USAGE OF THE ARTICLE IN ACADEMIC WRITING (Notes from a public lecture, delivered to PhD students on 12 November 2012 at The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics to the BAS)

USAGE OF THE ARTICLE IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Dr. Ksenia Kisselincheva

Notes from a public lecture, delivered to PhD students on 12 November 2012 at The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics to the Bulgarian Academy of Science

I would like to refresh your knowledge about the usage of the definite and indefinite article in English, by summarizing the main rules of correct use with suitable examples. At the same time, we’ll try to trace out a number of key differences in their use in the Bulgarian language. This should be done with a view of the confusion, caused by these differences since it accounts for the common mistakes, made by Bulgarian learners of the English language.

The differences between the two languages start from the very beginning:  a definite article can be used with countable nouns in English, while in the Bulgarian language, a definite article can be used with any noun, both countable and uncountable. Also, the definite article in English is always placed before the noun, while in Bulgarian, it is placed in post position to the noun, as an integral ending. In English we say:

e.g. the laptop, the mobile, the printer, while in Bulgarian, we say: лаптопът, мобилният, принтерът

But, unlike in Bulgarian, on the whole, we cannot use the definite article in English before uncountable nouns, except in specific cases. In contrast to that, in our native language, we can use the definite article with uncountable abstract nouns:

e.g. In English we say: knowledge, freedom, justice

       In Bulgarian we can say: знанието, свободата, справедливостта

The differences between both languages are even more striking, when the issue of the indefinite article is addressed. In Bulgarian, we don’t have to bother with thinking of the indefinite article, we may call it “a zero article” which applies to both countable and uncountable nouns:

e.g. книга, таван, цвете

Conversely, as we have remembered well, in English, we always use the indefinite article “a” or “an” with countable nouns in the singular. It originates from the cardinal numeral “one”: 

e.g. a house, a yard, an apple, an hour

There are specific cases where the indefinite article can be used with uncountable nouns, as the case is, when a particular representative of a category is mentioned:

e.g.  I know a Ghetti, he deserves well his family name.

I would like just to remind you about the flexibility of the English language - we can easily turn any uncountable nouns into countable ones by placing something like “a piece of” or “an item of”:

e.g. a piece of advice, an item of news, a slice of lemon, a loaf of bread etc.

Also, unlike the Bulgarian, we use the indefinite article with some cardinal numerals like:

e.g. a dozen, a hundred, a million

Apart from this, we are also on the alert not to omit the indefinite article in some set collocations:

e.g. have a good time, have a cold, be in a hurry, it is a shame etc.

Unfortunately, we have to memorize them, since such collocations are numerous and commonly used, but, it is in away a blessing in disguise since it is good exercise of our memory!

There are some other peculiar cases of employing the indefinite article with certain quantifiers, such as:

 a lot of, a great deal of, a few, or with adverbs of frequency, such as: once a week, twice a day, sixty miles an hour etc.

As it was already mentioned, abstract nouns in English do not take the indefinite article, except when the meaning is narrowed down and specified by a defining clause.

e.g. We loved with a love that was more than love

No indefinite article is generally placed in set expressions such as:

 e.g. have lunch, have breakfast, have supper, have dinner

 However, the indefinite article is always placed when the meaning is further specified in one way or another.

The definite article derives from “that”, a demonstrative pronoun for pointing at an object which is not within immediate reach. As far as the pronunciation is concerned, it is pronounced [thə] before words, beginning with a consonant or a semi-vowel and it is pronounced [thi:] before words, beginning with a vowel or a silent “h”:

e.g. a desk, a yard, a woman, an orange, an hour

Unlike the indefinite article, whose usage is more restricted, the definite article can be generally used with both countable and uncountable nouns:

e.g. the glass, the mobile, the luggage, the furniture

It is widely used with nouns, which are unique of their kind within the framework of our human perception, such as:

e.g. the sun, the moon, the earth, the sky, the horizon etc.

The definite article is always employed with nouns, which have just been mentioned in the previous sentence, or a preceding clause of the same sentence:

e.g. There is a flower in the vase. The flower is crimson red. / I met a student of mine, I mean, the student who asks too many questions.

Also, the definite article is required, in case the noun is specified by an adjective, a phrase or a subordinate clause:

e.g. the man that I met; the young woman I told you about,  

Before nouns, denoting objects which are unique within a certain environment, the definite article is obligatory:

e.g. Open the door! (There is only one door to the room which is available.)

