Table Of ContentCOLLINS
COBUILD
ENGLISH
GUIDES
3:
ICLES
RogerBerry
-
~
THEUNIVERSITY CCOOBLULIHNDS
OFBIRMINGHAM
HarperColIinsPublishers
HarperCollinsPublishers
77-85FulhamPalaceRoad
we
London &JB
COBUILDisatrademarkofWilliamCollinsSons" CoLtd
CHarperCollinsPublishersLtd1991
Firstpublished1993
Beprintedl993,1994,1996,1996
109 8 7 6 6
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedin
anyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopyingorotherwise,withouttheprior
permissioninwritingofthePublisher.
ISBN000370661-7
ComputertypesetbyTradespoolsLtd,Frome,Somerset
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby
CaledonianIntemationalBookManufacturingLtd,
Glasgow,G64
NOTEEnteredwordsthatwehavereasontobelieve
constitutetrademarkshavebeendesignatedassuch.
However,neitherthepresencenorabsenceofsuch
designationshouldberegardedasaffectingthelegal
statusofanytrademark.
1bVesnaandLukie.Luke
Theauthorwouldliketothankthefollowingpeople:SteveStarkeyforhisadviceon
Americanusage;DaveWillisforhisthoughtfulcommentsonthetext;JimRonaldfor
compilingtheindex;AnnetteCapel,LomaHeaslip, andCharlieRansteadat
HarperCollins;andaboveallStephenBullonandElizabethManningatCOBUILDfor
theirpatienceinseeingthisprojectthrough.
Contents
Foreword v
Introducdon vi
PronuncladonGuide vIH
Chapter1:Theformsofthearticles 1
1.1Thedefiniteandindefinitearticles
1.2Thedefinitearticle
1.3Theindefinitearticle
1.4Stressedforms
Chapter2:ArtIclesandnouns 5
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Countnouns
2.3 Uncountnouns
2.4 Uncountnounswhoseequivalentsinotherlanguagesare
countnouns
2.5 Pluralnouns
2.6 Nounswhichcanbecountoruncount
2.7 Convertinguncountnounstocountnounsmeaning'aunitof'
2.8 Convertinguncountnounstocountnounsmeaning'atypeof'
2.9 Convertin~countnounstouncountnouns
2.10 Nounswhichcanbecountoruncountwithdifferentmeanings
2.11 Usingcountingexpressionssuchas'apieceofand'abitof
withuncountnouns
Chapter3:Usingtheindefinitearticle 16
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Usingtheindefinitearticletointroducesomething
3.3 Referringtoanythingorpersonofaparticulartype
3.4 Usingtheindefinitearticletodescribethingsaridpeople
3.5 Theindefinitearticleand 'one'
3.6 Usingtheindefinitearticletoexpressrates
3.7 Usingtheindefinitearticlewithabstractuncountnouns
Chapter4:Speclftcusesofthedefinitearticle 22
4.1 Introduction:differentusesofthedefinitearticle
4.2 Referringtoaparticularthingusingthedefinitearticleor
indefinitearticle
4.3 Referringbacktosomethingmentionedbefore
4.4 Somethingmentionedbefore:usinganothernoun
4.5Thingsassociatedwithapreviousmention
4.6 Surroundingsituation
4.7 Widersituations
4.8 Referringtouni~ueitems
4.9 Nounswithquabfication
4.10 Nounsqualifiedbyan'of-phrase
4.11 Superlativeadjectives
4.12 Uniqueadjectives
4.13 Usingthedefinitearticleatthebeginningofstories
4.14 Stressed'the'meaning'best'
Chapter5:ArtIcleswithgenericreference 35
5.1Introduction:differenttypesofgenericreference
5.2Singularcountnounswiththeindefinitearticle
