Use this tag for questions about the usage of articles.
3
votes
5answers
261 views
Dedicated “To women” or “To the women”?
If I want to dedicate my article to all the women in the world, should I write
"To women"
or
"To the women"?
4
votes
2answers
79 views
“Foos are menace” vs. “Foos are a menace”
One of my friends has this in one of his E-mail signatures: «"Kosher" Cellphones (cellphones with blocked SMS, video and Internet) are menace to the deaf. They must be outlawed!».
Is this sentence ...
4
votes
2answers
146 views
“At the first” in the Bible
Why is the article the used in the following verse of the Bible?
At the first God made the heaven and the earth.
To me at first, which according to OED means at the beginning; in the initial ...
0
votes
0answers
18 views
using an/a before an adjective that starts with a consonant but the noun it modifies starts with a vowel [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should I use “a” vs “an”?
I am reading in Elizabeth Clark's (Canadian author, not to be found anywhere on the Internet) "The Stovepipe ...
4
votes
4answers
208 views
Which is more common - 'the most' or 'most'?
A thing I have never had the time to look more closely into. But I find both variants:
What I love most is ...
or
What I love the most is ...
I think the more common form is 'the most', ...
2
votes
5answers
459 views
“not found” or “is not found”
Why there is
file not found
access denied
and so on everywhere, when it should be (as far as I know)
the file was not found
the access is denied
I wonder which is actually ...
2
votes
5answers
218 views
“You're missing the posts only available to members” — should there be a “the” in there?
Consider this sentence:
You're missing posts only available to members.
I think it should actually be
You're missing the posts available only to members
or at least
You're missing ...
8
votes
5answers
459 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 ...
4
votes
4answers
145 views
“Create an Account” or “Create Account”
I have a registration form I want to name.
Should I name it:
– “Create Account”
– “Create an Account”
(or “Create the ...
4
votes
3answers
208 views
Should “the” ever be dropped from the beginning of a name/title?
Imagine two places exist, both called The Haunted Forest. How would I specify which forest is being referred? Would one say the northernmost Haunted Forest, or the northernmost The Haunted Forest?
If ...
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 ...
4
votes
3answers
553 views
Appropriate usage of articles for the same words in different sentences
When writing about the same thing in several sentences, mainly in definitions, I am often confused about when to switch from the indefinite article to the definite article. Which rule can be applied ...
3
votes
2answers
96 views
Who is Greek president vs Who is THE Greek President
Saw this in a quiz on Stuff.
Surely the word "the" should be in there somewhere? But I get the feeling I've heard things like "US President Barack Obama" instead of "The US President Barack ...
3
votes
3answers
137 views
Is there a usage of “the” that indicates one out of a group of many?
Considering the sentence
Nearly anything can be a weapon in a martial artist’s hands., the indefinite article a indiciates that this can be any martial artist out of all in the world.
Next, consider ...
4
votes
2answers
102 views
“Everyone knows what a/the proton is” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are there any simple rules for article usage (“a” vs “the” vs none)
Which is correct?
Everyone knows what a proton is.
Everyone knows what ...
1
vote
0answers
26 views
Using correct indefinite article before (in-line) parentheses [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“A/An” preceding a parenthetical statement
This is rather question of readability:
Which article should be preferred?
There is an (seemingly) easy ...
6
votes
1answer
231 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 ...
0
votes
2answers
916 views
Is it not that big a deal vs No big deal
I was just checking an advanced grammar and learned that the following is possible:
It is not that big a deal
1) The book says I cannot skip the article. But how come in "ordinary" version there ...
-4
votes
1answer
196 views
The correct way to say something is hired on an hourly basis
Which of the following is correct?
We hire our bicycle...
by the hour.
by hours.
by an hour.
for hours.
2
votes
2answers
164 views
take into (an) account
Coming from an articleless language, I often have problems with things like this:
take something into account
take something into an account
Are both phrases correct? If yes, is there a ...
2
votes
2answers
109 views
“From an attic of a building” vs. “from the attic of a building”
Could you choose the most natural sentence, please?
As a kitten, she fell from an attic of a nine-storey bulding into a ventilation shaft.
As a kitten, she fell from the attic of a ...
1
vote
1answer
185 views
Reading of the article “an” preceding quotations
Speakers often add “quote” or “quote, unquote” before quotations. But when a quotation is preceded by the article “an”, how should that article be pronounced?
As I understand, the choice between “a” ...
1
vote
3answers
151 views
Conventions for parenthetical inclusion of articles
Somewhat related: "A/An" preceding a parenthetical statement
When writing mathematics, one sometimes wants to write things like
x is not contained in (the closure of) the space Y.
The ...
1
vote
3answers
970 views
Boilt or boiled
Which word should be used here; 'boilt' or 'boiled'?
When the mother came home, the dinner had already been boilt/boiled.
I know that prepared/cooked/done are correct options, but I had to ...
1
vote
5answers
1k views
How do American English and British English use the definite article differently?
I decided to make sure that I know this important difference between American and British English, so I wrote what I have found out so far and I would be grateful to anyone who reads this and tells me ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
“The existing and proposed manuals” vs. “the existing and the proposed manuals”
Which one of the following is correct?
A comparison between the existing and proposed manuals is as follows.
A comparison between the existing and the proposed manuals is as follows.
Do ...
1
vote
0answers
32 views
“An (sweet) apple”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“A/An” preceding a parenthetical statement
is the correct form
A (sweet) apple
because the article "A" precedes the word sweet, although it is put in ...
4
votes
5answers
187 views
Why “the Sun Tzu” instead of just “Sun Tzu”?
I am reading a military history text that repeatedly refers to "the Sun Tzu" but does not give similar treatment to other authors (an example is "Clausewitz and the Sun Tzu disagree on ..."). I have ...
8
votes
2answers
463 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. ...
1
vote
0answers
45 views
Why no article in the following? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Omission of “the” in “elected him president” and “made captain”
I was reading a piece on Time and found the following paragraph where ...
2
votes
2answers
221 views
Using an appropriate article before the word “leadership”
I had a quick question. Recently a co-worker posted a how-to guide entitled "How to be a good leadership at work". To me the sentence seems incorrect. But I can't explain why. Technically leadership ...
0
votes
3answers
154 views
“Saying/doing it from your heart” vs. “Saying/doing it from heart”
What is the difference between the following two?
They didn't play the game from their heart.
They didn't play the game from heart.
Or
You didn't say that from your heart
You ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
Articles in a list
I saw a bear, a lion and a donkey.
Is the usage of the article a necessary before each word in a list like this?
Biggs set out Monday morning for one of his usual hiking and
gold-panning ...
4
votes
2answers
107 views
“The development” or simply “development”?
Here is a sentence similar to the one in the text I'm proofreading right now:
Groundwork for (the) development and implementation of my cunning plan.
The text is very formal and there're multiple ...
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?
4
votes
3answers
367 views
Origin and usage of “a shambles”
"Shambles" is one of the few singular nouns in English that blatantly resembles a plural noun. What is the origin of "a shambles"? Why do we really need to prefix an "a" in front of "shambles"? Which ...
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 ...
3
votes
1answer
113 views
“Professor of entomology” or “a professor of entomology”
Which is correct?
This is Dr. Yang Jeng-Tze, professor of entomology.
This is Dr. Yang Jeng-Tze, a professor of entomology.
6
votes
3answers
927 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?
-2
votes
1answer
2k views
Is an article an adjective? [closed]
I have always believed that articles (a/an, the) are a special type of adjective.. In watching a TV show recently (Smarter than 5th Grader) - A question was - "How many adjectives are in the ...
3
votes
4answers
14k views
“In recent years” vs “in the recent years”
Do we write in the recent years or in recent years? For example,
In the recent years, the influence of blablabla on blablabla has
grown rapidly.
In recent years, the influence of blablabla ...
9
votes
3answers
958 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 ...
0
votes
2answers
101 views
Do a/an have to match up when using multiple indefinite subjects?
Here's my quandary: Is the following sentence acceptable?
He waited to get an apple, orange or pear.
Or would it need to read as the following?
He waited to get an apple, an orange or a ...
0
votes
1answer
87 views
What articles are needed in document titles?
There seems to be a general consensus that some articles can be omitted from movie, book or newspaper titles. Can this be generalised and applied to any document titles such as titles of technical ...
1
vote
1answer
420 views
“Against traffic” or “Against the traffic”
The following first sentence comes from Wikipedia, which 'the' is not used before 'traffic', while the second one comes from BBC, which has 'the' before 'traffic'. I wonder if both usages are correct ...
0
votes
1answer
120 views
Article or no article: “at the price of a higher workload”?
The finer points (the infamous 10%?) of when to use indefinite articles still manage to elude me sometimes. Does the article "a" belong in the following sentence or not?
However, [foo] yields ...
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 ...
2
votes
3answers
234 views
“I have got a Playstation” versus “I have got Playstation”
Is it possible to avoid using the article in the following sentence:
I have got a Playstation.
1
vote
1answer
372 views
When Should I use 'the' with months, seasons?
Should I say:
There are four seasons of (the) year?
Today we will talk about names of (the) months.
5
votes
2answers
337 views
Can anyone explain the use of determiners in this passage?
Can someone explain the use of determiners (words like some or the) for the word beans in the following dialogue:
Aki: Lisa, here're some beans.
Lisa: Why are you giving me beans?
Aki: ...
