Use this tag for questions about the usage of articles.
74
votes
6answers
13k views
Do you use “a” or “an” before acronyms?
99% of the time, I'm clear on when I should use "a" versus "an." There's one case, though, where people & references I respect disagree.
Which of the following would you precede with "a" or "an," ...
49
votes
5answers
2k views
“A/An” preceding a parenthetical statement
When a/an precedes a parenthetical aside (sometimes seen in informal/conversational writing), should the vowel rule depend on the first word in parentheses, or the next word in the "regular" flow of ...
41
votes
9answers
5k views
When should I use “a” vs “an”?
In the following example, is it appropriate to use a or an as the indefinite article, and why?
He ate [insert here] green apple.
I know that in the case of just "apple", it would be "an apple," ...
38
votes
8answers
7k views
Is there a reason the British omit the article when they “go to hospital”?
Why do British speakers omit the article in constructions like "go to hospital" or "go on holiday"? Pretty much all American speakers would rephrase those as "go to the hospital" and "go on a ...
32
votes
8answers
2k views
Why is there no plural indefinite article?
The takes either a singular or a plural subject. A/an only takes the singular.
When we pluralize a noun preceded by an indefinite article, we simply drop the article (sometimes replacing it with ...
21
votes
5answers
5k views
Are there any simple rules for choosing the definite vs. indefinite (vs. none) article?
I can’t for the life of me figure out where to use a and where to use the — and where there is no article at all. Is there a simple rule of thumb to memorize?
The standard rule you always hear:
...
20
votes
5answers
771 views
In “Are you staff?” does “staff” need to be preceded with an article?
Is it appropriate to say "Are you staff?" when asking someone if they are a staff member, or do you need to say "a staff"? This is regardless of any slang possibly incurred through either spoken, or ...
15
votes
6answers
1k views
Why do we say ‘I have “a” husband (wife)?
Though it may sound a very primitive question to native English speakers, the use of ‘article’ is always the greatest headache to me because we don’t have this part of speech in our language system (I ...
13
votes
3answers
779 views
Definite article — “on television” vs. “on the radio”
Why are these different?
We heard the news on the radio.
We watched the news on television.
In this book, the author says we must use television without the. Why? It makes me crazy. Is ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
Use of definite article before phrases like Heathrow Airport, Hyde Park, Waterloo Station, Edgware Road and Parliament Square
In this related question (Definite article with proper nouns, titles followed by a common noun), the OP asks if it is grammatical to use the definite article before phrases like Advanced programming ...
11
votes
1answer
376 views
“A” vs. “An” in writing vs. pronunciation
When starting a word with a vowel, the preceding "a" becomes an "an". I often find that when writing words that start with letter "N" or "M", I will pronounce them "EN", "EM", etc. (This is because in ...
10
votes
4answers
834 views
Why did Obama use “a” in “… to hear a King proclaim that …”
From Obama's second inaugural speech:
We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our ...
10
votes
4answers
603 views
New Oxford American Dictionary describes “the” as an adjective
When I look at the definition given from the Mac OS X Dictionary (I have set American English as interface language, and the dictionary used is then the New Oxford American Dictionary), I read:
...
10
votes
3answers
2k views
Why use “the” for oceans/seas/rivers etc. but not lakes?
Possibly two questions in here: Are these sentence constructions logical, and if they are, why are they different?
I swam across the Ocmulgee River.
I swam across the Pacific Ocean.
I swam ...
10
votes
1answer
480 views
Does absence of articles in computer-related sentences look natural?
I'm a non-native speaker (actually from Russia) and for us the articles (a, an, the) came as a thing that we just have to adopt. We do not have not similar constructions in Russian. Menus I see in ...
10
votes
5answers
204 views
What is the radical difference between ‘this’ and ‘a’ when telling a story?
The following quotation is a line from Ron to Harry after the first stage of the Triwizard Tournament. (p359, Harry Potter 4, US edition)
“You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did ...
9
votes
3answers
963 views
Why is Ukraine often called “the Ukraine”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Using the definite article before a country/state name
Hearing the Ukraine used to make me unsure whether Ukraine was really a country. Now though I have realized ...
9
votes
2answers
303 views
Why is “a” used here: “When a Mr. Andrews, the butler…”?
I posted a question several days ago about the significance of using “a,” in the sentence of Jeffery Archer’s novel, “False Impression” - “General Harry Wentworth was commanding his left flank when a ...
9
votes
3answers
655 views
Use of “them” as an article, not a pronoun
I've seen a lot of times the pronoun them used like an article. For example, in the title of the Delta Rhythm Boys Them bones, or in the first sentence of "Money for nothing":
Now look at them ...
9
votes
2answers
878 views
Is it necessary to use “the” multiple times?
It seems that the question has eventually become a series of questions....
Question 1
An example goes as:
The 1st and (the) 2nd paragraphs of the article are extremely long.
Is it necessary ...
8
votes
5answers
460 views
Use of “The better”?
Disclamer: English isn't my first language.
I learned during my English courses (a few years ago), that there is, as in French (which is my first language), a comparative and superlative version for ...
8
votes
3answers
176 views
“Welcome to Q&A for …” or “Welcome to a Q&A site for …”?
There's a question on Meta Stack Overflow about whether the current text for the welcome banner is grammatically correct.
It currently reads:
Welcome to Q&A for [site description]
...
8
votes
5answers
443 views
Do idioms pose an exception to normal definite and indefinite article usage?
I found this phrase in my biology textbook (emphasis added):
...in relation to Earth's history, 100,000 years or even a million years is the blink of an eye.
The part of the phrase in question ...
