work out) which particular person(s), thing(s) etc we are talking about.
Compare:
Did you lock the car? (The listener knows very well which car is meant.) We hired a car to go to Scotland.
(The listener does not know which one.) The listener / reader may know which one (s) we mean because:
a we have mentioned it / them before
She's got two children: a boy and a girl. The boy's fourteen and