Page 106 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

lake.

paper Sign the papers, The printer needs more
please. paper.

religion Three religions worship Religion is a powerful
here. bond.

talk He gave four All this talk makes me
conference talks. tired.

Some non-count nouns end in -s but are not usually treated as plurals.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ civics economics ethics mathematics measles See also section 8.6,

Plurals.

8.5 Definite and Indefinite Articles with Nouns

Articles are used to introduce nouns in a noun phrase. They indicate whether the

noun is singular or plural, whether it is a specific noun or any noun of that type,
and whether we are talking about a new noun or a noun that has already been

introduced in the conversation.

There are two types of articles: definite and indefinite.
The only definite article is the, which also happens to be one of the most

common words in English. It is used to indicate a specific noun, either one
discussed before, one likely to be known to all participants, or one that is

important or exceptional.

■ The final boss in that video game is nearly unbeatable.

■ That’s not the scarf that goes with those gloves.
■ Give him the book he wanted.

■ When you get to the ninth grade, elementary school seems far away.
■ ■ ■ ■ mumps news physics tennis There are two indefinite articles: a and an.

■ A cat is a furry mammal with a long tail.

■ An alligator is a reptile with many teeth.