ARTICLE 



400 



ARTICLE 



The rule involved in all these examples is 

 that the artieK- is not repeated befoiv 

 of two or more connected nouns when they 

 refer to the same person or object; it mu#t be 



If different persons or thin-- 

 meant. The seeming contradiction in such 

 sentences as "He spoke of Washington, the 

 soldier, the patriot, the statesman." is explained 

 by the fact that the repetition of the article 

 additional emphasis. The statement is 

 perceptibly weaker if made to read, "He spoke 

 of Washington, the soldier, patriot and states- 

 man." Macaulay makes use of this rhetorical 

 effect in the sentence, "James was declared a 

 mortal and bloody enemy, a tyrant, a murderer 

 and a usurper." 



When the Article is Superfluous. "The 

 spider is not an insect but a curious kind of 

 an animal." The italicized article is super- 

 fluous because a refers to one of a class and 

 therefore cannot be used with a word referring 

 to an entire class, such as kind, sort, species or 

 raricty. The correct form is, "The spider is 

 not an insect but a curious kind of animal." 

 We say, "I had the same sort of experience," 

 "This is an unusual species of fern," and so on. 

 The article is also superfluous before a word 

 taken simply as a name. Thus, it is incorrect 

 to say, "He does not deserve the name of a 

 father"; "Cromwell was given the title of a 

 Protector." These sentences should read, "He 

 does not deserve the name of father"; "Crom- 

 well was given the title of Protector." 



The article is incorrectly used in such sen- 

 tences as, "Barrie's The Little Minister is a 

 popular and charming book," for the reason 

 that an article cannot properly come between 

 a possessive and the word it governs. The 

 correct form is, "Barrie's Little Minister is a 

 popular and charming book," or, possibly bet- 

 ter, "Barrie's novel, The Little Minister, is a 

 popular and charming book." 



Parsing the Article. The points to be cov- 

 ered are its classification and the noun it modi- 

 fies. In the sentence, "The sublime is in a 

 grain of dust," the articles would be parsed as 

 folio. 



The is a limiting adjective, called the definite 

 article, and modifies the adjective sublime used 

 as a noun to denote an abstract idea. A is a 

 limiting adjective, called the indefinite article; 

 the form used before consonant sounds ;. modifies 

 the noun grain, referring indefinitely to one grain 

 out of an entire class. 



Common Errors. The rule explained in the 

 paragraph entitled Repetition of the Article is 

 the one most frequently violated, but the con- 



struction appears in so many different forms 

 that a few additional examples will be found 

 helpful. Other frequent mistakes arc also in- 

 cluded in the following list: 



/ rend the first and last r> r.vr, f,,|- / rend the 

 first and the last P6f*6 >r. the first nnd last 

 ro.sr.s). Where different things an n-tVnvd to, 

 the article must be repeated where the noun is 

 singular; only the first adjective requiivs tin- 

 article where the noun is plural. 



The young and old doctor occupied the same 

 suite, for The yinon/ and the old doctor occupied 

 the same suite. The same man cannot be l><>th 

 old and young; since different persons are im- 

 plied, the article must be repeated. 



Either witness or lawyer had made a blunder, 

 for Either the witness or the lawyer had made 

 a blunder. This omission of the article is a com- 

 mon error leading to actual obscurity in the 

 thought, for the sentence in its first form seems 

 to imply that there are two witnesses and no 

 lawyers. 



The plumber and carpenter were already on 

 the job, for The plumber and the carpenter were 

 already on the job. Since the plural verb im- 

 plies two different men and not one man doing 

 both the plumbing and the carpentering, the 

 article calls for repetition. 



The thought is more clearly brought out in 

 the Latin and Greek version, for The thought is 

 more clearly brought out in the Latin and the 

 Greek version (or, in the Latin and Greek ver- 

 sions'). The same thing cannot be both Latin 

 and Greek. 



// such an one is present, let him step for- 

 ward, for // stcch a one is present, let him step 

 forward. One being pronounced as though 

 spelled won, properly takes the article a. 



/ have no patience with that kind of a mis- 

 take, for / have no patience with that kind of 

 mistake. The insertion of a makes the mistake 

 particular, limiting it to one of a class, whereas 

 the word kind has the opposite meaning of an 

 entire class. 



The diphtheria is a dangerous disease, for 

 Diphtheria is a dangerous disease. The definite 

 article can be used only when a particular per- 

 son or thing is pointed out. It is not required 

 before a word taken in a general sense. L.M.B. 



Outline on the Article 



I. Origin and meaning of a and the 

 II. When to use an 



III. Pronunciation of the 



IV. Articles used as other parts of speech 



(a) Adverb 



(b) Adjective 



(c) Preposition 



V. Repetition of the article 



(a) Rule and examples 



(b) Exception for rhetorical effect 

 VI. When the article is superfluous 



(a) After kind of 



(b) After name, rank or title of 



(c) After a possessive 

 VII. Parsing the article 



(a) Two essential things to tell 



(b) Type sentence 

 VIII. Common errors 



