The Indefinite article before common abstract nouns

The indefinite article is used in the following cases:

a) In the meaning «a certain amount of or a certain action of» before names of qualities or states, either with or without a descriptive attribute: (E.g. Have a look at this. He went for a swim. Have a good ride. You need a wash. It is a kindness to tell him the bad news straight away. I have a weakness for chocolate).

Note that words like kindness, weakness and so on may as well render their most generalized meanings — «the qualities of being kind» or «weak» respectively and therefore they may be determined by the zero article. (E.g. He has always shown kindness to animals. The President was accused of weakness when dealing with the crisis).

Note that some abstract nouns denoting a certain amount of quality or state may be determined by the indefinite article in the case they are given a descriptive attribute: (E.g. She fell into a deep sleep. He has a good knowledge of history. Our team put up a good fight).

b) Before nouns denoting processes: (E.g. He drove off with a crashing of gears and a screeching of tires. A lot of people have gathered to listen to a poetry reading. He has just had a conversation with his friends. It is necessary to hold a discussion about our future plans).

c) Before nouns denoting phenomena usually with a descriptive attribute — an adjective or ordinal numeral: (E.g. A heavy rain began to fall. Suddenly we heard a shot, then a second (shot), and a third (shot).

Note that most of abstract nouns denoting pheno­mena, such as weather, rain, thunder, storm, etc. are un­countable.

d) Before nouns denoting periods of time as part of an adverbial phrase: (E.g. We shall start in a minute. We met an hour ago. Wait a second. This subject was raised a century ago).

e) Before some nouns denoting generalized notions: (E.g. He has always had a tendency to missing classes).

Note that most of nouns of the group such as time in the meaning «passing of days, months, and years, con­sidered as a whole», space in the meaning «something measurable in length, width, or depth», direction, accommodation, etc., as well as nouns denoting fields of knowledge (linguistics, mathematics, history) are uncoun­table and therefore cannot be determined by the indefinite article.

The Indefinite article before proper concrete nouns

The indefinite article may be used before names of people in the meaning «some», showing that someone is unknown to the speaker: (E.g. Mrs. Brown wishes to speak to you).

In most cases the indefinite article determines a proper noun provided it has acquired a common meaning. Thus, it can be used in the following cases:

a) Before a name of a painter to denote his picture: (E.g. This is a Rembrandt).

b) In the meaning «one like or having the qualities of» before names of famous people or literary characters: (E.g. They say that the young actress is a new Sophie Loren. Her husband is so jealous. He is a real Othello).

c) Before a proper inanimate noun to specify its kind: (E.g. This is a good Champagne, a good sort of Cham­pagne).

d) In the meaning «a particular one» before names of times and places: (E.g. I can't remember a Christmas when it snowed so much. In 1989 there was a late Easter).