Questions tagged [articles]
Use this tag for questions about the usage of articles (e.g. a, an, and the).
1,508
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Why is there no article in "do not block gate" [closed]
I often see signs like "do not block gate" or "do not block door"
Why is there no article before the singular noun? It's confusing as a non-native speaker.
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votes
1
answer
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Does "much of a (countable noun)" mean the same as "much (countable noun)?"
(a): The countries did not have much of a choice when it came to
vaccines.
(b): The countries did not have much choice when it came to vaccines.
Are the sentences above semantically identical? Are ...
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2
votes
2
answers
2k
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"In a first step" versus "In the first step"
In German we would often use the phrase "In einem ersten Schritt" which literally translates to "In a first step[, we did this or that..]". It is often used when the order of steps ...
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0
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2
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74
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Does "peace of mind" require an article? [closed]
Example:
Buying insurance gives customers a peace of mind that their family will be protected in times of need.
Is an article needed or can I also say, "Buying insurance gives customers peace ...
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1
answer
25
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The usage of articles with the word right and only [closed]
Very often, the article THE goes with the words RIGHT and ONLY. When is it OK to use A?
Examples:
This is a difficult question. Is there a right answer to it? (I think it's correct)
This is a ...
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0
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54
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"The" inside or outside quotation marks when naming a thesis
When stating the name of a scientific thesis or principle, for example, "the theory of evolution," should "the" be inside or outside the quotation marks?
Put simply, which option ...
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49
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"What a grand and intoxicating foolishness" and "what grand intoxicating foolishness" [duplicate]
Innocence, foolishness, lunacy, such nouns aren't countable, right? So both of these sentences are right. But which way would you rather use such a sentence? I know google favors the latter, but I ...
-3
votes
1
answer
62
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Is speed a variable? [closed]
This is a legal sentence:
London traffic moves at a speed of 11 mph.
Why can't we remove "a" and "of"?
London traffic moves at speed 11 mph.
We may say that "speed" ...
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2
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46
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A first or the first after mentioning general categories
In the following passage:
Recent works have tackled the explainability shortcomings with
different approaches. A first approach investigates to which extent an
input feature is responsible for a ...
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4
votes
1
answer
109
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What licenses the omission of an article in a countable or singular noun phrase?
Specifically, the term market in the following sentence is often referred to as "the market". But here the article has been omitted. What licenses such usage?
The difference between prices ...
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101
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Article usage in two sentences [duplicate]
Two sentences:
She underwent emergency surgery.
I had to undergo a medical examination when I started my new job.
Why in sentence one the article "an" is not required before "...
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64
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Mid westers leave the article out of their sentences!
For instance:
Q: what do you do for a living?,
A: I drive truck.(Not I drive a truck.)
I mowed lawn this weekend.
I drive bus.
I tend bar.
Etc.
This sounds incorrect to my Michigan native ears, is it ...
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votes
1
answer
94
views
Why is slug in publishing called a slug? [closed]
Slug as we know on the internet from the articles (example https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ 'music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063' being the slug ...
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3
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89
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In chess lingo, should pieces be preceded with the "the" article? [closed]
I've noticed many native english speakers that are professional chess players saying things like:
In this situation I can capture with pawn.
This just "sounds" very unnatural to me and I ...
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135
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Does the noun after "per" need an article (or other determiner) in the enclosed examples? [closed]
For example, in:
There is one property per heading.
There is one property per a heading.
The first one seems “more correct”. Other examples:
There are two colors per book.
There are two colors per ...
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vote
3
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187
views
Is "go to the hospital" used even when referring to multiple hospitals? [AmE]
It's well known the British go to hospital while the Americans go to the hospital.
But I wonder Americans really use go to the hospital in the completely same way as Britons do with the zero article ...
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1
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42
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Using article "a" [closed]
What is the correct sentence?
I'm neither a man nor a god
I'm neither man nor God
I'm neither a man nor God
I'm neither man nor a god
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Is it grammatically correct to use the definite article before "grana" in this case?
Stroma: the fluid surrounding grana, where the light-independent reactions occur.
In this vocabulary list entry—"Stroma: the fluid in the chloroplast surrounding the grana, where the light-...
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1
vote
1
answer
146
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Why is using the definite article “the” before a plural countable noun correct in this case when I have not mentioned the plural noun before?
Nuclear membrane/nuclear envelope: the double membrane of the nucleus, encasing the chromosomes and nucleolus.
I know you can put the article "the" before a singular countable noun to create ...
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votes
1
answer
809
views
"With probability", "with a probability", "with the probability"?
As a mathematician, I often write and read about probabilities. In the literature, I've seen versions of all the sentences below. Which one is correct?
This happens with probability (of) 30%.
This ...
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9
votes
2
answers
684
views
Confusion about articles before unique objects in math
I am a graduate math student, English is my second language but we have some courses taught in English.
I often see sentences like There exists *a* unique map/morphism f such that... (for example, ...
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2
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203
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Does the word "another" correctly substitute for the indefinite article in this sentence?
I was reading a short story by Ray Bradbury and stumbled on a zero article case in the sentence below.
"Years passed without another visitor, be it boy, girl, tramp or travelling man, knocking at ...
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2
answers
25
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Article use with job title (a sentence from a book)
The first sentence of the preface for a paperback edition of "The Witch" by Ronald Hutton (Yale University Press, ISBN 987-0-300-23867-9) reads:
Ronald Hutton is professor of history, ...
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1
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46
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Why is the indefinite article used here? A novel called “Norwegian Forest”
According to a textbook I read, we use "the" in front of nouns that indicate unique existences, e.g sun, Eiffel tower. However, today I came across this sentence:
"I would like to ...
