Everything English

Writing and Grammar Tips (beta)

Contact a customer support specialist at 1-206-494-5992

Category : Mechanics

Articles in English: “The,” “A,” and “An”

An article is a word that comes before a noun as a determiner. In the English language, the article indicates the definitiveness of a noun. The English language uses the following three articles: “the,” “a,” and “an.” These articles can be categorized into two types: definite articles (“the”) and indefinite articles (“a/an”). Definite articles (i.e., “the”) are used to indicate a specific individual or thing, whereas indefinite articles (i.e., “a/an”) are used to indicate a member of a class or group. For example, if I say, “Let’s go to the restaurant,” I am indicating that we should go to a specific restaurant. However, if I say, “Let’s go to a restaurant,” I am indicating that we could go to any restaurant. As another example, I could say, “My sister wants a blue sweater for Christmas.” In this case, my sister wants any blue sweater. However, I could say, “My sister wants the blue sweater shown in that advertisement.” In this case, I am specifying that my sister wants one particular sweater.

To learn about the rules surrounding the use of “a” versus “an,” see the blog post entitled “A” versus “An.”

Tags : a versus an, articles, Definite articles, indefinite articles

Posted under : Mechanics

“A” versus “An”

by Jennifer | 47 Comments

“A” and “an” are indefinite articles used in the English language, whereas “the” is the only definite article used in the English language. To learn about proper overall article usage, see the blog post entitled Articles in English: “The,” “A,” and “An.”

As a brief recap of indefinite article use in English, you use “a” or “an” with a noun when referring to a member of a group or class. However, many people are slightly confused about when to use “a” and when to use “an.” An often repeated guideline is to use “a” when the word that follows starts with a consonant and to use “an” when word that follows starts with a vowel. Examples include “a book,” “an old book,” “an elephant,” and “a gray elephant.” Although this guideline will help you in most instances, it is not entirely true and will cause problems in some unique situations.

The actual rule governing the use of “a” versus “an” is related to the sound made by the first letter in the following word. More specifically, if the first letter of the following word makes a consonant sound, you should use “a;” in contrast, if the first letter of the following word is silent and/or makes a vowel sound, you should use “an.” This rule clearly still works for our previous examples, i.e., “a book” and “an elephant.” In addition, it also helps to clarify more difficult situations.

For example, let’s consider the word “hour.” It starts with an “h,” which is a consonant. However, the “h” in “hour” is silent; therefore, the first sound from this word is a vowel sound. Hence, a grammatically correct sentence would refer to “an hour,” not “a hour.” Yet, in other “h” words, the “h” or consonant sound is made, thereby requiring the use of “a.” Examples include “a history book” and “a hotdog.”

Also consider words starting with “u.” Some such words make a “y” or consonant sound (e.g., unicorn, unique, and ukulele); in such instances, you should use the article “a” (e.g., a unicorn, a unique store, and a ukulele). Others make a “u” vowel sound (e.g., umbrella, ugly, and uprising); in such instances, you should use the article “an” (e.g., an umbrella, an ugly dog, and an uprising).

Therefore, when you question whether you should use “a” or “an” in your writing endeavors, look at the word immediately following the article. Better yet, say the word aloud. If this word starts with a consonant sound, use “a.” If it starts with a vowel sound, use “an.”

Tags : a versus an, articles

Posted under : Common Mistakes,Mechanics

Variations on Verb Tenses

by EKurtz | 62 Comments

Consider the following:

I live in a community that values education.
I am living in a community that values education.

These sentences are functionally equivalent. Their meanings are exactly the same. The only difference is that “am living” draws attention to the use of the present tense, via the progressiveness of “am” and “living”. In other words, “I am living” has a bit of added emphasis.

When to use one or the other:

In casual or informal settings, as in conversations or email exchanges, there typically is no reason to favor one of these constructions over the other. However, in formal written documents, I prefer the simple present (“I live”) over the present progressive (“am living”), simply because the former is more concise.

If it is necessary to note that something is in progress, use the present progressive. For example, if a colleague asks whether your presentation is ready, the most grammatically correct response would be, “I am working on it” (versus, “I work on it”). This implies that you are working on the paper and will finish it at some point.

If you want to emphasize that an activity is not only presently ongoing but was ongoing in the past, use the present perfect progressive – “has been”, “have been”. For instance, “I have been living in a community that values education” emphasizes the fact that the subject of the sentence has lived for an ongoing period in a community that thinks of education as important; “have been living” draws attention to the continuous nature of the residence, suggesting that it is significant. Such a sentence might be followed by, “Therefore, I know the importance of neighborhood involvement in educational affairs.” Here, it becomes obvious that because the subject has lived in a community that values education for some ongoing period, she is able to understand the importance of neighborhood involvement in educational affairs. Her ongoing residence in the community is directly relevant to this understanding.

Note that both of the foregoing sentences – “I have been living in a community that values education” and “Therefore, I know the importance of neighborhood involvement in educational affairs” – could be expressed in a single sentence:

Having lived in a community that values education, I know the importance of neighborhood involvement in educational affairs.

Be aware, however, that because this sentence does not use the present (“I live”), present progressive (“I am living”), or present perfect progressive (“I have been living”) tenses, it is unclear whether the subject’s residence in the community is presently ongoing or was ongoing for some period in the past. The speaker could be referring to a bygone time during which she lived in a community that valued education. Note that, in this context, the use of “values”, versus “valued”, makes no difference to whether the subject’s living in the community is or was ongoing. This is because it is possible that the subject lived and moved away from somewhere that continues to value education – making “values” appropriate. However, in this scenario, “valued” would also be appropriate, as the past tense wouldn’t signal that the community no longer values education; it would merely signal more clearly that the speaker no longer lives there.

Tags : present perfect progressive tense, present tense, progressive tense, Verb Tenses

Posted under : Mechanics