This document discusses the use of articles in English and how they compare to articles in other languages. It defines articles as determiners placed before nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. The three main types of articles in English are indefinite articles (a, an), the definite article (the), and the zero article. It provides examples of how each type is used and compares English article usage to other languages like Arabic, French, Spanish, which have similarities and differences. The document aims to help understand sources of error for English learners whose first language is not English.

1. The Use of Articles
HENRY
LEONARDO

2. Definition
 Defined small group of determiners that are placed
before nouns, adjectives and adverbs.

3. Articles in Portuguese Articles in English
Quantify Differentiate between countable and
Gender uncountable
Used to determine if a noun is definite Used to determine if a noun is definite
or indefinite or indefinite

4. Indefinite Articles
 A and An
 A and an are used before singular countable nouns that are
not specific and are being mentioned for the first time.
 Non-count nouns treated as count nouns
Count Non-count
She was a beauty in her youth She had beauty in her youth
This is a bread I greatly enjoy I enjoy bread
 Observation:
 Virtually all non-count nouns can be treated as count nouns
when used in classificatory senses

5. Definite Article
 The
 Usually used after indefinite articles to specify words
 The exception is when the word specified is part of the cultutral
situation of the conversation
 John asked his wife to put on the kettle while he looked in the
paper to see what was on the radio
• There was no prior mention of a kettle, a paper, a radio
 Pronounced “Thee”
 Before words that start with vowel sounds (The apple v. The
book)
 Emphasize the word it is specifying (He is the man)
 Pronounced “thâ”
 Before words that start with consonant sounds

6. “Zero” Article
 Used before both concrete and abstract non-count
nouns, and usually before plural count nouns. Nouns
must have generic meaning
 He likes:
 Wine, wood, cream
 Music, literature,
 Lakes, games, walks, cameras
 Different than:
 He likes
 The music of Venice
 The literature of England
 The Japanese cameras (optional)  Cameras from Japan

7. “Zero Article”
 Also used with other plural nouns that are unambigously
generic
 Appereances can be deceptive
 Singular count nouns that have an abstract meaning due
to its lexical context
 I will go to school (institution)
 I will go by train (means of transportation)
 Different than:
 Look at the school (building)
 Check out the car I bought yesterday (vehicle)
 Singular proper nouns
 Exceptions “ The Hague, The Emperor Napoleon”
 I went to Amsterdam, and to the Hague.

8. Comparisons to other Languages
 Languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Polish, and
Thai, do not use articles . As a result, students from
these nationalities exhibit persistent errors with
articles.

9.  Some languages like Arabic have only the definite
article and unlike English, Arabic requires the
definite article with abstract nouns : “The love is
good” . They also use the definite article when
referring to the whole group. In Arabic, one must
say, “My favorite sport is the tennis and I am afraid
of the spiders”.
 Moreover, Arabic has no indefinite article.

10.  French, German and Spanish have the same articles as
English but their usage does not overlap exactly.
 The definite article is used for specific things as in
English, but it is also used when referring to the whole
group and with abstract nouns.
 Indefinite articles are not used when talking about
professions. A
 A common error for these students is: “ My mother is teacher”.
 Unlike English, both French and Spanish have singular
and plural forms of articles. ELLs of these languages may
ask you about the plural of “the” in English. For a teacher
that is not aware of his or her students background
language, this could be a rather strange question.

11. Works Cited
 Quirk, Randolph, and Sidney Greenbaum. "4.17 -
4.21." A University Grammar of English. [Harlow]:
Longman, 1973. 69-74. Print.