Before we look in more detail at how the English article system works, it is worth checking which areas of the system you can use confidently and which you are less sure about. That will help you focus on the relevant section of the unit; you may not need to study all of the sections.
Below are two short tests of English article use, for you to assess how confident you are that you can get the answers right.
Decide in each case whether the underlined numbered space should be filled with THE, A, AN or ZERO (no article).
Test 1: New rules for Everest climbers
Expeditions on _(1)_ Mount Everest will be more closely monitored than before from _(2)_ next year, according to _(3)_ BBC. _(4)_ Nepalese officials say that for _(5)_ first time, _(6)_ government team will be located at _(7)_ base camp. They will monitor and help _(8)_ expedition teams, coordinate _(9)_ rescues and protect _(10)_ environment. _(11)_ change follows _(12)_ embarrassing incidents on _(13)_ slopes of _(14)_ world's tallest mountain, including _(15)_ fight between _(16)_ sherpas and _(17)_ mountaineers.
Purna Chandra Bhattarai, _(18)_ chief of _(19)_ tourism industry division that oversees _(20)_ mountaineering, told _(21)_ BBC: "There is _(22)_ need for _(23)_ permanent government mechanism at _(24)_ Everest base camp to regulate _(25) mountaineering activities. _(26)_Integrated Service Centre will also help _(27)_ climbers by offering them _(28)_ communication and _(29)_ safety-related services."
Mr Bhattarai says that, starting from _(30)_ next year's spring climbing season, _(31)_ team at _(32)_ base camp will represent _(33)_ government's administration on _(34)_ ground. It was getting difficult to regulate _(35)_ mountaineering activities from _(36)_ capital, Kathmandu.
Test 2: Bogeyman
_(1)_ bogeyman is _(2)_ imaginary being used by _(3)_ adults to frighten _(4)_ children into _(5)_ good behaviour. _(6)_ bogeyman has no specific appearance, and _(7)_ conceptions about him can vary drastically from _(8)_ household to household within _(9)_ same community. In many cases, he has no set appearance in _(10)_ mind of _(11)_ adult or child, but is simply _(12)_ non-specific embodiment of _(13)_ terror. _(14)_ P/parents may tell their children that if they misbehave, _(15)_bogeyman will get them. _(16) B/bogeymen may target _(17)_ specific mischief – for instance, _(18)_ bogeyman that punishes _(19)_ children who suck their thumbs – or _(20)_ general misbehaviour.
In _(21)_ many countries, _(22)_ fictitious scary man similar to _(23)_ bogeyman is portrayed as _(24)_ man with _(25)_ sack on his back who carries _(26)_ naughty children away. This is true for _(27)_ many Latin countries and _(28)_ Eastern Europe, as well as _(29)_ Haiti and some countries in _(30)_ Far East. In Spain, el hombre del saco is usually depicted as _(31)_ impossibly ugly and skinny old man who eats _(32)_ misbehaving children he collects. In Argentina, Chile and particularly in _(33)_ Southern and Austral Zones, he is mostly known as "El Viejo del Saco" ("_(34)_ old man with _(35)_ bag") who walks around _(36)_ neighbourhood every day around _(37)_ supper time.
A. Proper nouns
1. Proper nouns that fail into certain categories are very rarely accompanied by an article: people's names, cities and states, countries and continents, months and days of the week, streets, churches and religious buildings, mountains, parks.
2. Proper nouns that fall into the following categories must always be I accompanied by the definite article the: museums and art galleries, buildings, highways, seas and oceans, river, deserts, periods and events in history, bridges/ parts of the country.
3. As a general rule, use the with plural proper nouns: the United States, the Great Lakes, the Alps, the Philippines, the Chinese (people), the Saudis, the Brazilians.
4. The definite article the is often used with proper nouns that include a phrase with of: the Baseball Hall of Fame, the University of Michigan, the Citv of New York.
5. The indefinite article а/an is rarely used with proper nouns.
B. Specific Reference with Countable and Uncountable Nouns
1. Use the definite article the to show specific reference with a common noun (singular or plural, countable or uncountable). A noun that has specific reference is one that both the waiter and the reader recognize as something unique. We know exactly which one or ones are being referred to. Sometimes we know that the noun being referred to is unique because of our knowledge of the world or the topic.