5.3 Sin~Jarcountnounswiththedefinitearticle
5.4 Nationalitywordswiththedefinitearticle
5.5Adjectiveswiththedefinitearticle
5.6 'Man'
Chapter6:ArtIcleusewithcertaingroupsofwords 40
6.1Introduction
6.2Mediaandcommunications
6.3Meansoftransport
6.4 Formsofentertainment
6.5 Institutionsinsociety
6.6Shopsandotherbusinesses
6.7Musicalinstruments
6.8Geographicaloppositions
6.9Directions
6.10Periodsoftime
6.11Illnesses
6.12Meals
6.13Partsofthebody
6.14Specialroles
6.15Grammaticalterms
Chapter7:Articlesandpropernouns 54
7.1Introduction:propernouns
7.2Geographicalandplacenameswiththedefinitearticle
7.3Geographicaland placenameswithoutanarticle
7.4Namesofbuildingsand institutions
7.5Namesofstreetsand roads
7.6 Namesofships,trains,andspacecraft
7.7Namesofsportingevents
7.8Namesoffestivals
7.9Namesoforganizations
7.10Namesofnewspapersandperiodicals
7.11Namesofpoliticalinstitutions
7.12Namesofmusicalgroups
7.13Personalnames
7.14Convertingpropernouns
Chapter8:Articlesinthenoungroup 66
8.1 Introduction:thenoungroup
8.2 Combiningarticleswithotherdeterminers
8.3 Combiningdeterminerswiththedefinitearticle
8.4 Combiningdeterminerswiththeindefinitearticle
8.5 'Afew'and 'alittle'
8.6 Nounsasmodifiers
8.7 Wordorderwith'so', 'how','too','as', and 'that'
8.8 Leavingoutarticles
8.9 Thedefinitearticlewithadjectivesmeaning'something...'
8.10Thedefinitearticlewithcomparativeadjectivesandadverbs
Exercises 74
AnswerKey 109
Index 114
Foreword
ThearticlesinEnglisharesoImportantforthelearnerofthe
languagethatwehavedecidedtopublishawholebookaboutthem.
TheisbyfarthecommonestwordinEnglish,andwithaandan
makesup8.5%ofalltext.ThisGuidetoArticlesisoneofaseriesof
COBUILDENGUSHGUIDEStoparticularareasofdifficultyforlearnersof
English.
Manyotherlanguageshavearticlesorsimilarsonsofdemonstratives
andtheirmeaningsareverysimilartotheirEnglishequivalents.Itis
theusagewhichisdifferent- whentouseanarticle, andwhena
possessive;whentobesuretoputanarticlein,andwhenitismore
naturaltoleaveitout. Forexampleintitles.InFrenchorItalianyou
mustputadefinitearticleinfront ofalltitleslikeProfessorwhenyou
usethemwithaname,unlessyouareactuallytalkingtotheperson.
InEnglishyouusuallydonot.
Whenquestionsofusagearise, theImportanceoftheCOBUllD
evidencebecomesclear.ThisevidencecomesfromTheBankof
English,a collectionofmodemEnglishspeechandwritingdrawn
fromavarietyofsources.ThecomputerfilesofTheBankofEnglish
currentlycontainapproximately200millionwords.Thedifferent
kindsofusagecanberetrievedandtheirImportanceassessed;up-to
datetendenciescanbeobserved.Alltheexamplesinthisbook (there
arenearly600)comefromthishugedatabase,andthisnaturally
occurringdatagivesarealauthoritytothestatements.(WhydidI
writearealauthorityandnotjustrealauthority?Checkonpage20.)
Ifyoudonotfindanswerstoyourproblemswiththearticlesinthis
book,orifyouhaveanycommentsorsuggestionsabouthowto
improveCoBUILDpublications,pleasewritetome.
JohnSinclair
EditorinChief:CoBUllDENGUSHGUIDES
ProfessorofModemEnglishLanguage
UniversityofBirmingham
Introduction
WhyarearticlesImportant?