Making generalizations is a special case in point, as it has already been shown with the usage of the indefinite article. It is a major stumbling block for Bulgarian learners of English because in certain cases, the rule of generalizations in English differs significantly from the respective rules in the Bulgarian language. So, we omit the definite article in generalized statements when the countable noun is in the plural:

e.g. Horses are noble animals. / Babies cannot survive on their own. / Laws are made by people, so they cannot be perfect. Ban examples!

While with a generalized statement, referring to a countable noun in the singular, the definite article is used both in English and Bulgarian:

e.g. The horse is a noble animal; The panda bear is a threatened species; The bike is an environmentally friendly vehicle.

However, the rule of generalized statements for uncountable nouns follows a different pattern in English and Bulgarian:

e.g. Butter is made from milk. - no article, while Masloto se pravi ot mliako. - a definite article. 

Another difference between the two languages which is misleading for Bulgarian speakers, and, which is often the source of silly mistakes, refers to the usage of the definite article before certain geographical names – like rivers, seas, oceans, straits, mountain chains, peninsulas, a group of islands, deserts, countries, regions:

e.g. the Nile, the Black sea, the Turkish Straits, the Alps, the Sahara desert, the Balkans, the USA, the Middle East,  the West Indies etc. 

Conversely, in Bulgarian, no article is placed before some geographical names, related to the geographical names of water resources:

 e.g. Nil, 4erno More, Sredizemno more, Dunav, Sena, Niagarski vodopad, the Persian Gulf etc.

No article is placed in Bulgarian before geographical names of peninsulas, groups of islands and deserts:

e.g. Sahara, Zapadni indis, Apeninski poluostrov,     

 Another tricky difference between the two languages which misleads foreign learners concerns surnames. In English we put the definite article before the surname when used in the plural, while in Bulgarian we don’t:

e.g. the Andersons, the Forsytes, the Kennedys, but Ivanovi, Petrovi, Dimitrovi etc.

We should always bear in mind that there are some exceptions with names of states when they contain the word republic, kingdom or states, whose name is in the plural:

e.g. the United Kingdom, the united States of America, the People’s Republic of China, the Netherlands, the Philipines etc.

Another difference in the usage of the definite article refers to names of newspapers, magazines, ships, museums, galleries, hotels, restaurants, theatres and cinemas:

e.g. The Times, the Economist, the Titanic, the British Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Sheraton Hotel, the Bombay Restaurant, the Lumiere Cinema etc.

There are other special case when we omit the definite article when we think of places or institutions as a place for carrying out a certain activity:

e.g. at school, in prison, at university, go home, go to bed to enter university etc.

I would like to turn your attention to a subtle difference in usage of the definite article. We say “the most charismatic” but when we employ “most” with the meaning of “pove4eto”, we omit the article in English.

Apart from this, it might be difficult for Bulgarians to remember such expressions as:

e.g. in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening

Or, also remember some special cases like:

Go to the cinema, go to the theater, listen to the radio, play the guitar, play the violin, go to the doctor, go to the dentist etc.

Basically, no definite article is placed before nouns, which have a generalized meaning, such as raw materials, metals, colors, academic subjects, sports games, certain activities:

e.g. iron, silver; writing, ironing; chemistry, biology; chess, squash, golf, cricket etc.

As we mentioned above, we don’t place the definite article before places where a specific activity is carried out, however, when there is a name, attached to it we omit the article:

e.g. Harvard University, Yale University, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square etc.

We omit the article in certain expressions, such as:

e.g. at night, by day, by car, on foot, from top to bottom, arm in arm, day after day etc.

So, I have tried to summarize the specific difficulties in the usage of the article which Bulgarian learners of English face and I would recommend to you to do more drilling exercises in the Internet, in order to get over the misleading influence of your mother tongue.

I would like to finish my exposition with a generalization from the 90’s which might make you laugh: “Phd’s drive taxis”, so make sure that no such generalization is true for you, hopefully, when you receive this academic degree. You should be well motivated to do so, since scientists are privileged to explore uncharted territories of knowledge until their last breath, and while doing this “valuable service to humanity”, scholars are paid money to satisfy their insatiable curiosity.

     Thanks for attending the event and taking an active part in it! Good luck in all your creative endeavors!