Articles for long have been overlook as a part of speech. This is because they are seen more like adjectives than a separate part of speech.
The words a, an, and The are special adjectives called articles.
Articles are of two classes: definite and indefinite
The definite is: The
Can be used before singular and plural, count and non-count nouns
The definite is specific and
shows the intended noun in reference:
The man on the roof
The budget of the church
Used to indicate a noun that is definite or has been previously specified in the contex
• Please close The door
• I like The clothes you gave me.
Some nouns necessarily have The definite before them.
They include the following categories:
1. The United Nations, The United State, The United Kingdom and The USSR will attract singular verb after them, The United State (not ‘are’) rich or The United Nations works hard.
2. Newspapers and Magazines, e.g.
The Guardian, The Daily Times. Do not say: I want to buy Guardian but, I want to buy The Guardian.
3. Organizations, e.g. The Carnegie Foundation.
4. Plural proper nouns, e.g. The Netherlands, The Midlands, The Alps, The Rockies
5. Names of families, e.g. The Ashades, The Ferdinand’s
6. Geographical names, e.g.
Canals – The Suez.
Seas – The Pacific, The Atlantic Ocean
Rivers – The Niger, The Euphrates
7. Public Places, e.g. hotels, restaurants, art theatres, cinemas, libraries etc. The Chicken George, The Scala Cinema, The Sheraton, The BCOS
8. Tribes marked by language e.g.
The Yoruba, The English, The French, The Sudanese
9. Titles e.g. Governor, President, Vice-Chancellor e.g.
The Governor (of New York) is here
The President knows us as trouble-shooters
10. Of any two (or more) people or things, The one known better has The before The name e.g.
I spoke to one Wole of Lagos City Hall and not to The Wole of the Noble Laureate fame.
The indefinite are: a, an
A – Used before singular count nouns beginning with consonants
• A book
• A bag
An – Used before singular count nouns beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o,u)
• An orange
• An elephant
The indefinite shows an indeterminate number of the thing mentioned:
A man - any out of a billion or more
A goat “ “ “
An elephant “ “ “
Articles are a part of a class of items that are called Determiners.
Others found in this class are:
Possessive Quantifier Demonstrative Numerals
His house some men this book one house
Her cream few people that man first familyfamily
Determiners are used as part of the noun phrase. They occur before the premodifiers and never after the noun head.
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ALL ASPECT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE