I have a question regarding the usage of articles.  What is the difference between "a" and "the"?   Why do I need to use "a" in "that was a winter I"ll never forget."? Can I use "the" instead?  Also, why do I need to use "the" in "that was the winter we went to Norway"?  Thank you very much!!^^
4654
I can’t for the life of me figure out where to use a and where to use the — and where there is no article at all. Is there a simple rule of thumb to memorize?   The standard rule you always hear:     “If a person knows which item you are talking about then use "the"   . . . doesn’t clear things up for me, as I have no idea whether or not they know.
107980
What is the difference between saying "during summer" and "during the summer"? As in:        I work during the summer.   I work during summer.      Are both common? Is my feeling correct that the first stresses that I work (only) this summer, and the other is more a general statement&nbsp;— every summer, during summer, but not in (the?) winter?
96439
The article a becomes to an when the following noun starts with a vowel.     Not a adventure but an adventure.   But how is it, when there's an adjective before the noun?     Not a thrilling adventure or not an thrilling Adventure?   And how is it, when the adjective starts with a vowel but the noun does not?     Not a exciting tournament or not an exciting tournament?
28027
Why do British speakers omit the article in constructions like "go to hospital" or "go on holiday"? Pretty much all American speakers would rephrase those as "go to the hospital" and "go on a holiday", I think. Is there any good reason, or forgotten sense behind those words that might explain why the articles are ommitted?  Are there other common constructions other than those two that the British use that drop the article?  EDIT: I just realized per Kosmonaut's comment that Americans do much the same thing with a few nouns, so this isn't all that special.   Do grammaticists designate nouns that can have their article dropped with anything, i.e. do they have anything in common?
108557
Which would be correct?        The fridge, the shelves, the walls, the floor, and John himself, were all covered in foam.   The fridge, shelves, walls, floor, and John himself, were all covered in foam.      The the can be applied to all the nouns, so is there a need to repeat it?
102269
Suddenly, to everybody's surprise, the silent Mr.Smith swung around and addressed Barbara.   The dinner was served by a silent Mrs. Keats.   I saw an infuriated Jennifer, who started shouting at me the moment I opened the door.   It seemed Walter didn't pay any attention to a tearful Kitty.   She hasn't got lovely eyelashes like marvellous Monica.   I bet your Mum kept you well clear of horrible Jesse.      The rule I learned at university said that the is used when the adjective a permanent quality of the person in question. E.g. 'I met the wicked Matilda the other day' would suggest that Matilda is inherently wicked.  The indefinite article a/an, on the other hand, would denote the mood or an unusual quality of the person described.  However, recently I've come across a lot of examples where no article is used with names modified by adjectives (see examples 5 and 6 above).   Can anyone explain why there are no articles in sentences 5 and 6?
33782
If a proper noun includes the word "the" and we want to refer to it using the definite article, should "the" appear twice in succession? For example:  "Can you pass me The Who CD?" vs. "can you pass me the The Who CD?"  "The US Government passed The Hague Act" vs. "The US Government passed the The Hague Act?". (this example inspired by a comment to ).  To me the first versions seem incorrect, but the second versions sound very awkward.
101725
Is it correct to use "at" followed by a place name (city, town, village, etc.)? I've been seeing phrases like "a hotel at Las Vegas" or "she was living at London" quite a lot recently. Is this a difference between British and US English, perhaps?
65352
Why is 'the' used before air in the expression in the air? Air is an uncountable noun. However, 'the' (the article) precedes the word 'air'. For example: He hit a ball in the air. How can air be specific?
9787
I have been taught that it's grammatically proper to use the before countries like "Sudan and Yemen" but I was never given a reason (if there exists any, of course) when I asked why, except for "it is one of those ambiguous parts of English language that we &ndash; as non-native speakers &ndash; should just accept without trying to look for a reason". Now, I'd like to know if there is any answer to this "why" or I should keep on believing that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to questions like these.
54933
What is the function of "the" in these kinds of phrases? It cannot be the definite article.   Can someone analyze this? It's common and definitely standard but seems to elude any grammatical explanation.
7939
I have a question about the following construction and which instance is correct.        Selecting an appropriate study topic(s).   Selecting appropriate study topic(s).      When it is both singular and plural due to the parenthesized optional part, should I use the an because of thinking of what follows as being the singular (that is, study topic)?  Or should I omit the an because of thinking of what of what follows as being in the plural (that is, study topics)?
121687
Tell me please why the is not used in the first following sentence and is used in the second one.     Ancient egyptian civilization existed for a long time.      The Inca civilization flourished for a long time.   Is the omitted because of the word ancient, or the use of the is optional in both sentences?
39039
Possibly two questions in here: Are these sentence constructions logical, and if they are, why are they different?     I swam across the Ocmulgee River.   I swam across the Pacific Ocean.   I swam across the Red Sea.   I swam across Lake Winnipeg.   I can't think of a way of phrasing the lake example while using an article with a proper noun. I thought at first it was because Lake Winnipeg is different; it's generic portion (the "Lake") comes first and the name of that body comes second, but I swam across Falls Lake is the same.   Yet the sentence I swam across the lake sounds right to me. ...Why?
108642
I was in a Teacher's selection for a school in my country, and one of the coordinators said that she heard a mistake from another teacher that was unacceptable. I tried to figure out why was that, but I thought it was silly and forgot about it. Then I was asking about the weekend in my classroom and one of my Ss said the same sentence. I corrected him according to the coordinator, as she is way more experienced than me, but I couldn't actually explain why to him. The sentence was:     I went to the church.   I can't see the mistake in this sentence if the church had been previously mentioned in the context of the conversation. I understand, as a non-native speaker, that if you are talking to a person that doesn't have any idea of where you were and doesn't have any previous information about the specific place, the article 'the' should not be used. Also, I am assuming church as a count noun. So instead, we would say:     I went to a church.   Is it correct to use the indefinite article since I don't have any idea of which church he is talking about?   I made a research about it and found that places that people use in common (like school, church, hospital, work) but are not necessarily the same, we would omit the article, so we would use the sentence that the coordinator accept:      I went to church.   Like this sounds strange to me, but since I am not a native speaker, I think that it is OK.   I really don't think that it was an unacceptable mistake, since the use of the article will depend on the context. So, if I am talking to my student, asking what he did last weekend and we were not talking about anything before, which one should he use?
113098
Repeating the indefinite article. Is it a matter of style? If so, which quote is more natural [or maybe sounds better]?     My name is Amy Purdy, I am a survivor, snowboarder, founder of   Adaptive Action Sports, globetrotter and daydreamer.   vs.     My name is Amy Purdy, I am a survivor, a snowboarder, a founder of   Adaptive Action Sports, a globetrotter and a daydreamer.   Source: Amy Purdy Note: the first comma is from the source. It should be replaced by a period.
63355
My name is Tom and my friend's name is Anna.  Anna has a plan to go to Croatia in summer(she bought her flight tickets)  if I talk about her plans , is ''will'' or ''going to '' correct to use in the sentence?(when talking about someone else's plans)  A) Anna will fly to Croatia in summer.  B)Anna is going to fly to Croatia in summer.  if I talk about my planned actions 'going to' is used ,  EX;  I am going to fly to Croatia in summer (not I will.......)  which one (will or going to) is supposed to be used for the context above?