27
Articles
Articles are by far the most common and the most complex type of pre-adjective noun modifi er.
They also account for the great majority of nonnative speaker errors in noun modifi cation. There
are two types of articles: the defi nite article the and the indefi nite articles a/an and some.
Defi nite articles
The defi nite article the is normally unstressed. It is pronounced /ðǝ/ (rhymes with duh) before
words beginning with a consonant sound. For example:
the (/ðǝ/) team
the (/ðǝ/) bridge
the (/ðǝ/) song
The is pronounced /ðiy/ (rhymes with see) before words beginning with a vowel sound. For
example:
the (/ðiy/) accident
the (/ðiy/) example
the (/ðiy/) orange
Note: If the before a consonant sound is given extra emphasis, it also is pronounced /ðiy/
instead of the expected /ðǝ /. For example, in the following sentence:
The New York Yankees are not just any baseball team, they are the (/ðiy/) baseball team.
In all of our discussion about the pronunciation of the, we assume (unless stated otherwise) that
we are talking about the normal, unstressed pronunciation of the.
3
(i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 27 3/16/09 12:33:57 PM
28 Noun Phrases
Exercise 3.1
Place an “X” in the appropriate column to show the correct pronunciation of unstressed the with
the following nouns.
Noun /ðǝ/ /ðiy/
the answer X
1. the test
2. the road

• The speaker has a specifi c person, place, thing, or idea in mind.
• The speaker can reasonably assume that the listener will know which specifi c person, place,
thing, or idea the speaker means.
Let us call a noun that meets both the above criteria a defi ned noun. Nouns can be defi ned
in four main ways:
1. By previous mention
2. By modifi ers
3. By unique reference
4. By normal expectations
We will discuss each of these ways of defi ning a noun.
1. Nouns defi ned by previous mention
Nouns are most commonly defi ned by previous mention. Use the defi nite article if you have
already introduced the noun in the current context of discussion. For example:
He sent me a check for the items he purchased last week. I deposited the check yesterday.
In the fi rst sentence, the noun check is mentioned for the fi rst time. The use of the indefi nite
article a signals that the speaker is treating the noun check as new information that the listener is
not expected to have any previous knowledge of. However, once the noun check has been intro-
duced, the next use of the same noun is now a defi ned noun, which must be used with a defi nite
article. That is, from the second mention onward, the speaker expects the listener to know which
specifi c check is being referred to, and thus all future mentions of the noun check in this context
must use the. (Notice that we need to constantly qualify the discussion with “in this context.”
If the speaker were to shift topics, then the noun check would no longer be a defi ned noun. Any
mention of the noun check in this new context would require an indefi nite article the fi rst time it
is used.)
(i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 29 3/16/09 12:33:57 PM
30 Noun Phrases
Exercise 3.2
In the following paragraphs, many nouns are preceded by a blank space. If the noun has been
mentioned previously, fi ll in the blank with the defi nite article. Otherwise, fi ll in the blank with
the indefi nite article a.

Not defi ned: Do you have a pencil?
Defi ned: Do you have the pencil that Bob gave you?
(i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 30 3/16/09 12:33:57 PM
Articles 31
In the fi rst example, we use the indefi nite article a because this is the fi rst mention of the noun
pencil and it is otherwise undefi ned. In the second example, however, we use the defi nite article
the because the post-noun modifi er that Bob gave you uniquely defi nes the noun pencil, even
though the pencil has not been previously mentioned. The use of the signals two things: (1) that
the speaker has a specifi c pencil in mind, and (2) the speaker can reasonably assume that the
hearer knows about Bob’s giving the hearer a pencil. For the use of the to be valid, both of these
assumptions must be true.
The most diffi cult part of defi ning nouns by modifi ers is that for a noun to be defi ned, we
must be sure that the hearer knows which specifi c noun the speaker is talking about. It is not
enough that the speaker has in mind a specifi c noun; the speaker has to be sure that hearer also
knows what it is.
The following sentence illustrates how diffi cult this can be:
Not defi ned: I bought her a present that will really surprise her.
Defi ned: I bought her the present that we talked about.
In both sentences the noun present is modifi ed by an adjective clause beginning with that. In
the fi rst example, the modifying clause does not defi ne for the hearer which actual present the
speaker bought. The hearer has been told that it will surprise the receiver, but that fact does
not defi ne what the present is for the hearer. Since the hearer does not know which present the
speaker is talking about, the speaker must use the indefi nite article a. In the second sentence,
however, the speaker has defi ned the present in such a way that the hearer knows which present is
being talked about. Now the speaker must use the defi nite article the.
Exercise 3.3
In each blank space, use an indefi nite article (a or some) if the noun is not defi ned or the defi nite
article the if the noun is defi ned by modifi ers.
There is
a

I stuck a shovel into the ground.
Everyone is concerned about increasing pollution in the atmosphere.
4. Nouns defi ned by normal expectations
Often we use a defi nite article with a previously unmentioned, unmodifi ed noun because there is
a normal expectation of what the noun represents in the context of what the sentence is talking
about. It is easier to give some examples of this concept than it is to explain it in the abstract:
My computer is only a month old, but already the software needs updating.
(i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 32 3/16/09 12:33:57 PM
Articles 33
This is the fi rst time software has been mentioned. Why, then, would we use the? The answer
is normal expectation. We expect that computers will come with software. So in the context of
talking about my computer, the hearer knows I am talking about the software that came with
my computer. Accordingly, since this makes software a defi ned noun, we would use the defi nite
article the with it. Here is another example:
Tom searched through a number of books, opening each and scanning the indexes.
We expect that books come with indexes. Thus the hearer knows which indexes we are talking
about—the indexes in all the books Tom searched through. Indexes is thus a defi ned noun, and
accordingly we use the with it. Here is a third example:
We went to Sunset Beach and watched the waves.
We expect there to be waves at a beach, so the hearer knows which waves we are talking about—
the waves at Sunset Beach. Waves is therefore a defi ned noun and used with the. Here is our fi nal
example:
I went into an offi ce building and took the elevator to the top fl oor.
We expect there to be elevators and top fl oors in offi ce buildings, so both nouns are defi ned—the
elevator and the top fl oor in the building the speaker went into. Accordingly, both elevator and
top fl oor are used with the.
Sometimes it is surprising what counts in English as normal expectations. Perhaps the odd-
est examples are the names of places and things that are expected in particular environments.
For example, in a house all the rooms and the things that are usually found in those rooms are
considered defi ned nouns: