Questions tagged [indefinite-articles]
An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.
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Why some write "an" in "an bosonic"? [migrated]
Recently I got corrected by other person from "a bosonic bath" to "an bosonic bath" (neither of us is a native speaker). That sounds weird to me, and does not look according to the ...
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A or an hexadecimal number? [duplicate]
From what I know, in English, the rule is that before a word starting with h, we use the article "a". So I would imagine that the correct way is:
"a hexadecimal number"
Searching ...
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Indefinite article before noun starting with "the"
How should I write if I want to buy a DVD of the movie "The Exorcist".
I want to buy a The Exorcist DVD.
I want to buy a "The Exorcist" DVD.
So what to do when there should be ...
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Context Defined Nouns (the use of the definite article)
I've been doing a research on articles, trying to create a set of reliable rules for my students and I've completed the major part of it, however, there still remain some inconsistencies with bare ...
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Which indefinite article are we supposed to use before a known abbreviated noun starting with "H"? [duplicate]
I'm asking this because I couldn't find any answer on whether I should use "a" or "an" before an abbreviated word starting with "H" like "H.B.H", People seem to ...
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Choose between a and the article in a question without context [closed]
Why we say
How to cross the road?
meanwhile, we also say
How to read a book?
As far as I know, we use "the" when there's some context. For example, I have a car, and I want to paint it, ...
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Using singular language to discuss generality [duplicate]
I am somewhat confused by the use of singular langauge to discuss generally true statements, for example:
A cat is smarter than a dog.
The intention of this statement is to say that in general any ...
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What is 'there is a God' supposed to mean?
There's no denying that the phrase there is a God is in use, as shown in these examples.
The New York Times, 2020:
When the nefarious Cardinal Richelieu died in 1642, Pope Urban VIII is said to have ...
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For Nth time or for a/an Nth time
In an English language class at school, I was taught to always use "the" not "a/an" when I want to use an ordinal number, for example, "for the second time in a row" ...
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(In)definite articles with abstract concepts
I am always struggling to figure out whether to use a definite or indefinite article with abstract concepts.
See the following example. Positions in question are marked with (the?):
Section X ...
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a LAN vs an LAN [duplicate]
LAN is the abbreviation for local area network. According to dictionaries, it has two variants of the pronunciation: [læn] and [ˌeleɪˈen]. Does it mean we can write both "a LAN" and "an ...
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Is it "a SW" or "an SW"? [duplicate]
First of all: I am aware of the rule for "a" vs. "an" be it a noun or an abbreviation following (see When should I use "a" vs "an"?). So following this rule the ...
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Good, bad, ugly? - "with professional efficiency" vs "with a professional efficiency"
Is either wrong?
What's your take on the difference?
I'm writing my first story and have an editor who has been great. I'm going through their edits and changing my draft as per their suggestions.
One ...
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Capitalization of an article in a sentence
Can an article be capitalized, to cause emphasis of a subject. Specifically the indefinite article A or An. I tried researching this and found capitalization rules but none in regard to being used ...
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"'A' HSBC branch" or "'An' HSBC branch"? [duplicate]
The general rule says 'a' should be used if the 'h' makes a sound, e.g., "a horse" vs "an hourglass", or (somewhat debated) the first syllable is not stressed, e.g., "an hotel&...
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a frantic 24 hours [duplicate]
"It follows a frantic 24 hours of talks between ambassadors, officials and foreign ministers."
Why is the indefinite article used before the word frantic when 24 hours are undoubtedly plural?...
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lacquer finish/a lacquer finish/the lacquer finish [article usage]
I've just read an article about lacquer finish (or should I say a lacquer finish here?), and the use of articles is a bit confusing.
The headline uses the indefinite one, which is kind of clear ...
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Improper usage of "it"? [closed]
On a language exchange app, a non-English speaker wrote the following:
Whenever I go to a cafe, I order a soda float. I love it because it's tasty.
This sounds very wrong to me, but the person I'm ...
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Why the indefinite article is used with a proper name?
Reading Dune by Frank Herbert, I came across a sentence – That drunken fool of an Idaho!
I know that this type of expression is usually used to render rebuke, scorn, contempt and what not. But I am ...
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When and why did "a" become a synonym for "per"?
In modern day lingo, we often read and hear phrases like "50 cycles a second" or "60 words a minute" or "30 kilometers an hour". When did English first start using "...
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Why is it "an FFP2 mask"? [duplicate]
The indefinite article "a" is changed to "an" if the following word starts with a vowel or and silent "h".
Now I read "an FFP2 mask" everywhere. Is this correct,...
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Why do we put the in this example?
Nearly $300 billion in foreign aid was spent by the U.S. Government between the years 2013 and 2018 (source: Forbes)
I seriously don't know why we put "the years" in the sentence. More ...
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Can the noun eyewitness be used properly without a preceding article?
Today I was writing an email calling somebody "eyewitness to" some event, but it was marked as incorrect and it was suggested I precede it with an article; i.e. an eyewitness, instead. But ...
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Difference between make 'an' effort and make 'the' effort [closed]
Consider the following sentence.
Yet I still enjoy making ____ (an/the) effort to bake at home from time to time.
Here, what is the difference between an and the? Is effort here a specific or common ...
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Will "a" or "the" be presumed in this scenario? [closed]
Suppose a native English-speaking witness in court is testifying about what she saw. The story, as previously narrated by the witness in her written statement, starts with a certain identified/named ...
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"An X of an Y" or "The X of an Y"?
Important: All of the examples below are assumed to be used when we say something like "a cat" and not "the cat". That is, for example, when we are introducing something for the ...
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an atom vs the atom [duplicate]
In Britannica's Atom term, some general sentences about an atom use "an atom", and others "the atom", why?
Sentences with "an atom":
The behaviour of an atom is strongly ...
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A or AN before a dollar amount preceded by dollar symbol $ [duplicate]
I have found related questions but my doubt remains and is best explained with an example. Consider the following sentence in a Finance academic article, where it is common to use the dollar symbol ...
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Is it grammatically correct to say that someone is "the son of Satan"?
I read a news report today which is titled "Chinese State Media Slams Soros As 'The Most Evil Person In The World' And 'The Son Of Satan'".
My question is not about politics but English ...
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The "-ing" form of a verb and indefinite article [closed]
If celebrities visit public places, such as malls and bars, people
will crowd them demanding for a picture or autograph.
1: Why did the writer use the "-ing" form of the verb "demand&...
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Complete the article. Use a, the or no article (-) [duplicate]
Would you like to explain the answer no.11?
I think No.11 need filling with "the" article, because it is the typical music. But the key is no article. I am confused
(s)............ name of ...
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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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Using the indefinite article before "rain"
I have recently learned the use of the indefinite article before uncountable nouns to talk about an unspecific instance. Can I use "a heavy rain" in the following sentence to communicate ...
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Using definite article with "total"
Should I use definite article before "total"?
Prior context: rehabilitation, describing patients' used physical therapy hours
Sentence in the middle of this work:
In contrast, total ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Using the indefinite article or zero article with "20/20 vision" when referring to sight measurements
While looking at the search results for "a 20/20 vision" in a question on ELL asking whether there should be an article before 20/20 vision, I noticed that many of the results that were the ...
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Appointed to a chair vs to the chair
I stumbled upon this line in a book (Singer's Practical Ethics):
Less violent protests took place at Princeton University when I was appointed to a chair of bioethics.
It struck me as odd as the way ...
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grab a lunch or grab lunch? [duplicate]
So I was writing an essay and want to know which sentence is correct-
I'll grab a lunch with Prof. Unknown and discuss his research on wearable computational fabrics. Or I'll grab lunch with Prof. ...
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Why do we put an indefinite article "a" before Merry Christmas? [duplicate]
I am wondering why there is an article -a- before Merry Christmas
Is it because it's a day or Christmas is countable?
I couldn't explain it to my students in a transparent way.
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"Such-and-such (a)" + singular noun
I've found both versions, She lives in such-and-such a street AND She lives in such-and-such street
Are both uses of the determiner? Which is the right one?
OED entry for such
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How can you explain this articles rule?
In an English test book I found the exercise
That is a book. The book is thick. That book isn't thin. This is an interesting thick book.
Another one example
This is a compuer. The computer isn't ...
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Do you use a or an before acronyms / initialisms [duplicate]
Whether to use ‘a’ or ‘an’ before acronyms/initialisms
Do you use "a" or "an" before acronyms / initialisms?
I think I understand the issues and principles as expressed by various ...
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Do I need an article with a job title?
which form is correct in the following paragraph?
...his training as an industrial engineer...
...his training as industrial engineer...
The Scholarship in Petroleum’s program is certainly the best ...
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What do you make of the quoted paragraph below?
I pulled this paragraph from an English textbook written for beginner's level (A1 according to CEFR) English learners in my country (Vietnam). The question I want to ask is: Can you understand what ...
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"images with at least one defect" or "images with at least a defect"?
I'm writing a technical document with some coworkers, and none of us is a native English speaker. I'm writing about images (pictures) of mechanical parts with or without defects, and I want to refer ...
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