Search results for 'tag:Indefinite articles tag:Articles' matching tags 'Indefinite articles' and 'Articles'

Re: some

AlpheccaStars — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:32:26 GMT

Â Hi:

Yes, but this is very informal, and might be used when the speaker is a bit irritated by the singing.Â

Other (more formal and neutral) ways of saying this are. Â

A girl is singing a song. Â

There is a girl singing a song.Â

Somebody ( or someone) is singing a song. Â

The indefinite article "a" means that there is one person who is singing, but we don't know who it is. If you use someone or somebody, you don't even know if it is a girl or boy who is singing. You just know that it is one person.Â

Some girls are singing a song.

This means that there is a group of girls who are all singing, but we don't know how many are in the group, Â

Re: question on use of indefinite article

Clive — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:51:55 GMT

Hi,
1. Would you say the use of the indefinite article "a" is meant to give a more remote sense of the phrase underlined than were it used the definite article "the"?

You haven't underlined anything.
I recommend that you think about articles in terms of definite/indefinite or specifc/unspecifc, instead of remore/not remote.
A simple approach is to use 'a' th first time you mention something, and then use 'the' for later mentions.
Thus, both uses of 'a' seem ok here. The use of 'the' suggests that you think the reader already knows which mountain you are talking about.

That night he had a vision of a woman going up the mountain to pick some plants.

2. Would you say the indefinite article "a" is additionally modifying the word "vehicle" and "activity"?

*** is a person who goes from place to place living in a car or other vehicle.

They write what they think following a reading or other activity.

Yes, you could think of it that way.

Clive

question on use of indefinite article

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:41:02 GMT

Hi,

1. Would you say the use of the indefinite article "a" is meant to give a more remote sense of the phrase underlined than were it used the definite article "the"?

That night he had a vision of a woman going up the mountain to pick some plants.

2. Would you say the indefinite article "a" is additionally modifying the word "vehicle" and "activity"?

*** is a person who goes from place to place living in a car or other vehicle.

They write what they think following a reading or other activity.

Re: article and word in quote

Mister Micawber — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:15:05 GMT

.
I think the word "House Card" is capitalized, meaning it has a special meaning or treated as a proper noun.-- Yes, it is the name of a type of card; evidently (from the 'a') there are several of these cards in the game, and this is one of them.

From what I learned, I think an indefinite article, "a", can be used if what is in quotation marks is one of many like "a McDonald."-- The quotation marks have nothing to do with it. We can have a McDonald's (one of the restaurants) with no quotation marks.
.

article and word in quote

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:23:35 GMT

Hi,
I am not too sure why there has to be the article "a" in front of the word "House Card" in quotation marks.

The instructor will give each person in the room a "House Card."

This is supposed to be part of instructions to be given in playing a card game for an instructional purpose. I think the word "House Card" is capitalized, meaning it has a special meaning or treated as a proper noun. From what I learned, I think an indefinite article, "a", can be used if what is in quotation marks is one of many like "a McDonald."

indefinite article before uncountable nouns

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:38:20 GMT

Hi, I think it is a common knowledge that some uncountable nouns can be changed to countable nouns (are susceptable to such transformations) if they are made into types. Does that mean if we could place the phrase "a type" and "a sort" before such a noun, then we would have a correct transformation of that noun? Could we have placed the phrase "a type" and "a sort" instead of making them countable?

... is a development unlike anything we have seen before is occurring in this very instance in this land
... is a coverage of the incidence that happened yesterday was phenomenal and needs to be applauded for its excellent coverage of it.
... gave a legitimacy unlike any other ones out there and pulled the general consensus to their side.

Re: a school and a pizza correspondence?

Avangi — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:56:35 GMT

Hi,

Not sure I understand your question. Your use of "specific" is a little fuzzy.

We use the idea of "specific" when distinguishing between the definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a/an). In that sense, the examples you quote are not specific.

Mary just got a job at Pinkerton Academy. She will begin working at the school next Monday. (specific school, definite article) She has never worked at a school before. (non-specific school, indefinite article.)

When deciding between the indefinite article and no article, it's an entirely different issue. It's one school/pizza/piece of pizza vs. the concept, or general idea of school/pizza.

I hate school but I love pizza. No article. I remember a school in New York. The school was fantastic! True, it's a specific school, but until it's identified in some way, we don't use the definite article. In this case, the first sentence identifies it for the second sentence.

I attended school in New York.(no article) There may have been one school or several, but we're talking about the idea of school.

Best regards, - A.

Re: Worth...

Blink — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:41:52 GMT

Mister Micawber, I've got two more question to you.

Which one of these two construction (is worth attention/is worthy of attention) is more frequently used?

Do we use the indefinite article before the abbreviation like (an) MBA essay or (a) GCSE coursework?

Many thanks.

Re: Comes at too high a price...

Madhulk — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:01:18 GMT

Thanks, Philip!

But can you clarify me 'Come at too high a price'? Is it an idiom?

Because when I watched the episode I heard it as 'come at too high price'.

You know, without the indefinite article 'a'. And I thought of it to mean 'to face the consequences'.

But then I read the subs and noticed the presence of 'a'.

So can you analyse the whole thing for me?

Re: Where does the article go?

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:24:00 GMT

Thank you so much, but I asked the question because I believe I asked a similar question in the past and a guru have answered it that the indefinite article does go with a phrase similar to 'other activity' in the original example sentence.

Normally, I think the word 'other' is used/left to modify an uncountable noun and not a countable noun, but I have seen cases where a countable noun is modified by an indefinite article, 'a', later in the order/sequence.