Questions tagged [indefinite-article]
An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.
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Indefinite articles in front of number below 100
Which number must I add "a"?
Do I start with "a"? (e.g. a ten people came to the event.)
Or do I start with "an"? (e.g. an eleven people came to the event.)
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What's the right adjective to use when referring to someone in their infancy?
What's the right adjective to use when referring to someone in their infancy?
Suppose I've just watched a video recording of something Jack did when he was a newborn.
Which adjective should I use in ...
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Why isn't the article "the" used in "...is a one act play"?
"Never Never Nest" is a one act play.
Why do we use a in this sentence? My teacher told me that when there is something specific we use the not a. Isn't one act play is specific and ...
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Go to high school or go to high schools?
You usually say "Tom goes to high school", and you don't say "Tom goes to a high school" when you want to mean Tom is a student there, do you?
How about when you want to mention ...
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2
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"Be an average height" vs. "be the average height"
Would you please tell me if I need to use an or the in before average in the context below?
176cm is an/the average height for men in the US.
I've heard both. Are both acceptable? If so, can you ...
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How to say a fact in general? [duplicate]
When you want to talk about cheetahs in general,
A cheetah can run fast.
The cheetah can run fast.
Cheetahs can run fast.
The cheetahs can run fast.
are they all correct? Which one would you use in ...
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indefinite article in 'he had gone from A to a that of B'
This is from a TIME article.
The ensuing conflicts left Buterin with culture shock. In the space of
a few months, he had gone from a cloistered life of writing code and
technical articles to a that ...
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Is the article "a" or "an" necessary to describe a variable in the scientific paper?
I am doing my paper in the field of information system economics. In the paper, I define a variable in the previous section, such as the intensity of competition γ. Whether "a higher γ" or &...
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the wall or a wall when describing a room (again as answer is not clear)
I've read into "a" or "the" wall? and https://grammargeddon.com/2020/02/21/a-wall-or-the-wall-does-it-matter/. The question arose due to a text in English Students book.
There are ...
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"Solid Like Stone" vs "Solid Like A Stone", which one would you prefer?
I found both forms (with and without "a") on the Internet. I don't know which one is more acceptable.
Is it an idiom?
https://wolfstone.za.com/blog/1-solid-like-stone-to-stone-like-solid
...
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Why doesn't "autism spectrum disorder" require an indefinite article?
Example sentence:
He may have a personality disorder, a depressive disorder, or autism
spectrum disorder.
Why is that personality disorder and depressive disorder requires an a but not autism ...
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omission of the article a/an when multiple nouns are listed
I know that a or an in sentences like the following is your choice--it can be used there or omitted as you prefer.
We need a car or (a) bike to get out of this area. Russian soldiers will be here ...
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with good grip or with a good grip?
I'm talking about a pair of boots. "You need to buy boots with good grip" or "You need to buy boots with a good grip."
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the building has emerged as architectural backdrop to
This is from a Los Angeles Times article.
It therefore could not be more apropos that the building has emerged
as architectural backdrop to one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky’s urgent ...
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Raindrops on the window pane - with the definite article?
Yesterday I took a photo of raindrops and posted it to Instagram. I used “Raindrops on the window pane” as the description.
Then I started to think: Why did I use the definite article here?
When I ...
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Why should I use "a" before "a bit better", "a littlge highter" "a bit harsh"?
in this phrase(I am not sure this is a phrase)but
Why should I use "a" before
"a bit better", "a little higher" and "a bit harsh"?
I know this is an article( a ...
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Use of article for each noun in a sentence
Can we use article with each noun separately in a sentence or one is enough as in the following sentence;
Draw a car, a truck and a van.
Or
Draw a car, truck and van
Draw a car, truck and a van.
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The list of uncountable nouns that never take 'a/an'
There is a rule not use the article ‘a’ with uncountable nouns. Unless, we talk about a particular kind of the uncountable noun. For example, ‘a dreadful anger’, ‘a fragile calm’, ‘a great enthusiasm’ ...
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indefinite article in a New York Times article
This is an excerpt from a New York Times article.
One prominent family attended the event. Martin Luther King III, the
oldest living son of the civil rights leader, and his wife, Arndrea
Waters King, ...
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Is 'coordination' a countable noun?
But those productions rely heavily on the Fair use doctrine, an
important but often wobbly legal standard that allows part of a song
to be played for limited purposes or on direct coordination of ...
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Do I have to use the article "a" with the names of illnesses that contain the word "disorder"?
Could you tell me if I have to use the article a with the names of illnesses that contain the word disorder?
For example, is it people with dissociative personality disorder or people with a ...
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With all the short forms (abbreviations) , should we use only "an" as article? [duplicate]
e.g. An MP(Member of Parliament) should be responsible for his own catchment area.
Is that correct ? or should I user "a" article instead of "an".
Thank you
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half goat and half sheep
a.) This animal is half goat and half sheep.
b.) This animal looks half like a goat and half like a sheep.
In sentence a, half does not need to be followed by an indefinite article, does it? But why?...
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Should the indefinite or zero article be used with the phrase "low cost"
You can build your first app on a small, single database at low cost in the serverless compute tier or a small compute size in the provisioned.
Should we use the indefinite article (a low cost) or ...
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Using the "a" article with "specific"
Let's say there's a service that allows me to create and edit web pages. And I'm filing a bug report:
I can't edit a specific page: https://...
