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Which article to use?

English has 3 articles, one of which must precede a noun / noun string / noun phrase:

definite (= the),

indefinite (= a / an / any),

zero (= deliberately omitted in a minority of cases).

 (i) Use the definite article to indicate all specific cases, even for uncountable nouns (eg He fell into the water; she passed me the salt; the United Kingdom, the Himalayas, theAmazon).

Where Chinese implies or identifies a particular referent by word order or the plural noun suffix ‘-men’, English usually uses the definite article.

 (ii) Use an indefinite article when the referent is not specifically identified:

‘a’ only precedes nouns or adjectives beginning with consonants;

‘an’ precedes nouns etc beginning with vowels (a, e, i, o, u) + (silent) ‘h’.

As a rule of thumb, use an indefinite article when the equivalent Chinese sentence wouldnot identify a specific referent by word order.

 (iii) Use the zero article (that is, deliberately omit) before

1.      all pronouns

2.      most proper nouns

·        all names / titles of people (Derek, Dr Chang, Sir, Lady, Your Excellencies)

·        all names of subject-disciplines (Chinese, English, Physics etc)

·        most names of places (eg. Korea, Wales, Paris)

·        names of days, months, festive holidays, seasons and times (but time

·        sequences take the definite article – eg. at the start, in the middle, by the end)

·        non-specific plural countable nouns (eg. girls want fun, citizens enjoy democracy, books are interesting)

·        non-specific uncountable nouns (always singular – eg. Silk is more expensive than cotton.) When these words are used as descriptive adjectives instead of non-specific uncountable nouns, they may be preceded by articles (eg. I want a silk shirt) or may not (eg. I prefer cotton shirts), depending on the specificity of thenoun they qualify.

·        non-specific abstract and collective nouns (eg. theory, morality, ethics, government)

·        most gerunds / ‘-ing nouns’ (= present participles of verbs used as nouns – hearing, seating, swimming etc)

·        modes of transport (by air, land, sea, plane, bus, train, ferry, water-taxi, on foot etc)

·        complementary noun pairs (arm in arm, north to south, night and day, hammer and tongs, mother and daughter etc)

Remember, the majority of English nouns take articles. If in doubt, put in the definite article for specific referents and an indefinite article for non-specific referents – the odds will be with you!