bh9e_ch29

29a. Articles and other noun markers

29aBe familiar with articles and other noun markers.

Standard English uses noun markers to help identify the nouns that follow. In addition to articles (a, an, and the), noun markers include the following:

possessive nouns, such as Elena’s (See 36a.)
possessive pronoun/adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their (See 46b.)
demonstrative pronoun/adjectives: this, that, these, those (See 46b.)
quantifiers: all, any, each, either, every, few, many, more, most, much, neither, several, some, and so on (See 29d.)
numbers: one, twenty-three, and so on

Using articles and other noun markers

Articles and other noun markers always appear before nouns; sometimes other modifiers, such as adjectives and adverbs, come between a noun marker and a noun.

In most cases, do not use an article with another noun marker.

Expressions like a few, the most, and all the are exceptions: a few potatoes, all the rain. See also 29d.

Types of articles and types of nouns

To choose an appropriate article for a noun, you must first determine whether the noun is common or proper, count or noncount, singular or plural, and specific or general. The following chart describes the types of nouns.

Articles are classified as indefinite and definite. The indefinite articles, a and an, are used with general nouns. The definite article, the, is used with specific nouns. (The last section of the chart below explains general and specific nouns.)

A and an both mean “one” or “one among many.” Use a be-fore a consonant sound: a banana, a vacation, a happy child, a united family. Use an before a vowel sound: an eggplant, an uncle, an honorable person. (See also a, an in the glossary of usage.)

The shows that a noun is specific; use the with one or more than one specific thing: the newspaper, the soldiers.

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Types of nouns

Common or proper

Common nouns

Examples

name general persons, places, things, or ideas
begin with lowercase

religion	beauty
knowledge	student
rain	country

Proper nouns

Examples

name specific persons, places, things, or ideas
begin with capital letter

Hinduism	President Adams
Philip	Washington Monument
New Jersey	Supreme Court
Vietnam	Renaissance

Count or noncount (common nouns only)

Count nouns

Examples

name persons, places, things, or ideas that can be counted
have plural forms

girl, girls

city, cities

goose, geese

philosophy, philosophies

Noncount nouns

Examples

name things or abstract ideas that cannot be counted
cannot be made plural

water	patience
silver	knowledge
furniture	air

note: See the chart on page 383 for lists of commonly used noncount nouns.

Singular or plural (both common and proper)

Singular nouns (count and noncount)

Examples

represent one person, place, thing, or idea

backpack	rain
country	beauty
woman	Nile River
achievement	Block Island

Plural nouns (count only)

Examples

represent more than one person, place, thing, or idea
must be count nouns

backpacks	Ural Mountains
countries	Falkland Islands
women	achievements

Specific (definite) or general (indefinite) (count and noncount)

Specific nouns

Examples

name persons, places, things, or ideas that can be identified within a group of the same type

The students in Professor Martin's class should study.

The airplane carrying the senator was late.

The furniture in the truck was damaged.

General nouns

Examples

name categories of persons, places, things, or ideas (often plural)

Students should study.

Books bridge gaps between cultures.

The airplane has made commuting between cities easy.