Article (grammar)

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“the” redirects here. For other uses, see the (disambiguation).

“Definite article” redirects here. For the Eddie Izzard comedy DVD, see Definite Article.

For other uses of “Article”, see Article (disambiguation).

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Articles in European languages indefinite and definite articles only definite articles indefinite and postfixed definite articles only postfixed definite articles no articles

An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun, and may also specify the volume or numerical scope of that reference. The articles in the English language are the and a (the latter with variant form an). An article is sometimes called a noun marker, although this is generally considered to be an archaic term.^[1]

Articles are traditionally considered to form a separate part of speech. Linguists place them in the class of determiners.

Articles can have various functions:^[2]

• A definite article (English the) is used before singular and plural nouns that refer to a particular member of a group.

The cat is on the red mat.

• An indefinite article (English a, an) is used before singular nouns that refer to any member of a group.

A cat is a mammal.

• A partitive article indicates an indefinite quantity of a mass noun; there is no partitive article in English, though the quantifiers some or any often have that function.

French: Voulez-vous du café ? (“Would you like some coffee?” or “Do you want coffee?”)

• A zero article is the absence of an article (e.g. English indefinite plural), used in some languages in contrast with the presence of one.

Cats love fish.

Linguists interested in X-bar theory causally link zero articles to nouns lacking a determiner.