Errors with articles

Errors with articles are very often hard to notice. There are some specific rules for using (or not using) articles that you should be aware of.

An indefinite article can be used to mean "one." It is also used to mean "per":

a half, a quarter, a third, a tenth, a mile a minute (one mile per minute), an apple a day (one apple per day)

A definite article is used when there is only one example of the thing or person, or when the identity of the thing or person is clear: Thе Moon went behind some clouds. (There's only one moon.) Please open the door. (You know which door I mean.)

A definite article is usually used before these expressions of time and position: the morning, the afternoon, the evening; the front, the back, the center; the beginning, the middle, the end; the past, the present, the future;. the bottom, the top.

No article is used in the expression "at night."

A definite article comes before a singular noun that is used as a representative of an entire class of things. This is especially common with the names of animals, trees, inventions, musical instruments, and parts of the body:

The tiger is the largest cat.

My favorite tree is the oak.

The Wright brothers invented the airplane.

The oboe is a woodwind instrument.

Тhе heart pumps blood.

A definite article is used before expressions with an ordinal number. No article is used before expressions with cardinal numbers: the first, the fourth chapter, the seventh volume; Part one, Chapter Four, Volume Seven.

A definite article is used before decades and centuries: the 1930s, the 1800s, the fifties, the twenty-first century.

A definite article is usually used before superlative forms of adjectives:the widest river, the most important decision.

A definite article is used in quantity expressions in this pattern: quantifier + of + the + noun: many of the textbooks, not much of the paper, some of the water, most of the students, all of the people, a few of the photographs.

These expressions can also be used without the phrase of the: many textbooks, not much paper, some water, most students, all people, a few photographs.

A definite articleis used before the name of a group of people or a nationality. No article is used before the name of a language: The Americans are proud of their ancestors, the Pioneers. She learned to speak English when she lived in London.

A definite article is used when an adjective is used without a noun to mean "people who are."Both the young and the old will enjoy this movie. The poor have many problems.

A definite articleis used before an uncountable noun or a plural noun when it is followed by a modifier. No article is used when these nouns appear alone.

The rice that I bought today is in the bag.

Rice is a staple in many countries.

Trees provide shade.

The trees in this park are mostly evergreens.

A definite article is used before the name of a field of study followed by an of-phrase. If a field is used alone, or is preceded by an adjective, no article is used: the European genetics of the twentieth century – European genetics; the economics of Ukraine – Ukrainian economics.

Definite articles are used before the "formal" names of nations, states, and cities. (These usually contain of-phrases.) No articles are used before the common names of nations, states, and cities: the United States of America – America; the Republic of Ukraine – Ukraine; the city of Simferopol – Simferopol.

Definite articles are used before most plural geographic names: the names of groups of lakes, mountains, and islands. No article is used before the names of individual lakes, mountains, and islands: the Great Lakes but Lake Baikal; the Crimean Mountains but Mount Chatyr Dag; the Marshall Islands but Bird Island.

There are three main types of errors involving articles:

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