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0
answers
34
views
Is the article an correctly used here
Here is the first sentence from an economic article:
"According to STATS’s preliminary estimates, broadly in line with
expectations, GDP has fallen by 12.1% YoY in February 2021, following an
11% ...
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2
answers
1k
views
Can we use the definite article (the) with the word "reception" when it means an office or a desk?
Suppose in all the sentences below, by reception I mean the place or the office that visitors go to.
Take, for example, these sentences:
Please get your keys from the reception.
Please get your keys ...
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0
answers
37
views
Under what circumstances may the noun 'ambush' not be preceded by any article?
In particular, I wish to know if they were attacked from ambush and they were attacked from an ambush are equally in fashion. The articled form is is definitely more familiar, but look at the first ...
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1k
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Why was "a world" used in this sentence of Melville?
I cannot make much sense of a world in the following passage from Moby-Dick:
There’s your law of precedents; there’s your
utility of traditions; there’s the story of your obstinate survival of
old ...
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answer
52
views
Is this correct? Canada, Spain, and USA
Substitute USA with UK, UAE, and the equivalent, is it correct?
Or do I have to add the definite article prior to USA?
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vote
1
answer
170
views
Using the definite article for generalizations
I'm wondering about the usage of the definite article in cases where the thing being referred to is an abstraction or generalization of some kind.
I'm aware of the most important rules for using the ...
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0
answers
87
views
"Plaintiff" without an article
Garner's fourth edition reads we accord to plaintiff his due.
Why is this nominal indirect object used without any article at all?
OED: http://oed.com/oed2/00180661
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Different adjectives following a list in a sentence
Example:
I hope to help with the vision of and research at Booze Drinkers Ltd.
The question is that vision is followed with a different article than 'research'. In separate sentences it's vision of ...
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answers
37
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Usage of Indefinite Article "a"
I am wondering whether the article "a" is correctly used in this sentence.
The context is the following:
Line 1: mystringexample = "Hello, world"
How to read line 1: it has a left ...
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vote
1
answer
48
views
Is there any situation where an article could be used in front of a pronoun?
I was reading an online copy of the King James Bible and (in John 18:1) found this:
When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into ...
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77
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Which article a/the should be used in API documentation?
For example:
some_field - an/the description of smth
In what cases articles should be/should not be used?
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123
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Article before word "Vacuum" [closed]
Is it necessary to put an article before the word "vacuum" and if necessary, why?
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0
answers
28
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Article after higher / high + noun [duplicate]
I know that there are similar questions here, but I still don't understand everything.
I wrote 4 almost identical sentences below with a place for an article marked as "...". Please tell me ...
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votes
0
answers
34
views
Does adding an adjective before a noun change its article e.g. from zero article to an/a?
Does adding an adjective before a noun change its article e.g. from a/an to zero?
For example:
Rotation will cause movement of aircraft parts.
and
Rotations will cause a vertical movement of ...
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1
answer
52
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Using 'they' with indefinite article [duplicate]
Is this sentence correct?
If an employee experiences an ethical dilemma, they can request a reassignment.
Is it correct to use 'they' when talking about 'an employee'? Or should the subject be ...
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votes
0
answers
393
views
Why we say 'the mountains' with definite article [duplicate]
There are rules for zero/definite/indefinite article.
And I don't get why we use 'the' with word 'mountains' in the next sentence:
I like to spend holidays in the mountains.
As for me the correct rule ...
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0
answers
23
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Using articles with product name? [duplicate]
I'd like opinions on the use of articles with product names.
It seems to have become a fashion in recent years to omit the article (“the”, "a", "an") before the name of a product – ...
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101
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"the unfamiliarity with" or "unfamiliarity with"? [closed]
I always have a lack of confidence in using the articles (a/an/the).
I want to write one of the following sentences in my paper. But I don't know which one is more appropriate? Could you please help ...
user409914
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"in the X way" or "the X way"?
Both the following sentences sound the same to (non-native) me.
"Start your computer scientist career by learning to program the OOP way."
"Start your computer scientist career by ...
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2
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103
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When does it feel more natural to have articles in names?
In my observations, names usually don't have articles like the, a, an. For example: Stack Exchange (not The Stack Exchange); Facebook, (not The Facebook).
However:
There are cases when the name ...
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53
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Is it "Hover over the icon to learn more about A book's content" OR "Hover over the icon to learn more about THE book's content"?
I'm writing some 'help' content for a website, and I've been stumped by an article.
There are several books, so there are several icons onscreen at any one time. When you hover over a book's icon, you ...
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answer
225
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Grammar Error (Articles) [duplicate]
I need to know why 'a' is omitted before headache in the below sentence.
Although he has undergone a very costly treatment, he has not been cured of a headache.
Correct - cured of headache.
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Comparing/Contrasting Adjectives with/without "the" and "one"
In terms of American English, I'm considering the following 3 options of comparing/contrasting adjectives. Are all of these okay?
The red dress is better than blue.
The red dress is better than the ...
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2
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49
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Adjective-Denoted Nationalities without "the"
I came across the following in the Wall Street Journal, as part of the main story (not the headline),
... Swiss voted narrowly against more hunting, by 52% to 48% ...
... Last year, Swiss voted on ...
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vote
2
answers
59
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Use or omission of articles [duplicate]
In the introduction of my thesis, I have the following statement: "It has been stated [...] from both __ theoretical and __ experimental standpoints.".
My advisor is saying that I should put ...
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0
answers
48
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Articles in description of figures
With a picture of a presentation that contains an arrow pointing from a text, for instance, "probability", is the label in the capture "The probability" or "Probability"?
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