Artikli in English: the table and the rules of use. The definite article in English

Artikli are used as a service word with nouns in the common case or with other parts of speech, acting as a noun in the common case. The most primitive way of explaining how to divide an indefinite and definite article of nouns in the English language is: "an unfamiliar quantifiable single item - / a /, / an /; Familiar object of any number - / the / ». But there are a huge number of categories of words and phrases for which "by way of an exception" the use of this or that article is regulated. Therefore, we can say that there is no single simple rule that tells how to apply articles in English. The table brings together and classifies a number of particular cases.

Logic of the use of articles

Often the line between these groups is conditional, so it is difficult to determine which determinant to use, and even more difficult to understand why this is happening. Nevertheless, in reality, they can all be connected by a common logic, which is not always obvious:

• / A / and / an / is always some part of the total;
• / The / is always something unique, whole, concrete;
• Zero (zero article) is always something universal, that is, words that do not require additional representation or refinement.

The functions and position of the article in the sentence

There are many nuances of using nouns, which are clarified depending on what articles in English are used in a particular case. Artikli helps us understand the role of the noun in the sentence. They give an idea of the number, state of the subject, the attitude of the speaker to him, the locality.

The article takes either place immediately before the noun, or, if the noun is included in the phrase, before all words that are dependent.

Compulsory use of the article. Zero, indeterminate, defined

The question is not in what cases the use of articles in English is required . Because every noun or any other part of speech, acting as a noun, needs an article, or otherwise in a zero article - that is, in its justified absence. Thus, the question is what article to use in this or that situation.

Indefinite article

The indefinite article has two phonetic forms - / a / and / an /.

The open form / A / is read as [ə] and is used with words beginning with a consonant sound. If the first in the word is a vowel, but when the initial sound is consonant, open articles in English are also placed. Examples: / a universe / the universe /, / a Europe / Europe /.

The closed form / An / is played back as [ən] and is placed before the vowel sounds. This also applies to cases where the word begins with a consonant letter that is omitted when pronounced, for example, / an hour /.

The indefinite article was once represented by a numeric one, and was subsequently reduced to / a / (/ an /). It gives some new information about the object that is in the sentence impersonally, irrespective of - often it defines it into a category or transfers to one object the properties of a set of similar ones. As a matter of fact, as a rule, you can substitute / some /.

Definite article

The definite article in English - / the / - has two forms of pronunciation - [ði] [ðə], in writing which are no different from each other:

• [Ði] is pronounced ahead of the vowel sound, for example, / the airport /;
• [Ðə] is read before the word beginning with the consonant sound / the port /.

The definite article in English came from the Old English demonstrative pronoun / se / that / and partly retained its index value. He isolates an object from the category of similar objects or separates the group into a single whole - and in both cases concretizes the position of the object (objects). Here you can mentally try on / that /.

Zero article

Zero article is an absent article. There are specific situations in which articles are omitted in English, the table cites some of the most widely applicable principles of use.

As a rule, words without any official qualifier have a more general meaning. In the case of a single number or an uncountable concept, we can not separate the subject matter of the conversation, or single out it in a category, and in the case of multiplicity, we can not operate with the aggregate as a single whole. For example, we can ask for apples / Give me apples /, but they are just a collection of identical objects, a heap that breaks up with any movement. And we can ask, say, to show the United States of America, and in this case they will, in effect, act as an indivisible whole. There are special cases in which zero articles are used in English. The table below allows comparison with the cases of application of / a /, / an / and / the /.

/ Some / or / any /

Sometimes, instead of the zero article, the indefinite numeral-pronoun / some / or / any / is used, if the noun is a phenomenon or an abstraction, and also if a plural or incalculable concept is used. Thus, / some / and / any / can be substituted for some similarity of the article in cases where / the / does not apply, you can not use / a / or / an /, but there is a desire to make a sense selection.

Table of special cases

It is necessary to consider particular cases of use to understand how to arrange articles in English. The table contains situations grouped by sense in which the use of a definite, indeterminate or zero article is required.

Artikli for preschool age

The English language for children of preschool age is best given in the form of practicing concrete examples, without focusing on the regularities of the arrangement from the grammatical point of view.

This will train their visual and auditory memory at the level of motility and help to adjust their speech center. Subsequently, when studying the grammar of language intuitive instinct will contribute to their orientation in the rules and particular cases.