The Thirteen Articles of Articles

1. Every SINGULAR, COUNT noun in a sentence needs an article or other determiner. We saw a car. We saw John’s car. We saw his car. We saw that car. *We saw car.

2. PLURAL, COUNT nouns do not appear with a or an. We saw cars. We saw some cars. We saw a lot of cars. We saw John’s cars. We saw those cars. *We saw a cars.

3. NON-COUNT nouns are grammatically SINGULAR. Gasoline is cheaper in Utah. *Gasoline are cheaper in Utah. Music is… *Music are…

4. GERUNDS, gerund phrases, and other similar noun-like phrases are grammatically SINGULAR. Jogging is good exercise. *Jogging are good exercise. Working at the PCC is exciting. *Working at the PCC are exciting.

5. The articles a and an appear only with singular count nouns, but the article the can appear with SINGULAR, PLURAL, and NON-COUNT nouns. A pencil The pencil (*a, Ø, some) pencils The pencils (*a, Ø, some) music The music

6. The articles a and an can appear with a non-count noun when the meaning is “a type of.” A gasoline that produces no smoke has not been invented yet. She possesses a beauty that can only come from God.

7. English speakers see nouns as SPECIFIC or GENERIC. A lion is sitting next to me (specific). A lion is a wild animal (generic).

8. The safest way —but not the ONLY way— to speak GENERALLY about something is to use PLURAL. Best, simplest, easiest to understand: Lions are wild animals. But also, A lion is a wild animal. The lion is a wild animal.

9. In place names such as for countries and geographical features like mountains and bodies of water, the often appears in the name if the name contains common nouns but not if the name doe not contain common nouns. (See next)

(The Philippine Islands or The Philippines, but not Philippines alone. Japan but not The Japan. The United States but not United States. The Himalayan Mountains or The Himalayas, but not Himalayas. Some exceptions exist.

10. SPECIFIC and DEFINITE are not the same thing. Specific contrasts with generic. Definite contrasts with indefinite.

11. Nouns that are definite appear with the article the. But what does definite actually mean?

12. A noun is definite only if it is known to both the speaker and the listener.

Does the speaker know? Does the listener know? Speaker doesn’t know - Speaker knows + - - I need a new belt. - + I saw a dog. Listener doesn’t know - + + The book that Susan was reading was interesting. + - I I heard that you bought a new Toyota. . Listener knows +

13. A noun can be known to both the speaker and the listener in one of three ways: by lexical context by descriptive context by cultural context

Known to speaker and listener by Lexical context* I saw a dog. The dog was brown. (*Sometimes called “previous mention.”)

Known to speaker and listener by Descriptive context* Milk is good for babies. The milk in the refrigerator is spoiled. (*Sometimes called “explanation.”)

Known to speaker and listener by Cultural context* The sun rises in the east. My friend and I were walking down the street. When you come to my apartment, just open the door and walk in. If you are sick, call the doctor. The president is coming tomorrow. ( Be careful with this one!)

There is more to say about articles and determiners in English, but this is a good, general overview. <end>