Category: 08. Articles

Occasionally, articles are omitted altogether before certain nouns. In these cases, the article is implied but not actually present. This implied article is sometimes called a “zero article.” Often, the article is omitted before a noun that refers to an abstract idea. Look at the following examples: Incorrect: Let’s go out for a dinner tonight. Correct: Let’s go out…

Possessive pronouns—words like his, my, our, its, her, and their—can help identify whether you’re talking about specific or nonspecific items. As we’ve seen, articles also indicate specificity. But if you use both a possessive pronoun and an article together, readers will become confused. Articles should not be used with pronouns. Consider the examples below: Incorrect: Why are you reading the my book? The and my should not be…

Uncountable nouns are nouns that are impossible to count, whether because they name intangible concepts (e.g., information, animal husbandry, wealth), collections of things that are considered as wholes (e.g., jewelry, equipment, the working class), or homogeneous physical substances(e.g., milk, sand, air). Although most of these nouns are singular in form, because they refer to things that can’t be isolated and counted, they never…

Sometimes an article modifies a noun that is also modified by an adjective. The usual word order is article + adjective + noun. If the article is indefinite, use a or an based on the word that immediately follows it. Consider the following examples for reference:

The indefinite article takes two forms. It’s the word a when it precedes a word that begins with a consonant sound. It’s the word an when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel sound. The indefinite article indicates that a noun refers to a general idea or category of a thing rather than a specific thing.  For…

The definite article is the word the. It limits the meaning of a noun to one particular thing. For example, your friend might ask, “Are you going to the party this weekend?” The definite article tells you that your friend is referring to a specific party that both of you already know about. The definite article can be…

Articles are words that identify a noun as being specific or unspecific. Consider the following examples: After the long day, the cup of tea tasted particularly good. By using the article the, we’ve shown that it was one specific day that was long and one specific cup of tea that tasted good. After a long day, a cup of tea tastes particularly good. By using the…