THE ARTICLE

THE ARTICLE

1. The indefinite article a/an. A is used before a word beginning with a consonant or a vowel with the consonant sound: a man, a hat, a university, a European. An is used before words beginning with a vowel, or words beginning with the mute 'h', or individual letters spoken with the vowel sound: an apple, an egg, an island, an onion, an hour, an MP, an SOS.

A and an is the same for all genders: a man, a woman, an actor, an actress, a table.

Uses of a/an:

- before a singular noun which is countable, 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 icecream.

- before a singular countable noun which is used as an example of a class of things:     A car must be insured. (= All/any cars must be insured)

A child needs love. (= Any child needs love)

- with a noun complement. This includes names of professions:

It was an earthquake.

She'll be a dancer.

He is an actor.

- in certain expressions of quantity: a lot of, a great many, a great deal of, a couple, a dozen;

- with certain numbers: a hundred, a thousand. Before 'half' when 'half' follows a whole number: 1½ 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 or a half-share. With 1/3, ¼, 1/5 etc. 'a' is usual: a third, a quarter, a fifth.

- in expressions of price, speed, ratio: 5p a kilo, 10p a dozen, 1$ a meter, four times a day, sixty kilometres an hour.

- in exclamations before singular, countable nouns:

Such a long queue!

Such long queues!

What a pretty girl!

What pretty girls!

- 'a' can also be placed before Mr/Mrs/Miss + surname: a Mr Smith, a Mrs Brown, a Miss Johnson. 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.

Omission of a/an. 'A' or 'an' is omitted:

- before plural nouns; it has no plural form so the plural of a 'dog' is 'dogs' and of an 'egg' is 'eggs';

before uncountable nouns;

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

We have breakfast at eight.

She 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 a dinner given to welcome the new ambassador.

2. The definite article THE.

'The' is the same for singular and plural and for all genders: the boy, the boys, the day, the days.

Uses of the definite article. The definite article is used:

when the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be unique: the earth, the sea, the sky, the stars;

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.

before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause: the girl in blue, the boy that I met, the place where I met him.

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)

before superlatives and 'first', 'second' etc., used as adjectives or pronouns, and 'only': the first week, the best day, the only way.

Special uses:

• 'The' followed by a 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' followed by a 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.

• 'The' followed by an adjective represents a class of persons: the old = old people in general.
• '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 Thames, the Alps, the Sahara, the Riviera and before certain other names: the City, the Hague, the Mall, the Strand, the Yemen.

'The' is also used before names consisting of noun + of + noun: the bay of Biscay, the Cape of Good Hope, the Gulf of Mexico.

'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 North/South Pole, the East/West Indies, but is normally omitted in South Africa, North America or West Germany.

'The', however, is used before 'east', 'west' when these are nouns: the North of Spain, the Middle East. Compare Go north in which 'north' is an adverb meaning 'in a northerly direction' with He lives in the north, in which this is a noun meaning 'an area in the north'.

• 'The' is used after 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, the Titanic.
• '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 or 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.

Omission of The

The definite article is not used:

• before names of places or names of people;
• before abstract nouns, except when they are used in a particular sense: Men fear death. But: The death of the Prime-Minister left the party without a leader;
• after a noun in the possessive case, or a possessive adjective: the boy's uncle or it is my book;
• before names of meals: The Scots have porridge for breakfast. But The wedding breakfast was held in her father's house;
• before names of games: He plays football;
• before parts of the body and articles of clothing, as these normally prefer a possessive adjective: Raise your right hand or He took off his coat. But notice that sentences of the type She seized the child's collar or The brick hit John's face could also be expressed as She seized the child by the collar and The brick hit John in the face. Similarly in the passive: He was hit on the head or He was cut in the hand;
• before indefinite plural nouns: Women are expected to like babies. If we had put 'the' before 'women', it would have meant that we were referring to a particular group of women;
• the noun 'nature', where it means the spirit creating and motivating the world of plants and animals, is used without 'the': If you interfere with nature you will suffer for it;
• before 'home', when it is used alone and is not preceded of 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 (it can be treated as an adverb): He went home or He 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 our queen or The mud hut was the only home he had ever known;
• before 'bed', 'church', 'court', 'hospital', 'prison', 'school', 'college', 'university', the' is not used when these places are visited or used for their primary purpose. We go to bed to sleep or as invalids, we go to church to pray, we go to hospital as patients, we go to prison as prisoners, we go to school, college or university to study. Similarly we can be in bed sleeping or resting, we can be at church as worshipers, we can be at court as witnesses, we can be in hospital as patients, we can be at school as students. We can be back or we can get back from school, college or university. We can leave school or hospital and we can 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 or He goes to the prison to give lectures;
• before 'sea' 'the' is omitted: we go to sea as sailors. But we are at the sea as passengers. We can also live by the sea or near the sea;
• 'work' meaning 'place of work' is used without 'the': He's on his way to work, He isn't back from work yet or He is at work. Note that 'at work' can also mean 'working'; 'hard at work' means 'working hard': He is hard at work on a new project. 'Office' meaning 'place of work' needs 'the': He is at the office or He is in the office. 'To be in office', without 'the', means to hold an official, usually political, position. 'To be out office', without 'the', means to be no longer in power;
• before 'town', 'the' can be admitted when speaking of the subject's or speaker's own town: We go to town sometimes to buy clothes or We go in town every week.