Youprobablyrealizealreadyhowimportantthearticlesarein
English.Notonlyaretheyamongthecommonestwords inEnglish,
theyareoftenvitalforsuccessfulcommunication.Theytellyouwhat
assumptionspeoplemakeabouttheirlistenerswhentheyspeak. Ifa
strangercomesuptoyouonauniversitycampusandasks'Where's
thebookstore?',theythinkthereisonlyonethere,andtheyassume
youthinkthistoo.Changingonearticleforanother,orleavingone
out,canoftencause misunderstanding,forexampleifyousay'Ilike
English'(thelanguage),whenyoumean'Ilikethe English' (the
people).
Articlesalsogiveyoustructuralinformation;theytellyouthatanoun
isfollowinginthesentence.Forexample,ifsomeoneasks'What's
thatoverthere?' thereisabigdifferencebetweenanswering'Well...'
and 'Awell'.
Soitisnottrue tosaythatarticlesdonotaffectmeaning.Exercises
whichsimplyleavegapsforarticlestobeputinaremisleading;they
suggestthatthe'meaning'isalreadythere,andthatarticlesarejust
anobstacleforlearners.Thisisnotso:articlescanhelpyoutomake
meaningclearerortochoosebetweenmeanings.
Mistakeswitharticlesdonotalwayscausemisunderstanding,but
theycanlettherestofyourEnglishdown. Manypeoplewhoarevery
goodatEnglishstillhaveproblemswitharticles. Itisnormaland
justifiabletobeconcernedaboutbeingaccurate.
Islearninghowtouse thearticlesdifficult?
Ofcourse,learningtousearticlesproperlyisn'tthe easiestpartof
English;thereisn'tasimpleruleasthereisforknowingwhentouse
thirdperson'-s'.Articlesarenotagrammaticalitemaddedafterthe
contenthasbeenestablished;theyaredeterminedbymeaning.
However,articleusageisregular,anditcanbelearnt; allnative
speakersofEnglishlearnit.Butworkingyourwaythroughthisbook
isn'ttheonlyanswer;youmustreadandlisten toEnglishwhenever
youcan,andtrytounderstandit.Thiswillstrengthenthe insights
yougainfromworkingwiththisbook.
Therearesomesituationswherethechoiceofarticleismostly
automatic,forexamplewithpropernouns.Butmostofthe timeit
dependsonwhatyouaretryingtosay,andsoyouneedtohavea
deeperunderstandingoftherules;evenwithpropernounsthereare
somegeneralizationsthatcanhelpyou.Thisdifferencebetween
conventionandcreativityisveryimportantforarticleusage.
vi
Howcanthisbookhelp?
Thisbookhasbeendesignedtohelpyouinthreeways:
I Thereareexplanationsinsimple English,withasfewtechnical
termsaspossible. Rulesofusagearegivenwhicharenot
misleading,ashasoftenbeenthecase.Therearewarnings inthe
text,toshowparticularareaswhere somelearnersneed tobe
careful;thesearebasedonananalysisoferrors.Thereisalso
informationaboutthefewdifferencesbetweenBritishand
American English.
2 ThereareexamplesofrealEnglish,takenfromthe Bankof
English;theseillustratetheexplanationsandshowyouhowarticles
arereallyused.
3 Thereareexercisesbasedontheexplanationswhichwillgiveyou
practiceinvariousareas ofarticle useandallowyoutotryoutwhat
youhaveread.Theexerciseshavebeendesignedtobeasvariedas
possible(theyaren'tallofthe typewhereyouhavetofillingaps)
and challenging(theyaren'tallmechanical,and it'spossibletoget
themwrong).
Howto use thisbook
Thisbookisorganisedinto anumberofchaptersandsectionssothat
youcandealwithone areaatatime.Soifyouwanttofindoutwhen to
use'a'andwhentousecan',lookatChapterIontheformsofthe
articles.Chapter7tellsyouhowtousearticleswithpropernouns.
Chapters3and4dealwithwhatarepossiblythe mostimportant
areas:thecreativeusesoftheindefiniteanddefinitearticles.Atthe
endofmostsectionsthereisacross-referencetotheexerciseswhich
practisethesection.Thereisananswerkeyaftertheexercises.