8
votes
2answers
549 views
Capitalising the definite article in names
When I was a youngster some mumble-mumble-mumble decades ago, I was taught that, in the instances of names of persons, places, and things which carried the definite article the, the article wasn’t ...
8
votes
3answers
447 views
Is it correct to say “one out of *a* possible four”?
I am curious if it is correct to say "one out of a possible four".
This is what I found in a publication:
Discrete level (one out of a possible
four), corresponding to a range of
safety ...
8
votes
2answers
466 views
“Any” with countable nouns in questions
I have seen "is “any” also used with plurals", which explains that any can be used with singular, plural, and uncountable nouns.
However, I want to ask specifically about questions. ...
8
votes
1answer
399 views
Omission of “the” in “elected him president” and “made captain”
Why is there no the before president and captain?
They elected him president.
She was made captain of the team.
8
votes
4answers
653 views
Why does English have an indefinite article? [closed]
I've seen many non-native speakers of English not making use of indefinite articles, presumably since their first language did not contain them. Thinking about this, and about the fact that even in ...
7
votes
5answers
1k views
Pronunciation of “a” in “make a difference” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
pronunciation of “a”
I would like to know the pronunciation of a in the expression make a difference. Is it like a in ate or like a in about?
7
votes
2answers
981 views
Is it correct to say “via a”?
Is it considered proper English to say something like this?
I called her via a telephone.
Or should the indefinite article be omitted entirely?
I called her via telephone.
If the ...
7
votes
2answers
449 views
Definite or indefinite article in “the/a devil's advocate”
I can't quite figure out which of the following expressions is more correct:
He is the devil's advocate.
He is a devil's advocate.
He is playing devil's advocate.
The combination of an article ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Using “the” before ordinal numbers
When learning English I was told that ordinal numbers should always be used with "the" before them. But I often see that this is not always so strict, for example I heard the phrase "April first" ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Why does English need an article before any noun?
In my native language, we can say:
I have dog
Because I don't want to say a dog (one dog, how many dogs) or the dog (that dog, the listener don't care which dog).
6
votes
2answers
781 views
ABC, NBC vs. the BBC and the ABC
I am writing a style guide at my company, and for the life of me, I can't explain why U.S. broadcasters "ABC" and "NBC" seem to need no article as a noun, while the U.K. broadcaster "BBC" always gets ...
6
votes
3answers
362 views
Usage of “a” and “the” in titles
Which one should I use for page title?
Apple — Tasty Fruit
Apple — A Tasty Fruit
Apple — The Tasty Fruit
The article is only about tasty apple.
6
votes
1answer
232 views
“This essay was translated from the Chinese” — what does this “the” do?
Chen Guangcheng is a special student at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at
the New York University School of Law. This essay was translated from
the Chinese.
Why don't they write: "This essay was ...
6
votes
4answers
2k views
How many articles should go in “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!”?
On the very first Christmas card was written "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year..."
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/christmas-card-sayings-and-phrases.html
In wiki dictionary that same ...
6
votes
3answers
218 views
Do native speakers leave out articles in slides for space?
Sometimes a and the take too much space in a slide, and I delete all of them to save me extra lines.
Is it a good practice?
6
votes
2answers
214 views
Why Should One Capitalize Titles When Publishing?
What is the motivation behind capitalizing the first letter of each word except prepositions in news, articles and blog post titles?
6
votes
3answers
932 views
“What kind of a person” vs. “what kind of person”
I often hear people saying what kind of [singular noun] rather than what kind of a [singular noun].
Are we not supposed to use an article (a) before noun?
6
votes
2answers
261 views
Should there be an article before “mayor” in “the role of mayor”?
SimCity, for example, casts youth in the role of mayor.
I'm not sure if I understand the usage of zero article correctly. There is no article before 'mayor' as this is the instance where we ...
6
votes
0answers
39 views
“an estimated 75 000 lives” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
'A[n] * [number] [plural]' Construction
Since the Crash Test Dummies, Vince and Larry, were introduced to the American public in 1985, safely belt usage has ...
5
votes
4answers
5k views
Is it “a uniform” or “an uniform”? [duplicate]
On a Physics specification, it says:
6.7 Know how to use two permanent magnets to produce a uniform magnetic field pattern.
Isn't it "produce an uniform magnetic field", or is the existing ...
5
votes
4answers
326 views
“In the nick of time” or “in a nick of time?”
They both sound right and I've found examples of both.
5
votes
1answer
203 views
“Is key” or “is the key”?
I wrote this:
This means that, as with any distributed application, concurrency is key: we have at least one flow of execution per node running concurrently with all others, and [...]
I was told ...
5
votes
3answers
809 views
Is it correct to write “a 5-mm-thick layer”?
Do I need hyphens? Should I use the indefinite article or zero article?
5
votes
4answers
957 views
Is the phrase “man is mortal” grammatically correct?
Or, must it be "Every man is mortal"? How about "Tree is mortal"?
In another sense, "A detailed description of a man", "A detailed description of man" or "A detailed description of Man"?
5
votes
1answer
219 views
Why do we use “the” in “the British” but not before “Canadians”? [closed]
Why do we use the definite article before most nationalities such as "the British" but we say "Canadians" without the?
Specifically, why is it that, for example,...
Canadians like maple syrup.
...
5
votes
2answers
217 views
Preceding article in foreign words [closed]
For articles on GL&U it is usual to use German words in English texts. While writing an answer, I was unsure how to use articles in a right way. Finally, after I had read my answer again, I became ...
5
votes
2answers
3k views
“During summer” vs. “during the summer”
What is the difference between saying "during summer" and "during the summer"? As in:
I work during the summer.
I work during summer.
Are both common? Is my feeling correct that the ...
