I know that there are similar questions here, but I still don't understand everything. I wrote 4 almost identical sentences below with a place for an article marked as &quot;...&quot;. Please tell me what are correct articles here. I know that these sentences can be rewritten without articles and with keeping the same sense, but I am interested in these particular examples. It is not a homework or something like that by the way. We must keep it at ... higher angle. We must keep it at ... high angle. You must drive at ... high speed. You must drive at ... higher speed.
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.
88561
I just recently read this paragraph: "Think of an ad campaign that you still remember long after viewing it. Consider a book that might have inspired you. Behind those memories are solid writing."  I would say grammatically, the subject of that bolded sentence is "writing," and "behind those memories" is a prepositional phrase modifying "writing." Therefore, the verb would be "is" not "are" since it needs to agree with the subject. (solid writing, which is singular).  But even if it were changed to "Behind those memories is solid writing," I still find the sentence awkward. I am trying to figure out how I would reword, but perhaps, I am wrong, and it is fine as is.
15073
A star shoots.   I read something like this somewhere. Can this be thought of as a complete sentence? How does one analyze this, grammatically? It looks as though it is missing some phrase. On the other hand we do say shooting star, so it isn't very clear if this is a complete sentence or not.  So, it may seem like a complete sentence? I guess, “A man runs.” and “It bites.”, seem like this, too? Same with: "A twig swayed.", "A ball rolls.", "A man jumps."
2074
In the following example, is it appropriate to use a or an as the indefinite article, and why?     He ate __ green apple.   I know that in the case of just "apple", it would be "an apple," but I've heard conflicting answers for "green apple," where the noun is separated from the article by an adjective.  Also, which is more appropriate in this case:     He ate  __ enormous Pop-Tart.
124017
What I write should mean the following: "There is this blog, but I don't remember its name."   So I thought I have to write it this way to achieve the meaning in a short way: "This blog."   But is this correct? Does is mean what I want to say? Because I've learned at school that "this" points to something specific. But I that's not what I want to achieve.   Sorry if the question is unclear. But I have no idea how to explain it differently.
61459
I have been reading  (a novel) for the last seven days. I have seen in the novel that the writer used the indefinite article a before a uncountable noun water.      I glanced at Linc again. His grin was still in place, but he rolled   his eyes as if he was amused with his dad.      “Okay, well, thank you. It didn’t take me too long to get settled in   though,” I said, feeling the need to say something. I wasn’t good with   small talk.      “Good. I’m glad you’re ready to dive in. Please, have a seat. Can Linc   get you a water?”   However, I do not think that we can put the indefinite articles (a and an) before uncountable nouns (water, milk, wine). As per my opinion, the author should have said:     “Good. I’m glad you’re ready to dive in. Please, have a seat. Can Linc   get you a glass of water?”      “Good. I’m glad you’re ready to dive in. Please, have a seat. Can Linc   get you a bottle of water?”
109675
I encountered this sentence when I was learning another language. I have never used such a sentence in English nor seen one, but it seems it exists.  What idea does this sentence trying to convey? What time should we relate to?
15555
I'm writing a leaflet for children from primary schools who will visit our school.  Is it correct to write:     the "amerigo vespucci" school is waiting for you!!!!   Is the use of the definite article correct in this case? I am defining which school is waiting for them, I'm saying we and no others but us are willing to meet them?
47026
I want to know about the position of always in different sentences. For example:      Always she is tidy and on time.   Is it correct or not?
39519
Sentence that needs correction:      Sensationalism in television shows masquerading as "news" programs are making it difficult for serious journalism to compete for ratings.   The correction should be sensationalism...is. I don't see how the use of are is incorrect. What's wrong with the sentence above?
59429
Last week in college, a student [with a thick South Asian accent] asked me:     "Excuse me, where can I find the room 401?".   I realized that to my native English ears, the word "the" sounded non-native. This had me realize that we sometimes use no article.  I am learning French; in French, we seem to always use some kind of article before nouns. It surprised me, at that moment, to realize that English doesn't always do the same! (That, and using the definite article in "the room 401" seems to make sense if I think about when definite articles are used).  Is there a grammatical name or concept for this "no article" aspect of our language? Are there any websites that can explain this to me?
84594
I have seen sentences similar to the following:  (1) See the reference above. (2) See the reference below.  And,  (3) See the above reference.  But not,  (4) See the below reference.  Are all these forms acceptable? Which is/are preferred in formal writing?
30728
I was reading a paragraph about lions and I came up with a question about the definite article (the).  Let me tell you first what I know about it.     1->We use the before a singular noun (when we are sure about the noun.    And the listener and the speaker both know about it).      2->We use the before a plural noun (again when we are sure about the noun,   and we are not talking generally).   So, my question is why does the writer use the here as we are not talking about any specific lion or lions. We are talking generally.  The Paragraph:     Living in the grasslands, scrub, and open woodlands of sub-Saharan   Africa, the lion is the second largest cat in the world. It is dwarfed   slightly by the tiger, which is closely related and has a very similar   body type.    Can we re-write the paragraph something like this:     Living in grasslands, scrub, and open woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa,   lions are the second largest cat in the world. They are dwarfed   slightly by tigers, they are closely related and has a very similar   body type.
6046
I saw a bear, a lion and a donkey.   Is the usage of the article a necessary before each word in a list like this?      Biggs set out Monday morning for one of his usual hiking and   gold-panning trips near Whiskey Flats when he came across a mother   bear, yearling, and cub sitting on a stream bank.   Why is there no article before cub?
36725
I'm editing a children's book about wonders of the World. In this book, the authors are not native speakers(they are XACT BOOK(India)), and they wrote these specific places without article "the":     -It is Taj Mahal.      -It is Tower of Pisa.   At first, I thought it's okay, but there are some pages has article "the":     -It is the Great Pyramid of Giza.      -It is the Temple of Artemis.   These sentences really make me confused. After researching, this website- - gives me some advice:     Do use the before:           names of rivers, oceans, and seas: the Nile, the Pacific          points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole          geographical areas: the Middle East, the West     deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula      Unfortunately, I'm still not sure that adding "the" before each wonder's name is a right choice. Should I add article "the" or not? I already posted this problem in , but I'm still in vain.
75703
A person gave me an answer on English.SE and I commented:     Thank you for taking your time writing this wonderful answer!   Now, looking at the sentence in retrospect, even though I am not a native English speaker (duh, otherwise I wouldn't be asking a question on ELL.SE), I find the sentence a bit odd.  To get my point across, let me rephrase the sentence:     Thank you for taking your time to write this wonderful answer!   With my relatively little knowledge and understanding of English, I feel that using 'writing' (as I did in the original sentence) emphasizes the very process of writing the answer, whereas using 'to write' emphasizes the mere fact that an answer has been given, and a wonderful one at that.  This is exactly why I feel the original sentence is a little bit awkward and the second, revised one would have been more apt.  Am I correct or are the quoted sentences virtually synonymous?
37329
Considering the sentence  Nearly anything can be a weapon in a martial artist’s hands., the indefinite article a indiciates that this can be any martial artist out of all in the world.  Next, consider The wise warrior stops a ranged attack before it nears him. Here, the definite article the is used, but still, I am quite certain that the sentence talks about any "wise warrior", or that one would even qualify as a "wise warrior" by performing the named action (among others, probably).  Is this a correct usage of the, indicating one out of a group of many? What is this usage called properly?  Finally, consider Through judicious placement of wounds, the marksman ensures that his enemy cannot escape him. I am wondering whether this could be the same kind of use for the definite article as in the second example, or whether to a native speaker this sentence indicates a specific individiual (that is a "marksman") that would be clear from context.