Youcanusethisbookasacourse, goingthroughthepointsoneby
one (youwillprobablyfindyouarealreadyfamiliarwithsome)and
doingtheexercises;oryoucanuseitforreference,dealingwith
questionsandproblemswhentheyoccur. Forthispurpose,there isan
index, whichwilltellyouwhere tofind:
•informationonhowtousearticleswithparticulartypesof
words,forexampleadjectivesorthenamesofgeographical
featureslikedesertsandsoon;
•informationonparticularwordswhicharementionedinthe
textbecausetheyareimportantforarticleuse,forexample
'television';
•anexplanationofatechnicalterm, forexample'generic'.
RogerBerry
HongKong 1993
vii
Pronunciation Guide
vowelsounds: consonantsounds:
u: heart,start,calm b bed, rub
ce act,mass,lap d done,red
al dive,cry,mind f fit,if
ara fire,tyre,buyer g good.dog
au out,down,loud h hat
aua flour,tower,sour j yellow
e met,lend,pen k king,pick
er say,main, weight I lip,bill
ea fair,care,wear m mat.ram
I fit,win,list n not, tin
i: feed,me,beat p pay,lip
I~ near, beard,clear r run
D lot,lost,spot s soon,bus
eu note, phone,coat t talk,bet
J: more,cord,claw v van,love
JI boy,coin,joint w win
u could,stood,hood x loch
u: you,use,choose Z zoo,buzz
u~ lure,pure, cure J ship, wish
3: turn, third, word 3 measure
A but,fund, must IJ sing
~ theweakvowelinbutter, tJ cheap,witch
about,forgotten 9 thin,myth
a
theweakvowelinvery, then,loathe
create d3 joy,bridge
u thefirstweakvowelin
tuition
Stressedsyllablesareindicatedbyan underlineunderthevowel
symbolforthe stressedsyllable.
CorpusAcknowledgements
Wewouldliketothankthoseauthorsandpublisherswhokindly
gavepermissionforcopyrightmaterialtobeusedinTheBankof
English.Wewould alsoliketothankTimes NewspapersLtd,the
BBCWorldService,andNationalPublicRadioofWashingtonfor
providingvaluabledata.
viii
1 Thefonnsofthearticles
1.1 Thedefiniteandindefinitearticles
This bookdeals with twowords.Thesearethedefinitearticle, the,
and the indefinitearticle,a oran.
Therugwasstained.
1haveanideashehad~weightproblem.
Thischapterexplainshowthesewordsarewrittenandspoken;
thatis,theformofthe words.Section1.2discussesthedefinite
articleinwritingand speech,and section1.3discussesthe
indefinitearticleinwritingand speech.Section1.4dealswiththe
waythearticlesarepronouncedwhenthey arestressed.
Theforms ofthe articlesand the rulesforusingthemare not
complicated. However,youmayfinditdifficulttorecognize
thearticlesinspoken English; thisisparticularlytrueofthe
indefinitearticle.Usually itisunstressedand soitoccurs in
veryshortsyllables. Youmayneedtobecomefamiliarwith the
rhythmofEnglishinordertonotice these shortunstressed
syllables.
1.2Thedefinitearticle
Thedefinite article,the,has onlyoneform inwriting.
Herearethebroadproblemsandthebroadsolutions.
There aretwopronunciations:
IOalwhich isusedbeforeconsonantsounds, and
IOilwhichisusedbeforevowelsounds.
Thesamenamewasgiventothisisland.IOal
Theemphasisisondiscipline. IOil
WARNING Itisthe sound, notthe spelling,ofthe nextword
whichmatters.Theword'one'hasaconsonantsoundatthe
start:IWAllIeventhoughthereisavowelthereinwriting. Some
wordsbeginningwith the letter'u'have aconsonantsoundIjlfirst
inpronunciation.Forexample,'unit'ispronouncedIj!!.:nrt/.
Thefollowingwordsbeginwith theletter'u'buttheispronounced
lOaIbeforethem because they beginwith thesound/j/.
1
