Usage of "a/an and the"

Amy   Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:07 pm GMT
Hi there,

My mother tongue is Chinese, and as some of you may know, the Chinese language does not have indefinite and definite articles as English. I have been learning English for a few years now, and I am always confused as to when to use "the" rather than "a/an". I have come across several reference books that provide lists of rules, but since there are so many rules available, I get even more confused because I have no idea when each rule should be applied. Can anyone share their story on how they conquered the usage of indefinite/definite articles? How do native English speakers learn the usage anyway?
Someone   Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:44 pm GMT
Well,thankfully the English language is genderless.


'a house' , nothing to explane it just is.


'an apple' ,its 'an' because apple begins with a sylable (a,e,i,o,u,)
Mona   Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:06 pm GMT
That's right!
When a word begins with a sylable, then you use "an". Otherwise, you use "a". Both are used only for singular.
But "the" it's used,for example: "The car is white".
I hope it was usefull for you.
Bye.
beverly   Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:58 pm GMT
Amy,

use "the" when being specific:
1. The house is tall. (this particular house, not all houses)
2. The houses belong to Daddy. (not all houses, just these)

use "a/an" when defining or discussing in a general sense or numbering:
3. A house is inanimate. (=Houses are inanimate.) (Well, generally they are.)
4. In this recipe, an apple may replace the potato. (=one of any type of apple)

Also, Mona and Someone meant to say:
Use AN before a noun that begins with a VOWEL (a,e,i,o,u).
Sentence number 4 is an example, where APPLE begins with A.
There are exceptions to the rule, such as:
Prince William is AN HEIR to the British throne.
Here, the exception is based on pronunciation: The H is silent in HEIR.

I hope this helps you, Amy.
Noman   Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:17 pm GMT
Salam...
Well,English is foreign language to me ...from my knowledge I can enlist a/an/the usage as.

~A/An are used in meaning of "single or One" and therefore,used before singulars/genderless things.
~An is Used before words having starting with vowels( a,e,i,o,u and sometimes h as in case of honesty,hour etc); on the other hands A is used before all other alphabates other than vowels.
~It seems sometimes that a/an/the are used for emphasis on words before them they are used.And I guess it got become habitual to use a/an/the.
~The means nothing but it is used for emphasis on things,for ease in explaning the word that had been used before and you don't want to explain them again;e.g.,
I saw a lion.The lion was furious.
Amy   Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:42 pm GMT
A heartful thanks to you all, who have been very patient. I think we are beyond that "a/an" part, but what about "the" and how "the" can be used to describe a genre.
Trawick   Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:41 pm GMT
To be fair Amy, you didn't mix up any "a"s or "the"s in what you wrote above, so you seem to have mostly gotten the hang of it.

What do you mean by "genre?"
averoestone   Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:53 pm GMT
As Trawick noticed it, Amy, given what he writes, can't be someone still having trouble using articles.
So Amy stop playing the fool.
I don't think you'r a chinese neither.
averoestone   Fri Jul 08, 2005 5:08 pm GMT
Tarwick,
"Genre" is the French equivalent of the word "Gender" in English.
Amy is French, he'd better go read "le chat perché" of Marcel Amy.
Adam   Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:57 pm GMT
English isn't genderless.

Pronouns use natural gender.
Adam   Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:59 pm GMT
"How do native English speakers learn the usage anyway? "

I don't know! It's something we can always remember doing, like telling the time. But that's one of the reasons why English is difficult to learn for some people, even though it has no grammatical gender. I know that Finns (Finnish also has no articles) also have trouble with English articles.
Sander   Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:01 pm GMT
Adam...please accept that your language is easy to learn.It really is a piece of cake!
Adam   Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:01 pm GMT
Definition of articles
English has two types of articles: definite (the) and indefinite (a, an.) The use of these articles depends mainly on whether you are referring to any member of a group, or to a specific member of a group:



1. Indefinite Articles: a and an
A and an signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. These indefinite articles are used with singular nouns when the noun is general; the corresponding indefinite quantity word some is used for plural general nouns. The rule is:

a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy
an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant
a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used)
some + plural noun: some girls
If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immedately follows the article:

a broken egg
an unusual problem
a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound)
Note also that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate membership in a profession, nation, or religion.

I am a teacher.
Brian is an Irishman.
Seiko is a practicing Buddhist.