The earth revolves around the sun, (We know we are talking about the sun of our solar system and that there is only one,)
She took the children to school and then took the dog for a walk, (We know she has children and we know that the dog is the one that she owns.)
2. A reference can he made specific by previous mention in a text.
My neighbor bought a dog. My daughter is looking after the dog this week. (In the second sentence, the dog has now been identified as the specific dog that my neighbor bought.)
She ordered plants and furniture from a catalog. The plants and the furniture look wonderful in her apartment.
(The second sentence refers to the specific plants and the furniture that she ordered.)
3. A reference can be made specific by an adjectival phrase or clause that comes after the noun. The phrase or clause limits it to something specific and unique.
The dogs that belong to the night guard have been trained to attack.
(We know specifically which dogs – the ones that belong to the night guard.) The furniture in the shop window is on sale this week.
(Again, we know specifically which furniture is being referred to.)
C. Nonspecific and Generic Reference with Countable and Uncountable Nouns
The choice of article with common nouns depends on several factors; whether the noun referred to is specific or nonspecific, whether the noun is countable or uncountable; and if countable, whether the noun is singular or plural in form. When both writer and reader do not identify a noun as something known, unique, or familiar, the reference is nonspecific.
1. Use a/an with a singular countable noun when the noun referred to is nonspecific.
My neighbor bought л dog.
(The writer docs not expect the reader to know anything about the dog.)
I he artist painted ли attractive landscape.
Use an before a word beginning with a vowel sound: an elephant, an ugly building. Words beginning with the letters h and и can be a problem as they sometimes have a vowel and sometimes a consonant sound: an honest man, a house, a uniform, an understudy.
2. Use no article (known as zero article) when a plural countable noun is nonspecific.
They went to the country' store and bought eggs and cucumbers.
Note that quantity words are often used when a reference is nonspecific.
They bought some eggs and a lot of cucumbers,
3. Use zero article when you make a generalization (a generic reference) about a plural countable noun.
Dogs are friendly animals.
(The writer is making a generalization about all dogs, not any specific dogs.)
Flowers add color to a room.
4. Use zero article when you make a generalization (a generic reference) about an uncountable noun.
Love never lasts. Gold jewelry is expensive.
Do not add the definite article to a generalization just because the noun has an adjective in front of it. The adjective does not make the noun more specific. It m narrows the noun.
The Ggold jewelry is expensive.
The Rred cars are popular with the young people.
5. Use zero article (or maybe a quantity word) for a nonspecific reference to an uncountable noun.
She offered him advice and information.
She offered him some advice and a great deal of information.
Never use a/an with an uncountable noun.
Task 1. In the following quotations, identify each of the underlined nouns.
Еxample: Gentlemen prefer bonds, (Andrew Mellon)
Answer: Gentlemen – countable plural/nonspesific/ bonds = countable plural/nonspecific
1. The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys. (Malcolm Forbes)
2. Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. (George Bums)
3. Happiness is a warm puppy. (Charles Schulz)
4. As far as I'm concerned, whom is a word that was invented to траке everyone sound like a butler. (Calvin Trillin)
5. The reward of labor is life. Is that not enough? (William Morris)
Task 2. In the following passage identify each underlined noun phrase as making a specific (S) or nonspecific (NS) reference.
My life would have been much simpler, I think, if I had learned how to drive when I came to America. An American1 without a car2 is a sick creature3, a snail4 that has lost its shell. Living without a_car5 is the worst form of destitution6, more shameful by far than not having a home7, A earless person8 is a stationary object9, a prisoner10, not really a grown-up11. A homeless perso12, by contrast, may be an adventurer13, a vagabond14, a lover15 of the open sky16.
D. Superlatives, Ordinals, and Sole References
1. The definite article is always used with superlative adjectives and nouns formed horn superlative adjectives.
She was the fastest swimmer in the race.
Only the strongest survive.
2. The definite article is always used with ordinals that show the position of something in relation to other things: first, last, next, second, third, etc.
Labor Day in the United States falls on the first Monday in September.
That's the tenth time today I have told you not to do that.
The definite article is used with certain adjectives that point to something being one of a kind: main, only, sole, chief.
The main reason that I came to the United States was to get a better education.
He was the only man she ever wanted to marry.
Task 3. Below is an extract from a text about neuroscience, try to explain the choice of articles.
According to Greenfield (1997), the greatest advances in understanding the brain's structure and processes were achieved from the work of two scientists in France and Austria in the middle of the 19th century. First, a French neuroanatomist, Broca, examined a patient who was unable to pronounce any words other than the sound 'tan' (and for this reason was known as Tan). When Tan died, Broca was able to examine his brain and discovered that the region that had suffered damage was completely different from what (ZERO) phrenologists predicted; according to (ZERO) phrenological theory, control over (ZERO) language was centred below the left eye socket, whereas in Tan's case the damage had occurred higher up in the brain. This is now known as (ZERO) Broca's area.
The second advance was led by an Austrian physician, Wernecke, who also worked with (ZERO) patients suffering from (ZERO) speech problems, though different from those studied by Broca. Unlike Tan, Wernecke's patients could pronounce (ZERO) words perfectly; their problem was that what they said was (ZERO) nonsense – a condition known as aphasia, in which words may be spoken in a jumbled order and the patient may also invent new words with no obvious meaning. (ZERO) Examination of the brains of these aphasic patients revealed that physical damage had occurred in a region quite separate from Broca's area. This led Wernecke to conclude that there is no single speech centre in the brain, and that different elements of (ZERO) speech are controlled in separate regions.
Task 4. Here is the next (and closing) paragraph from the text about brain research. The articles have been deleted, but this time you have to decide where one is needed. Read it and decide where you need to insert THE, A or AN.
In short, we can say that key historical developments in brain research were, first, movement from description of brain’s structure to explanation of how brain worked and, second, shift from simple view of brain as single unit to realisation that control over any one skill – such as speaking – is distributed across different areas of brain.
E. Articles Used in Phrases
Here are some examples of phrases in which the use of articles is not predictable. Destinations: to go to the store, to go to the post office, to go to the bank, but go to school, to go to church, to go to bed, to go home
Locations: at home, in bed, in school, in college, but in the hospital
Parts of the day: in the morning, in the evening, but at night
Chores: to do the dishes, to do the gardening, to do the cleaning
Mealtimes: at breakfast, after dinner; for lunch
There are hundreds of idiomatic expressions in English containing nouns.
Here are just a few examples of idiomatic expressions: some of the nouns in the phrases have articles and some do not. It is usually impossible tо explain why some idioms have articles and others don't. Be alert. When you meet a new idiomatic expression, look it up in the dictionary write it down, and pay attention to whether an article is used or not: to give a hand, to keep a straight face; to be over the hill, in the end;
to be on time, learn by heat, by mistake
Task 5. Complete this extract from a letter with a, an, the or – (no article).
There are several reasons why I think I should be considered for (1) ___ post of esearch assistant in- (2) ______ Faculty of Economics at your university. My first degree was in- (3) _____ politics and economics from (4) _____ University of Warwick., (5) _____ England. Then I Went to (6) _____ United States and took (7) _____ Master's degree in international development:. Since then, I have been Working as (8) _____ advisor to (9)_____ small non-governmental organisation, and also contributing to (10) _____Independent newspaper on a regular basis.
Task 6. Choose the correct option.
1 I refer to your letter of 10th March. A/ The letter states that I purchased a car at your showroom several weeks previously.
2 Do you remember that/ this conversation we had three weeks ago about Kate and Geoff's wedding?
3 Please sign and date each/ all page of the contract, then return it to the address above.
4 This packet is impossible to open. Can you pass me the/ any scissors from the table?
5 On most nights now you'll come across a/ any fox in an urban environment.
6 The current government has done few/ little to alleviate the suffering of poor/ the poor.
7 I've studied several languages but have never found one this/ much difficult before.
8 The fear/ Fear of losing one's teeth is a common theme in many people's dreams.