English Article Usage

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

I have found this site useful for learning English. You are doing a great job.

I am still not clear which rules support the use of “the” in the following opening, first-mentioned sentences: Is it that the nouns with “the” are attribute-nouns (like “the brightness of stars”) or what? I was once told that “the” is for the object of-phrase nouns.

I applied this to “The omission of a verb in the first sentence of an essay turns the reader off”. I later learned that this is incorrect.

I was told that the correct way to express the above statement is: “Omission of a verb in the first sentence of an essay turns the reader off”.

The question I have been unable to answer is “WHY”? Is “omission” the object of of the"of-phrase"? Must every object of an “of-phrase” takes on “the”?

My problems have increased each time I came across words like “the growth of books” the introduction of programmes", “the adoption of ideas” I do not know why “the” was used before these words. Please explain along with the following.

The events are the result of particular historical conditions.

The events are a result of particular historical conditions.

An introduction of new methods is good for our society.

Introduction of new methods is good for our society.

The introduction of new methods is good for our society.

His action led to the distortion of societal values.

HIs action led to a distortion of societal values.

His action led to distortion of societal values.

Thank you.

2

hi kooiu

Your question is complicated and has at least two parts to it. One part of the question
is about when to use and when not to use the; the other is about when to use a or an and when to use the.

In your ‘omission’ sentence, using and not using The are both acceptable. I don’t agree that '‘The omission of a verb…’ is incorrect.
‘Omission’ is not an object in that sentence.

Regarding the the versus a(n) question, there is a simple general rule that will, in many situations, help you decide which word to use.
If there is only one of something, use the. If there are more than one, use a.
For example, if you want to ask a question and there is only one teacher that you can ask, say ‘I will ask the teacher.’ If there are several teachers that you can ask, say ‘I will ask a teacher.’ or ‘I will ask one of the teachers.’.

Unfortunately, the situation is not always so simple and the following sentence is an example of that.
‘His action led to (a) (the) distortion of societal values.’ Here both words carry essentially the same meaning and are both correct. We don’t really know or care if there was ‘more than one distortion’.
In situations like this, the nature of the noun following or preceeding the or a helps us decide whether choosing between the and a is important or not.

3

Hi kooiu,

I have written some notes on the articles for the site, which you may find useful:

Articles in English: The vs. A/an
[size=75]http://www.english-test.net/lessons/16/index.html[/size]

Alan

4

Thank you for your help. You have made an important effort to help me out.

It remains on other issue. I still do not understand

“In situations like this, the nature of the noun following or preceeding the or a helps us decide whether choosing between the and a is important or not.” taken from a reply as follows:

Unfortunately, the situation is not always so simple and the following sentence is an example of that.
‘His action led to (a) (the) distortion of societal values.’ Here both words carry essentially the same meaning and are both correct. We don’t really know or care if there was ‘more than one distortion’.
In situations like this, the nature of the noun following or preceeding the or a helps us decide whether choosing between the and a is important or not.

By the nature of the noun, does this means “the attribute-noun nature” or what? Please explain.

5

kooiu
I don’t think I can help you much more with this by just explaining. One can only learn ‘all’ about something like a(n) and the slowly over a long period of time. First learn the simpler uses well and then work on the not so simple.

You have to ask an academic about ''attribute-noun"; that term doesn’t mean much to me as I am not an academic or teacher, but only a native speaker. However, as I said, the ‘kind’ of noun can be important.

What I mean is that when one is dealing with simple and well-defined things like cars and teachers, it is very often easy as well as important to choose between a(n) and the.
When one is dealing with what can be more abstract things like events, results, actions and distortions, it is often less easy but also less important to choose between the articles.

I have a suggestion for you. Write a paragraph or two, or even several unrelated sentences, about whatever you want to write and use a and the a lot. Choose a variety of nouns. Then we can talk about what you wrote and you can learn by doing.

6

Hi kooiu,

Using the articles is not an easy business but I think it helps to concentrate on the particular and try to explain why here ‘the’, there ‘a(n)’ or somewhere else zero article. Let me therefore attempt to explain the use and non use of articles in your sentences.

The events are the result of particular historical conditions.

Here ‘events’ have already been mentioned and an exact defined explanation is given for why they happened and so we say ‘the’ to indicate this certainty

The events are a result of particular historical conditions.
Again ‘events’ have already been mentioned but here there is not such a clear reason why this happened and so we give only one possible reason and say ‘a’ result.

An introduction of new methods is good for our society.

Here we proffer an idea,an example, a single posit and therefore we use ‘a’

Introduction of new methods is good for our society.

In this case we are making a general statement and use no article - it is just an idea offered and can be accepted or rejected. We make no claim for it.

The introduction of new methods is good for our society.

This time we are positive and do make a claim as to the importance of ‘introduction’ and make a clear defined statement and therefore use ‘the’

[i]His action led to the distortion of societal values.

His action led to a distortion of societal values.

His action led to distortion of societal values. [/i]

Your last three statements follow the same pattern- the distortion is clear and defined, a distortion is merely one explanation and the zero article is talking in very general terms.

I hope this analysis together with the notes I mentioned previously help a little. My advice is to read as much as you can and take any section of prose from wherever you like and look at in detail. Ask yourself why this article or that article or of course no article has been used.

One small point on spelling: there are two verbs: precede preceding (go before) and proceed proceeding (go forward)

Alan

7

Hi kooiu,

I’d just like to add a couple of thoughts.

I disagree that saying “The omission of a verb in the first part…” is incorrect. I think this is a situation where either way is fine.

The word “omission” is an abstract noun and can also be categorized as a “verbal noun”. In other words, it’s an abstract noun that expresses action. In your sentence you could have also said:
“Omitting a verb in the first part…”

An attribute abstract noun expresses a quality and is usually derived from an adjective-- as in your example “The brightness of stars”:
[i]- adjective = bright

  • “attribute noun” = brightness.[/i]

Amy

8

Hi,

That’s exactly it as Amy has stated with regard to’omission’ or ‘the omission’ I mean with regard to my earlier comments.
The omission specifies the act of omitting whereas omission on its own suggests generality.

Alan

9

precede precede precede precede precede precede precede precede precede precede precede precede precede

I think I’ve got it. :smiley: Thanks

10

Thank you for your great help. You have helped me out in an important way.

Alan, I would like you to put the statement below in a context of making a claim about the importance of “introduction”. Please, this could be in a paragraph. Thank you for your help.

The introduction of new methods is good for our society.

This time we are positive and do make a claim as to the importance of ‘introduction’ and make a clear defined statement and therefore use ‘the’

11

Hi,

By using ‘the’ in your sentence you are merely stressing the significance of ‘introduction’.

Alan

12

Hi all! it’s really a perfer site I know!
I have a problem in writing, I always forget article “the” . So far I know more using it.
Thanks! :smiley:

13

I would like to use this time to thank you for your help. I have greatly benefited from you all, especially from Alan. Thank you.

14

Please help interprete and differentiate the meanings the following:

  1. Business ties encourage the supply of inputs critical to economic growth
  2. Business ties encourage the supply of inputs critical for economic growth