Articles Usage_ESL.pdf

Article

Usage

Introduction

The articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are

difficult for many non-native speakers of

English to learn to use properly. Some

of the rules that govern article usage are

very subtle; only years of experience

with the language will enable you to

understand and apply these rules.

However, Table 3 will help you eliminate

many errors in article usage from your

writing.

The Writing Center

At Rensselaer

4508 Sage Lab

518/276-8983

writingcenter@rpi.edu

www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter

In order to use Table 3 , however, you

have to understand two concepts:

countability and definiteness . These

concepts are explained in detail below.

The last part of this handout, beginning

on page 7, discusses article usage with

proper nouns as well as the difference

between “a” and “an.” At the very end of

the handout is an exercise that you can

do to test your understanding.

Developed by:

John Kohl

Susan Katz

Revised 05/02, Page 1

Countability

Countable nouns refer to people, places, or things that can be counted (one dollar/two

dollars, one house/two houses). They can always be made plural—usually by adding - s

or some other variation of the plural ending (students, countries, children). A few words

are the same in both the singular and plural forms (deer, sheep).

Uncountable nouns often refer to food, beverages, substances, or abstractions (meat,

tea, steel, information); some uncountable nouns (but not the abstract ones) can be

made countable by adding a count frame in front of them (two gallons of milk, six

blocks of ice, a bar of soap, a bunch of celery).

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut distinction between countable and uncountable

nouns. Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable even without adding count

frames. For example, as an uncountable noun, “experience” refers to abstract

knowledge or skill that can be gained by observing or participating in events. As a

singular or plural countable noun (“experience/experiences”), it refers to a particular

instance (or instances) of participation in events. Similarly, the uncountable noun “glass”

is a substance made from silicates; “a glass” (singular) is something you drink out of;

and “glasses” (plural) are frames containing lenses that correct imperfect vision.

There are other exceptions to the countable/uncountable distinction as well. Moreover,

a noun that is countable in your native language may be uncountable in English, and

vice-versa. For example, “soap” is countable in Spanish but uncountable in English.

However, as long as you are aware of these differences, they probably won't cause you

much difficulty.

Learning Hint #1: The best thing to do is to memorize some of the most frequently

occurring uncountable nouns (shown in Table 1 ), and to look up other nouns in a

dictionary if you are not sure whether they are countable or uncountable. If your

dictionary does not indicate whether nouns are countable or uncountable, then you

should consult another dictionary, such as The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary . This

dictionary is available for you to use at the Writing Center.

In the Oxford dictionary, nouns are countable unless they are designated by the letter

[u]. If a noun can be either countable or uncountable (with different definitions, as in the

examples given above), then the uncountable definitions are preceded by [u], and the

countable definitions are preceded by [c], as in the following example.

Revised 05/02, Page 2

ad.ven.ture n 1 [c] a strange or unusual happening (The explorer told the boys about

his adventure in the Artic). 2 [u] risk; danger (Robin Hood lives a life of adventure.)

Table 1: Some Common Uncountable English Nouns

Food and drink: bacon, beef, beer, bread, broccoli, butter, cabbage, candy,

cauliflower, celery, cereal, cheese, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn, cream, fish, flour,

fruit, ice cream, lettuce, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water,

wine, yogurt

Nonfood substances: air, cement, coal, dirt, gasoline, gold, ice, leather, paper,

petroleum, plastic, rain, rubber, silver, snow, soap, steel, wood, wool

Abstract nouns: advice, anger, beauty, confidence, courage, employment, fun,

happiness, health, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, love, poverty,

satisfaction, truth, wealth

Others: biology (and other areas of study), clothing, equipment, furniture,

homework, jewelry, luggage, lumber, machinery, mail, money, news, poetry,

pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, work

Definiteness

A noun is definite if it refers to something specific that is known to both the

writer/speaker and the reader/listener. (Note: You should memorize this definition!) For

example, if Jane needs to drive somewhere, she might ask her father, “May I use the

car?” She uses the definite article “the” because both she and her father know which

car Jane is referring to (the family car). But later she might say to her friend Bill, “I saw

a funny-looking dog today.” She uses the indefinite article “a” because she knows

which dog she saw, but Bill doesn't.