On one hand, using "specific" suggests "...
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Why don't the nouns "human", "anatomy lab", and "happy hour" have articles in this passage?
I don't understand why the articles were missing in the following writing in a book:
"It was hard to recognize this pile of tissue as human. Anatomy lab, at the end, becomes less a violation of ...
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a/the real-life stepbrother of
a. Tom, who played the role of the protagonist in the movie, was the real-life stepbrother of Jim, who played the villain.
b. Tom, who played the role of the protagonist in the movie, was a real-life ...
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Which one is correct: to enter an university or to enter the university [duplicate]
There is a sentence:
"When he was 16 he moved to London in order to enter the/an university"
Which article is more correct for this sentence the or an?
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Using "a" with the word "slang"
Can I use the word "slang" with an indefinite article "a"?
For example:
That phrase is an obvious slang.
or
That choice of words is an obvious slang.
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definite or indefinite article for new term that described in other paper?
When we present a term for the first time with reference to another article, should we use definite or indefinite article? (without reference, we should use indefinite article)
Example (The Hilbert's ...
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Is "a current" ever grammatical?
As I understand it, the indefinite article "a" cannot be used before the word "current". "A current ..." doesn't make sense to me. We say "the next" and "...
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Use of articles in the description of an experiment
I am struggling a bit with the sentence describing the experiment we conducted:
The tensile tests were performed at the XX strain rate for the sample with the XX mm gauge part.
There are particular ...
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What should I use here 'A' or 'The'?
A red car stopped by a Highway Patrol Officer was speeding.
A joke told at the beginning of his speech made everyone laugh.
'stopped by a Highway patrol officer' and 'told at the beginning of his ...
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How important/required is to explicitly state the article "a" in front of a noun?
I wrote the following.
How should I approach the design of such a class?
I got corrected by another user to this.
How should I approach the design of such class?
While colloquially acceptable, I'm ...
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I don't like a dog who barks - "I don't like barking dogs in general" or "There is a dog that barks who I don't like"?
I wonder whether the following examples can have two meanings:
talking about something in general
talking about a specific something.
Do you guys agree?
Example 1:
I don't like a dog.
I think it ...
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When do we use the indifinte article "a" with abstract nouns? [closed]
Why we used the indifinte article "a" in this sentence ??
"Fear is a universal weakness"
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Difference between 'have lunch' and 'have a lunch'? [duplicate]
Let's go have a lunch.
Let's go have lunch.
Is there a difference between these two sentences in terms of what they imply?
Can "have lunch" and "have a lunch" be used ...
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2
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A question about the common noun
I wonder if the following sentence is missing something, isn't it?
"It's a long journey from tea leaf to cup of tea."
Shouldn't it be added an indefinite article or something before "...
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Indefinite article with the word "meal"
Do I need an indefinite article in the following sentence?
I wouldn't call it a healthful meal
And if I do, could I still drop it?
Will it sound terribly awkward if I drop it?
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An article with a title of a company / brand / project before a common noun
Would you put an article before a proper noun / a title that precedes a common noun when speaking about brands, firms, et cetera? For example:
[A/The] Formula One staff responds to fans' questions.
[...
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Doesn’t “a” need to mean “one”?
Can I say “I ate a hamburger” when I ate half of a hamburger?
We say “we drink water” even when we drink some of water.
Is it obligatory that “I ate a hamburger” means “I ate one hamburger”?
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Per American pronunciation, "a ear" or "an ear"?
I just watched YEAR vs. EAR - American English Pronunciation (EAR vs. HEAR), and I hear absolutely no difference between the pronunciations of "ear" and "year", given we should use ...
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Article usage before 'state'
What indefinite article is used before 'state'?
For instance,
The packaging is in a good state/ The packaging is in good state.
I'm in a fine state/ I'm in fine state.
Both the terms are used ...
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Is an article missing in "courage is resistance to fear"?
I came across a quote by Mark Twain. To me, it looks like an article is missing in it. Is the quote correct, if so why?
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear."
...
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what's the difference between 'a/an' and 'the' when talking about a particular type with them?
I am learning the use of 'a/an' and 'the'. From my understanding, one can use 'a/an' or 'the' to talk about a type, like these examples:
A dog is an animal.
I can play the piano.
I are not sure ...
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When do we use the article 'the'? [closed]
We use the article 'the' before the noun, which is made definite by the addition of the phrase or a clause. But:
We have a small house in a village in the Netherlands.
Why is there 'a small house' ...
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"The network with a stronger connection" or "the network with the stronger connection" in context? [duplicate]
Could you tell me which article, a or the I use before stronger connection in the context below?
Usually your phone prioritizes the network with a/the stronger connection.
I can't figure out the ...
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Is it "the" or "a" in “The life of __ peasant”?
The example is taken from a book (a peasant):
The life of a peasant in the Middle Ages was hard.
Why not the peasant?
The life of the peasant in the Middle Ages was hard.
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Why the word “a” can be used here?
Fairtrade coffee sales ranged from 0.8-3 million euros over a 6-year period in these five countries, whereas banana sales also mostly clustered between 0.6 and 2 million euros, with Switzerland the ...
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The main or a main
I think the sentence "we have reached a main result of ..." is perfectly OK. But the grammar check says it should be "the main" instead. I wonder which one is correct.