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Articles are the most common words in the English language. These nondescript a, an and the occupy about 8.5% of the volume of any text. If you exaggerate a little, then from each hour of working with the text you spend five minutes only reading the articles.

Along with this, articles are one of the first rules that students of English learn about. And one of the first rules that they forget and use anyhow.

In general, today we decided to tell you exactly about the articles. Where did they come from, how did they develop historically and how to use them correctly today. Go!




What is the article


If you ask a native speaker about this, he is unlikely to be able to answer clearly, unless, of course, he is a linguist.

Even dictionaries give a very, very long description.

Oxford Dictionary:

Cambridge Dictionary:


Macmillan Dictionary:


Generalized, the article is a special part of speech that denotes the certainty of a noun.

There are 3 types of articles in English:

  • indefinite : a or an;
  • specific : the
  • zero : when the article is missing


There are few articles, there are several dozen rules for their use, and even more nuances.

But before we capture them, we will figure out what the article is in a historical context and how it looked in the Middle Ages.

Articles in English: A Short Historical Excursion


The articles in Old English, spoken by the British in the 8th-8th centuries, are simply a creature.

Just because, depending on cases and childbirth, there were as many as 14 forms of a certain article (which today is the one and only).



In fact, the ancestor “the” meant “that”. That is, something concrete that you can point with your finger. But not everything is so simple, because for the word "this" in Old English there were another 14 forms of articles.

All this fun parsley has common roots with the Old High German language. There were a whole bunch of certain articles there. Compare:



Around the XI-XIII centuries, articles in the Middle English began to simplify. And already until the 13th century, two forms remained.

In fact, the masculine nominative “se” has become the definite article “the”, and the generic nominative “þæt” has become the pronoun “that”.

NB . þ - this strange letter, which resembles p and b superimposed on one another, is called a “thorn” and denotes an old English sound [θ]. It was used in English until about the 15th century, and in Icelandic there is even today.

And now a minute of useless information. The letter thorn þ was formed from the Germanic rune Turisaz, which meant "giant" or "god Thor".



The German articles also transformed over time, but no one was even going to simplify them there.

With the indefinite articles “a” and “an” everything is much simpler. Their ancestor is the numeral "ān", which means "one" in Old English.

So ān æppel (one apple) turned into an an apple. Actually, during the transition of the numeral into the article, its value remained the same - one thing, not specific. Because a particular apple would be "se æppel".

The Indefinite A / an in English


Now let's move on to the rules and use of articles in modern English.

Let's start with the vague ones.

The simplest is to choose which indefinite article we need: a or an.

If the word begins with a consonant, then select "a" - "a pencil".
If the word begins with a vowel, select "an" - "an article".

Important! You need to focus not on the first letter of the noun, but on the first sound. There is a difference.

A hound [haʊnd] - the first consonant sound, therefore the article “a”.
An hour [ˈaʊə] is the first vowel sound (h is not pronounced), therefore the article “an”.

The indefinite article a / an is used with countable nouns in the singular.

And this is damn logical - we recall that the ancestor of the indefinite article is the numeral "one".

Formally, the indefinite article has three separate functions. This is not necessary to know, but useful for understanding how it generally works.

1. Classification

I have a ball. - I have a ball.
It is the ball, not the puck or club.

She's a teacher. - She is a teacher.
It is a teacher, not an accountant or designer.

There is still a subtle nuance with exclamatory sentences that begin with what and such:

What a woman! - What a woman.
What a shame! - What a disgrace!
Such a beautiful dress! - What a beautiful dress!

It is clear that we are talking about a specific woman and a specific shame (the main thing is not in one sentence). But the design of “what a” needs to be remembered.

2. Generalization

A boy is calling you. “Some boy is calling you.”

There is an emphasis on the fact that this boy is seen for the first time, so he is "some kind". Uncertainty is present, therefore "a". Most often in this sense, the article is found at the very beginning of the sentence.

3. Numerical value.

Again we recall that “an” is “one” in Old English.

I have just an hour. - I have only one hour.

In this sense, the indefinite article in the vast majority of cases is used with nouns that indicate time, speed, distance, weight and similar measurements.

And now the trick! Because in some cases a / an is also used perfectly with uncountable nouns.

I'd like a beer or two. “I'd like a beer or two.”
That's a nice wine. “It's a good sort of wine.”

If the article can be replaced with the words “portion” (“cup”, “glass”) or “variety”, then write a / an to your health.

And if you really want to use the indefinite article in general with everyone with uncountable nouns, you just need to clarify them a little.

A water - not allowed.
A glass of water - you can.

An ice - not allowed.
An ice cube - you can.

And if you don’t want to specify, just replace the article with “some”.

Give me a water. - it is impossible.
Give me some water - you can.

The


It’s a bit more complicated here because there are more rules. We analyzed the homework data of over 10,000 English learners in the ED Courses application and found that 93% of students do not know all the features of using the article “the”.

The topic seems intuitive, so it pays very little attention even in training programs. Because of which, you often have to come back and study it again.

We won’t write too much, otherwise the article will stretch to very monstrous sizes. But all the rules must be specified.

To use the definite article the you need:

1. When you indicate a specific subject that you mean

- The phone is calling! Answer it! - Phone calls! Answer me!

2. Before the words next, last, only, very, following, as well as before ordinal numbers.

- What was the last book you read? - Which book did you read last?
- "Flowers for Algernon." This is the fifth time I've read it. “Flowers for Algernon.” I’m rereading it for the fifth time.

3. Before superlative adjective.

- Nile is the longest river in the world. - The Nile is the longest river in the world.

Important! If the article “a” is used with a superlative adjective, then the meaning of the sentence changes. But you can do that :)

- You're a most unusual man. “You're a rather unusual person.”

The phrase “a most” in this case means “pretty”, “very”, “to some extent”.

4. In the generalization, when indicating a certain group of objects as a whole.

The Tasmanian wolf has become extinct in 1940th. - The view of the Tasmanian wolf completely disappeared in the 1940s.

True, this rule is not necessary to know, because you can always write a group of objects in the plural and not bathe with which article to put here.

Tasmanian wolves have become extinct in 1940th.

5. In the names of times, eras or specific time periods.

the future, the Middle ages, the day before yesterday

6. With some geographical names.

It’s difficult to do this, so you’ll have to memorize specifically where to put the and where not. Or constantly check the spelling in the dictionary.

The need to put in the names:

, : the Pacific ocean, the Caribbean see, the Nile. !
: the Carpathian mountains. the!
: the West, the East.
: the USA, the UAE, the Russian Federation,.
: the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, the Seychelles, the Cook Islands, the Maldives, the Solomon Islands, the Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Gambia — , .
: the Americans, the Ukrainians.
: the Gobi, the Crimea.
: the Middle East.

The thing is that English is a flexible and constantly changing system. For example, 50 years ago Argentina was the Argentine. And the Falkland Islands are now simply called the Falkland Islands, although by the rules there is an article there.

In general, if you are not sure about the geographical names with the article, it is better to spend half a minute and double-check in the dictionary.

7. In stable terms.

Yes, they will also need to be learned. Because to try to understand why a particular article is needed there, it is possible only with deep knowledge of English linguistics. And in this case, you can get the answer: “Why, why? Because gladiolus! ".

Here are the most common persistent expressions where you need the article the:

in the morning
in the dead of the night
in the sun
in the street
on the other hand
on the way
to go to the cinema
to play the piano
to tell the truth

To cram them all is pointless, because there are so many of them. The best way to remember these phrases is to learn the language comprehensively and use them in your speech.

Zero article


It so happened that the absence of an article in a sentence in the English language is called the zero article.

The assertion, of course, is similar to the fact that atheism is not the absence of faith in higher forces, but the belief that they do not exist. But come on, let's not get into hermeneutics, let’s better analyze examples of how the zero article is used in practice.

With the zero article, it’s a bit simpler than with the definite one. He does not have a whole bunch of exceptions, just a couple. But you need to remember the rules: The

zero article is needed:

1. Before the plural nouns.

Do you like candies? - Do you like sweets?

The only exception is if you point to specific items in the plural.

Did you like the candies that I bought? “Did you like the sweets I bought?”
We are talking about very specific sweets, so a definite article.

2. Before the names and nicknames of animals.

Even if you want to call yourself directly the most specific and unique, it is still impossible.

3. If there is a pronoun or noun in the possessive case before the noun.

Possessive denotes someone else's property. Well, you know, with the ending "'s" in the singular or "s'" in the plural.

My room is already clean. “My room is already clean.”
Oh, it's Jack's dog. - Oh, this is Jack's dog.

The pronoun always supplants the article. You see the pronoun - you miss the article.

4. With uncountable nouns that denote substances or abstract concepts.

We have already described the exceptions to this rule above. And so no “give me one water.”

From Jack with love. - From Jack with love.

5. Together with titles and appeals, if after them comes a surname.

Mister Smith, Minister Brown

But in general, the zero article is a pretty loose concept, because very often it is used even in those cases where, in principle, there should be a definite or indefinite one.

This is especially evident in the headlines of magazines and newspapers. The articles are simply lowered to save space. This is not too grammatically correct, but not forbidden.



That, in fact, is all you need to know about the articles and how to use them. True, in our experience, even if a student learns all these rules by heart, he will still make mistakes. We will tell you about the most common mistakes in using articles and how to avoid them in one of our next articles.

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