Quick English Tip: Below you’ll find helpful information about English grammar, summarized from Wikipedia. For more in-depth explanations and examples, keep exploring our blog!
The articles in English are the definite article the and the indefinite article a (which takes the alternate form an when followed by a vowel sound). They are the two most common determiners. The definite article is the default determiner when the speaker believes that the listener knows the identity of a common noun’s referent (because it is obvious, because it is common knowledge, or because it was mentioned in the same sentence or an earlier sentence). The indefinite article is the default determiner for other singular, countable, common nouns, while no determiner is the default for other common nouns. Other determiners are used to add semantic information such as amount (many, a few), proximity (this, those), or possession (my, the government’s).
English grammar requires that, in most cases, a singular, countable noun phrase start with a determiner.[1] For example, I have a box is grammatically correct, but *I have box[a] is not. The most common determiners are the articles the and a(n), which specify the presence or absence of definiteness of the noun. Other possible determiners include words like this, my, each and many. There are also cases where no determiner is required, as in the sentence John likes fast cars, where neither John nor fast cars includes a determiner.
Read the full article on Wikipedia
See more English grammar tips.
Leave a Reply