Articles
Revised 11 September 2001
The articles in English are a class of adjectives that comprise a,
an, and the. They help to define nouns. A and an are
called the indefinite articles because they refer to a single unspecified
member of a class of objects represented by the noun. The is called the definite
article because it refers to a specified, or definite, member or subset of
members of a class of objects. A and an are functionally
equivalent—a is used when the next word (noun or adjective) begins with
a consonant sound, as in a book or a fine day, and an is
used with words that begin with a vowel sound, as in an unusual occurrence
or an elementary proposition.
Although the basic uses of articles come
naturally to native English speakers, native speakers of languages such as
Russian and the Oriental languages have trouble because their languages do not
use articles. They have no innate feel for articles, and have to practice for a
long time to overcome this hurdle. That is not to say that native English
speakers always use articles properly, however. Complex forms of writing such as
scientific and technical often cause them problems, even if they don’t realize
it.
Two sequential decisions are required in
order to use articles correctly. First, determine whether an article is needed.
Second, determine whether it should be definite or indefinite. The first
decision is the harder of the two. This discussion considers the simplest
principles for reaching it.
Do I need an article?
The fundamental principle for deciding whether to attach an article to a noun is straightforward and has only a few exceptions. Almost all of its applications can be understood without knowing grammatical details. Its simplest version goes something like this:
If the noun represents an entire class, it cannot be made plural and so does not take an article. If it represents one or more members of a class, it takes an article or some other determiner.
“Class” here is to be understood broadly, and includes unique, abstract, and noncount nouns. Consider these illustrative examples:
1. Hydrogen has Z = 1.
No article because hydrogen is a
unique chemical element and therefore may not be pluralized. (There can be no
such thing as two hydrogens.)
2. I went to the store on
the corner.
(Since store on the corner is a
member of the class store, it will take an article.)
3. Astronomy is my hobby.
Astronomy cannot be pluralized
because it is an abstract noun (a unique, general subject). Thus it takes no
article.
4. How do atmospheric
storms form?
No article because atmospheric storms
is used here as an entire class.
5. Atmospheric storms over North America can be very
strong in winter.
Atmospheric storms over North America
is something of a borderline case. On the one hand, it is a broad class. On the
other, it has been narrowed down from atmospheric storms. On balance, its
broad feeling dominates, and it takes no article.
For North America and other
geographic names, see below.
Winter is being used here as an
abstract noun (generic), and so takes no article. (The winter is
sometimes used colloquially, however.) The winter of 1879 refers to a
specific member of the class of winters, and so takes an article.
6. The atmospheric storms that swept over eastern North
America last winter were unusually strong.
Here the atmospheric storms that swept
over eastern North America last winter clearly refers to a subset of the
class of atmospheric storms over North America, and so requires an article.
Since eastern North America is unique, it does not take an article.
7. Rather substantial offshore flow can be generated by
the effect of the topographic irregularities.
Offshore flow here means flow in
the general, almost abstract, sense. It may not be pluralized without changing
its meaning to specific flows. Therefore it takes no article.
Since offshore flow is general, so
should be topographic irregularities. At the same time, it is not helpful
to refer to some ill-defined specific the effect of…, so this phrase
should be deleted. (The effect of is also redundant.)
Alternately, a context of more specific
discussion may cause the first noun phrase to be more specific, and the sentence
may be rewritten as A rather substantial offshore flow…
Revised: Rather substantial
offshore flow can be generated by topographic irregularities.
Revision 2. A rather substantial
offshore flow can be generated by topographic irregularities.
8. It is necessary to consider other physical processes
that generate the offshore currents and small-scale variability associated with
them.
Other physical processes represent
an entire class, and so takes no article.
Offshore currents can be considered
in the general sense or the specific sense, taking an article or no article,
respectively. It seems to me that small-scale variability should be
generalized to the plural form to allow for more than one kind of variability.
Since small-scale variabilities associated with them clearly refers to a
subset of possible small-scale variabilities, it needs to be accompanied by the
definite article.
Revised in the context of specific
currents: It is necessary to consider other physical processes that
generate the offshore currents and the small-scale variabilities associated with
each of them.
Revised with context of general
currents: It is necessary to consider other physical processes that
generate offshore currents and the small-scale variabilities associated with
each of them.
9. (A title) Influence of bottom topography on cross-shelf
circulation forced by time-dependent wind.
Here influence refers a subset of influences,
and so should be written the influence. But bottom topography and cross-shelf
circulation are general, and can stay as is. Time-dependent wind,
should be made general (pluralized) because of the generality of cross-shelf
circulation. Write it as winds.
Revised: The influence of bottom
topography on cross-shelf circulation forced by time-dependent winds.
10. Cars are a wonderful
thing even though they pollute.
Since cars refers to the entire set
of cars, it takes no article.
Conventions about
articles and proper nouns
Some proper nouns can be generalized to
behave as common nouns, and thereby take articles. For example, the name of a
friend Mary Jones will nearly always be a unique proper noun because there
aren’t any other Mary Joneses around. But in a wider context, we may sometimes
ask “Are you the Mary Jones that I knew in high school?” Here Mary
Jones has effectively been reduced to a common noun that happens to be
capitalized. So the careful writer has to pay attention even to proper nouns
when thinking about articles. Another example: “Do you remember the
Thanksgiving of 1995? We got snowed in.”
Names that do not take an
article
Persons.
Holidays, months, days of the week.
Geographical names such as continents,
countries, states, counties, cities and towns, lakes, creeks, and mountains.
Streets and roads.
In most of these cases, the article is not used because the person or thing is unique and therefore its own class.
Names that take the
definite article
Plural place names such as the
Netherlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, etc.
Rivers, seas and oceans, canals, coastline
features (gulfs, capes bays, straits, etc.).
Public buildings (hotels, restaurants,
places of entertainment, museums, etc.).
Noted ships and planes.
Newspapers, some magazines and
periodicals.
These cases can be considered derived from a two-part name where the
first part is specific and second part general: “XX river,” for example.
Since the result is a specific member of a class, it must take the definite
article. Although this heritage may be obscured by the contemporary way of
writing the name (The Alps, for example), a little thought will usually reveal
the proper etymology (The Alpine Mountains). Some other example are “The
Herald-Tribune” for “The Herald-Tribune Newspaper” and “The Queen
Mary” for “The Queen Mary Steamship.”
But if this is so, why isn’t “Martin
Luther King Jr. Day” “The Martin Luther King, Jr., Day”? Perhaps
because like “George Washington’s Birthday” it is really “Martin Luther
King Jr.’s Day.”