Table 2 illustrates that there are four possible conditions involved in this decision, but

only one results in a noun that is definite.

Table 2: Matrix of Definiteness/Indefiniteness*

Knows specifically what is being referred to?

Writer/speaker

Reader/listener

definite:

Can I use the car?

Yes

indefinite: I saw a funny-looking dog today.

Yes

indefinite: I heard that you once wrote a

Yes

book about ecology.

indefinite: I need to buy a new belt.

* adapted from Brown, R. A First Language . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973 .

Revised 05/02, Page 3

Five Sources of Definiteness

There are five principal ways in which a reader/listener can know specifically what a

noun is referring to (that is, five reasons a noun might be considered definite):

1. The noun has been previously mentioned.

I saw a funny-looking dog yesterday [first mention, indefinite]. It looked like a

cross between a Pekinese and a German shepherd. When it saw my cat, the

dog ran away [second mention, definite].

2. A superlative or ranking adjective makes the noun's identity specific.

The tallest girl in the class is 6’2” tall. [There can be only one girl who is the

tallest.]

Please read the fourth paragraph on page 3. [There can be only one fourth

paragraph.]

Today is the most important day of my life. [There can be only one day that is

the most important.]

3. The noun describes a unique person, place, or thing.

The earth revolves around the sun once every 365 days. [There is only one

earth and only one sun--in our solar system, that is!]

4. A modifying word, phrase, or clause follows the noun and makes it clear which

specific person or thing you are referring to. But not every noun that is

modified in this way is definite; it depends largely on the situation and on what

you can reasonably expect your listener/reader to know about.

Do you remember the girl who went camping with us ?

[Using the here implies that there was only one girl who went camping with

you; otherwise the clause who went camping with us would not be sufficient to

identify the particular girl that you are referring to. If there were two girls, then

you would have to be more specific, saying perhaps “Do you remember the girl

from Iowa who went camping with us l ast May ?”]

John is reading a book about quantum physics .

[Here the noun book is modified by the phrase about quantum physics . But

there is undoubtedly more than one book about quantum physics. Therefore,

Revised 05/02, Page 4

to make book definite, we would have to add more information: the book about

quantum physics t hat was assigned by Professor Jackson last week .]

5. The context or situation makes the noun’s identity clear. For example, you

might ask someone to “Close the door.” You would use the because it would

undoubtedly be clear to both of you which door you were referring to. Similarly,

if you tell someone that you are going to the library, that person will assume

that you are talking about whichever library is most familiar to both of you—

RPI's Folsom Library, for example.

Again, you have to be sure that your reader or listener has the same context or situation

in mind that you are thinking of; otherwise, he or she will be confused by your use of

the . For example, one student wrote the following sentence.

This magazine helps women analyze the problematic situation and offers

possible remedies.

But this was the first time she had mentioned a problematic situation. Her readers were

therefore confused, because her use of the word the implied that they were already

supposed to know which problematic situation she was referring to.

Choosing the Appropriate Article

In order to choose the appropriate article for a noun, you first need to decide whether

the noun is singular. One way to determine this is to ask yourself whether you could put

the number “one” in front of it. For example, you can say “one experiment ,” but not “one

knowledge ” or “one examples ;” therefore, “experiment” is singular, whereas

“knowledge” is uncountable and “examples” is plural.

Table 3 shows that if the noun is singular, you must use either “the” or “a”/”an” in front

of the noun, depending on whether it is definite (known to both yourself and your

readers) or not.

If the noun is not singular, then it must be either plural or uncountable. Table 3 shows

that article usage is the same for both plural and uncountable nouns: you will use either

“the” or “0” (no article) in front of the noun. Again, the final decision depends on

whether the noun is definite or not.

Revised 05/02, Page 5

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