A, AN, THE, OR NO ARTICLE NEEDED?

Jen bought (1) _ new dress for (2) _ party, then she went to (3) _ party in (4) _ new
dress. She met (5) _ man at (6) _ party who told her was (7) _ teacher in (8) _
mornings, but a gardener on (9) _ sunny afternoons. He offered her (10)_ pickled
onion and (11) _ glass of (12) _ beetroot juice, then asked her if she liked (13) __
cats. Jen told him she was (15) _ honest girl who had written (16) _ song which was
featured on (17) _ radio and on (18) _ TV. Whereas he loved playing (19) _ football,
Jen loved playing (20) _ piano. They both came from (21) _ UK and spoke _ (22)
Swahili. They got on really well and Jen wondered whether he was just (23) _ bit of
fun, (24) _ one-night wonder, or _ (25) love of her life .

The answers and the reasons:

(1) a – one of the many dresses which were available - unspecified

(2) a – one of the many parties which she could have theoretically gone to –
unspecified
(3) the – the particular party she know refers to - specific
(4) the – the dress she has already mentioned - specific
(5) a – one of the many who were at the party
(6) the – the one already mentioned – specific
(7) a - of the many teachers there are in the world
(8) the – this specific period of the day
(9) O – this is plural, therefore ‘a, an’ is not possible. It is also generic,
therefore ‘the’ (which is specific) cannot be used.
(10) a – one of the many pickled onions available
(11) a – one of the many glasses of wine which could be offered
(12) 0 – juice in uncountable, therefore ‘a, an’ cannot be used. It is also
generic, therefore ‘the’ cannot be used.
(13) 0 – cats in general, not a specific cat or group of cats
(14) 0 – as above.
(15) An
(16) A
(17) The
(18) O
(19) O
(20) The
(21) The
(22) O
(23) An
(24) A
(25) The

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 From the above we can deduce that:

 When we cannot visualise a specific element and we are talking about ‘one
among many’ we use a or an depending on whether the following word has a
‘vowel’ sound or a ‘consonant’ sound.

a university student / a urologist (consonant sound)

an undergraduate (vowel sound)

a hospital (the ‘h’ is pronounced)

an hour / an honest girl (the ‘h’ is not pronounced)

The ‘n’ is added in order to make the words ‘flow’. It is impossible to say a word
which finishes with a vowel before a word which starts with a vowel without stopping
for a fraction of a second. TRY!!!!

Other languages, e.g. Italian, remove the vowel from the indirect article: Una ora
becomes un’ora (an hour) for the very same reason.

 When we talk about something we can identify specifically or we have already

mentioned we use ‘the’.
 When we make generic statements (usually about things that are uncountable,
we are not being specific, therefore, we use neither a, an nor the.
Children (all children) love ice-cream (uncountable)
The children (my children, specifically them) love the ice-cream Mario makes.
(that specific ice-cream out of all the ice-cream that exists).
 There are of course exceptions:
Radio takes the - Television doesn’t
River takes the - lake doesn’t

There is a plurality pattern

A mountain range needs ‘the’ – The Apennines. A single mountain doesn’t -
Mount Everest
A nation made of a plurality of territories needs ‘the’ – The USA (a group of
states), The United Kingdom (a group of kingdoms).
A single nation doesn’t – England, Scotland, Italy, France
A nation with more than one island needs ‘the’ – The Maldives, the Bahamas
A nation which comprises one main island or part of an island doesn’t - Eire,
Madagascar.

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