2. Definite Article: the
The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is particular or specific. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. Compare the indefinite and definite articles in the following examples:

Indefinite (a or an) Definite (the)

Singular a dog (any dog)

an apple (any apple) the dog (that specific dog)

the apple (that specific apple)

Plural some dogs (any dogs)

some apples (any apples) the dogs (those specific dogs)

the apples (those specific apples)



The is not used with noncountable nouns referring to something in a general sense:

[no article] Coffee is a popular drink.
[no article] Japanese was his native language.
[no article] Intelligence is difficult to quantify.
The is used with noncountable nouns that are made more specific by a limiting modifying phrase or clause:

The coffee in my cup is too hot to drink.
The Japanese he speaks is often heard in the countryside.
The intelligence of animals is variable but undeniable.
The is also used when a noun refers to something unique:

the White House
the theory of relativity
the 1999 federal budget

Note: Geographical uses of the
Do not use the before:

names of countries (Italy, Mexico, Bolivia) except the Netherlands and the US
names of cities, towns, or states (Seoul, Manitoba, Miami)
names of streets (Washington Blvd., Main St.)
names of lakes and bays (Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie) except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes
names of mountains (Mount Everest, Mount Fuji) except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn
names of continents (Asia, Europe)
names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands
Do use the before:

names of rivers, oceans and seas (the Nile, the Pacific)
points on the globe (the Equator, the North Pole)
geographical areas (the Middle East, the West)
deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas (the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula)


Further Uses of Articles
In addition, use of a, an, and the also depends on whether the noun following the article possesses one of these paired qualities:

Countable vs. noncountable
First vs. subsequent mention
General vs. specific

1. Countable vs. Noncountable
A and an are used if the noun can be counted.

I stepped in a puddle. (How many puddles did you step in? Just one. Therefore, use a.)
I drank a glass of milk. (Glasses of milk can be counted)
I saw an apple tree. (Apple trees can be counted)



The must be used when the noun cannot be counted.

I dove into the water. (How many waters did you dive into? The question doesn't make any sense because water is noncountable. Therefore, use the.)
I saw the milk spill. (How many milks? Milk cannot be counted)
I admired the foliage. (How many foliages? Foliage cannot be counted)




2. First vs. Subsequent Mention
A or an is used to introduce a noun when it is mentioned for the first time in a piece of writing. The is used afterward each time you mention that same noun.

An awards ceremony at the Kremlin would not normally have attracted so much attention. But when it was leaked that Soviet President Konstantin Chernenko would be presenting medals to three cosmonauts, interest in the ceremony intensified. Time, Sept. 17, 1984.
Note: There is and there are can be used to introduce an indefinite noun at the beginning of a paragraph or essay.

There is a robin in the tree outside my window. When my cat jumps up on the desk, the robin flies away.

3. General vs. Specific
A, an, and the can all be used to indicate that a noun refers to the whole class to which individual countable nouns belong. This use of articles is called generic, from the Latin word meaning "class."

A tiger is a dangerous animal. (any individual tiger)
The tiger is a dangerous animal. (all tigers: tiger as a generic category)
The difference between the indefinite a and an and the generic a and an is that the former means any one member of a class while the latter means all of the members of a class.

The omission of articles also expresses a generic (or general) meaning:

no article with a plural noun: Tigers are dangerous animals. (all tigers)
no article with a noncountable noun: Anger is a destructive emotion. (any kind of anger)


Omission of Articles
While some nouns combine with one article or the other based on whether they are countable or noncountable, others simply never take either article. Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:

1. Names of languages and nationalities
Chinese
English
Spanish
Russian
2. Names of sports
volleyball
hockey
baseball
3. Names of academic subjects
mathematics
biology
history
computer science
Adam   Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:03 pm GMT
"Adam...please accept that your language is easy to learn.It really is a piece of cake! "

Amy doesn't think that. She's having trouble with the articles.

it's easy for you, because your languages also has articles.
Sander   Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:13 pm GMT
=>Amy doesn't think that. She's having trouble with the articles.<=

Amy...posted a perfect letter in which she said she required help.And even you should knnow that no matter how easy a language is,you still have to learn it.


=>it's easy for you, because your languages also has articles.<=

Oh!And that gives us a conection?!The position of Dutch articles is totally different from English mainly because,opposed to english,Dutch has got grammatical genders.