English articles
The articles in English are the definite article the and the [|indefinite article] a. They are the two most common determiners. The definite article is the default determiner when the speaker believes that the listener knows the identity of a common noun's referent. The indefinite article is the default determiner for other singular, countable, common nouns, while no determiner is the default for other common nouns. Other determiners are used to add semantic information such as amount, proximity, or possession.
Usage
requires that, in most cases, a singular, countable noun phrase start with a determiner. For example, I have a box is grammatically correct, but *I have box is not. The most common determiners are the articles the and a, which specify the presence or absence of definiteness of the noun. Other possible determiners include words like this, my, each and many. There are also cases where no determiner is required, as in the sentence John likes fast cars, where neither John nor fast cars includes a determiner.The definite article the is the default when the referent of the noun phrase headed by a common noun is assumed to be unique or known from the context. For example, In the sentence The boy with glasses was looking at the moon, it is assumed that in the context the reference can only be to one boy and one moon. However, the definite article is not typically used:
- with generic nouns : cars have accelerators, happiness is contagious, referring to cars in general and happiness in general ;
- with proper names: John, France, London, etc.
When referring to a particular date, the definite article the is typically used.
- He was born on the 10th of May.
- He was born on a Thursday.
- He was born on the Monday before Thanksgiving.
- There are apples in the kitchen or There are some apples in the kitchen;
- We do not have information or We do not have any information;
- Would you like tea? or Would you like some tea? and Would you like any tea? or Would you like some good tea?
- in noun phrases that contain other determiners, although one can combine articles with certain other determiners, as in the many issues, such a child.
- with pronouns, although again certain combinations are possible.
- preceding noun phrases consisting of a clause or infinitive phrase.
For more information on article usage, see the sections definite article and indefinite article below. For more cases where no article is used, see Zero article in English.
Word order
In most cases, the article is the first word of its noun phrase, preceding all other adjectives and modifiers.- held .
- Certain determiners, such as all, both, half, double, precede the definite article when used in combination.
- Exclamative markers of nominals, though still also determinative, precede the indefinite article: such and what.
- Adjectives qualified by too, so, as and how generally precede the indefinite article: too great a loss, so hard a problem, as delicious an apple as I have ever tasted, I know how pretty a girl she is.
- When adjectives are qualified by quite, the word quite often precedes the indefinite article: quite a long letter.
Definite article: ''the'', ''þe'', ''ye''
The only definite article in English is the word the, denoting person or thing already mentioned, under discussion, implied, or otherwise presumed familiar to the listener or reader. The is the most commonly used word in the English language, accounting for 7% of all words used.The can be used with both singular and plural nouns, with nouns of any gender, and with nouns that start with any letter. This is different from many other languages which have different articles for different genders and/or numbers.
''Ye'' form
In Middle English, the digraph was written using the letter thorn, and thus the modern form the was written as þe. For reasons explained at but in summary, came to be replaced in printing by the letter. Thus þe became ye and that in turn led to titles like Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe.Abbreviations for ''the'' and ''that''
Since the is one of the most frequently used words in English, at various times short abbreviations for it have been found.In Middle English, þe was frequently abbreviated as , a with a small above it. Similarly, the abbreviation for that was, a with a small above it. As a result, the use of a with an above it as an abbreviation became common. It can still be seen in reprints of the 1611 edition of the King James Version of the Bible in places such as Romans 15:29 or in the Mayflower Compact. The forms and were developed from and and appear in Early Modern manuscripts and in print.
Indefinite article: ''a'', ''an''
The indefinite article of English takes the two forms: a and an. Semantically, they can be regarded as meaning "one", usually without emphasis. They can be used only with singular countable nouns; for the possible use of some as an equivalent with plural and uncountable nouns, see Use of some below.Etymology
An is the older form. The Old English word ān was derived from Proto-West Germanic *ain, which was derived from Proto-Germanic *ainaz. All of these words descended from Proto-Indo-European *óynos, meaning "single".Distinction between ''a'' and ''an''
The of the original Old English indefinite article ān got gradually assimilated before consonants in almost all dialects by the 15th century. Before vowels, the survived into Modern English.Currently, the form an is used before words starting with a vowel sound, regardless of whether the word begins with a vowel letter. Where the next word begins with a consonant sound, a is used. Examples: a box; an apple; an SSO ; an MP3 ; a HEPA filter ; an hour ; a one-armed bandit ; an $80 fee ; an herb in American English, but a herb in British English; a unionized worker but an un-ionized particle. Before words beginning with, an was formerly widespread, e.g. an unicorn, an eulogy, but has largely been superseded by a since the 19th century.
In older loan words of Latin or Greek provenance, initial h used to be silent in general, thus the use of an before such words was common and has survived to some extent to recent times even when the h has been restored in pronunciation. Some speakers and writers use an before a word beginning with the sound in an unstressed syllable: an historical novel, an hotel. However, this usage is now less common.
Some dialects, particularly in England, silence many or all initial h sounds, and so employ an in situations where it would not be used in the standard language, like an 'elmet.
There used to be a distinction analogous to that between a and an for the possessive determiners my and thy, which became mine and thine before a vowel, as in mine eyes.