The article. General notion.

The article is a functional part of speech which serves to present the noun referent as a definite or indefinite entity. The does not identify the referent, but tells us that it can be identified somewhere, either earlier in the text or in the situation described or in our common knowledge of the world at large.The article a/an indicates that the noun referent is presented as belonging to a certain class of objects (It is often used in relative patterns like This is, It is, S/he is, There is). The usage of the definite article shows that a particular object is meant (Where are the flowers?). When a noun is used alone without any article this absence is considered to be significant. We call this position the ‘zero article’. It shows that class nouns in plural or abstract nouns or nouns of material are used in a general sense.

Use of articles with common nouns

The indefinite article.

1. The object expressed by the noun belongs to a certain class: She has a watch of her own. I liked the room because there were flowers in it.

2. The noun is used in a general sense (the indefinite article has the meaning of ‘every’ ; the ‘zero’ article in plural can be substituted by ‘some’):

A drowning man catches at a straw. Real friends should have everything in common.

3. There are cases when the indefinite article has its old meaning of ‘one’:

A stitch in time saves nine. He had hardly spoken a worf inde they left Riccardo’s door…

The definite article

1. When the noun denotes an object or objects which the speaker singles out from all the objects of a given class if

1. it is clear from the situation (Did you like the play? Close the door, please! Show me the way to the station! Can you bring the milk from the kitchen?)

2. the noun denotes a thing unique (the sun, the moon, the universe, the earth, the sky, the world, but space)

3. with nouns used in a generic statements denoting a thing taken as a type, a genre: The telephone was invented in the 19^th cent. The tragedy and the comedy first appeared in Greece.

NB: A noun used in a generic sense should not be confused with a noun used in a general sense:

cf. A detective story helps to while away the time. (every, any)

Conan Doyle is a master of the detective story.

4. the definite article is used with nouns modified by adjectives in the superlative, with nouns in word-groups with some of, many of, none of, most of, with nouns modified by the pronoun same, the adjective wrong, right, very, with substantivized adjectives the simple, the rich, the poor.

5. the speaker uses an attribute pointing out a particular object (That is the girl I’ve told you about). [When an object is singled out the definite article retains its demonstrative meaning – this, that.]

A particularizing attribute can be expressed by back reference, an of-phrase (a + noun + of) or an attributive clause. It is always used in post-position:

We stopped at a small village. The village was very pretty. He knocked at the door of a very neat house. The letters that I have here have come to me quite by accident.

A particularizing attribute which demonstrate an inner feature of a referent should not be confused with a descriptive attribute which is used to describe an object or to give some additional information about it: In a fortnight I got a letter, which I considered odd.

6. the following words always need the definite article: the same, the following, the last, the next, the very, the only, the previous (the same class, the very thought, the only pupil, the next day…)

EX.1 Supply a/an or the in the text.

During our journey we came to ¹_ bridge. As we were crossing ²_ bridge, we met ³ _ old man and spoke to him. ⁴ _ man refused to answer us at first. He could tell at a glance that we had escaped from ⁵_ prisoner-of-war camp and he was afraid of getting into trouble. We weren’t ⁶_ first prisoners of war to have escaped from ⁷ _ camp. As soon as Jim produced ⁸_ revolver, ⁹ _ man proved very willing to answer our questions. He told us exactly where we were and directed us to ¹⁰_ farm where we might find food.

EX.2. Put in a, some, any or ‘_’. Alternatives are possible.

AT YOUR SERVICE, SIR!

¹_ robots are common in industry and perhaps they will soon be common in the home. ²_ robot working in the home must be able to behave like ³_ human. You could ask it to make breakfast for you. ‘I’d like _ pot of coffee, please, and ⁵ _ boiled eggs.’ ‘How many sir?’ ‘Two please.’ You wouldn’t have to worry about bringing friends home to dinner.‘I’ve brought ⁶_ friends for dinner,’ you would say, ‘please, prepare ⁷ _ meal for six.’ Your robot would be ⁸ _ cook, ⁹ _ servant and ¹⁰ _ cleaner, and perhaps it could even do the shopping. ‘We haven’t got ¹¹_ tomatoes,’ you would say. ‘Be ¹²_ good robot and get some from the supermarket.’ ^{13 _} robots would never need to sleep, and would never complain. But I wouldn’t want them wandering round the house at night!

EX.3. Supply a or the in the text.

We wanted to reach ¹_ small village and knew we must be near. Then we saw ²_ woman just ahead and some children playing. When we stopped to ask the way, ³_ woman said she was ⁴_ stranger herself. We called out to ⁵ _ children, but they ignored us. Just then two men came along and we asked them the way. ⁶_ men didn’t know; but at least they were helpful. ‘There’s ⁷_ signpost a mile along the road,’ one of them said . We drove to ⁸ _ signpost eagerly. This is what it said: NORTH POLE 6,000 MILES.