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Articles in English are the definite article ''the'' and the indefinite articles ''a'' and ''an''. Use of the definite article implies that the speaker assumes the listener knows the identity of the noun's referent (because it is obvious, because it is common knowledge, or because it was mentioned in the same sentence or an earlier sentence). Use of an indefinite article implies that the speaker assumes the listener does not have to be told the identity of the referent. In some noun phrases no article is used. == Use of articles == The rules of English grammar require that in most cases a noun, or more generally a noun phrase, must be "completed" with a determiner to clarify what the referent of the noun phrase is.〔Greenbaum, Sidney (1996) ''The Oxford English Grammar''. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-861250-8〕 The most common determiners are the articles ''the'' and ''a(n)'', which specify the presence or absence of definiteness of the noun. Other possible determiners include words like ''this'', ''my'', ''each'' and ''many'' – see English determiners. There are also cases where no determiner is required, as in the sentence ''John likes fast cars''. Or the sentence ''Bob likes cool trains''. The definite article ''the'' is used when the referent of the noun phrase is assumed to be unique or known from the context. For example, in the sentence ''The boy with glasses was looking at the moon'', it is assumed that in the context the reference can only be to one boy and one moon. However, the definite article is ''not'' used: *with generic nouns (plural or uncountable): ''cars have accelerators'', ''happiness is contagious'', referring to cars in general and happiness in general (compare ''the happiness I felt yesterday'', specifying particular happiness); *with many proper names: ''John'', ''France'', ''London'', etc. The indefinite article ''a'' (before a consonant sound) or ''an'' (before a vowel sound) is used only with singular, countable nouns. It indicates that the referent of the noun phrase is one unspecified member of a class. For example, the sentence ''An ugly man was smoking a pipe'' does not refer to any specifically known ugly man or pipe. No article is used with plural or uncountable nouns when the referent is indefinite (just as in the generic definite case described above). However, in such situations, the determiner ''some'' is often added (or ''any'' in negative contexts and in many questions). For example: *''There are apples in the kitchen'' or ''There are some apples in the kitchen''; *''We do not have information'' or ''We do not have any information''; *''Would you like tea?'' or ''Would you like some tea?'' and ''Would you like any tea?'' or ''Would you like some good tea?'' Additionally, articles are not normally used: * in noun phrases that contain other determiners (''my house'', ''this cat'', ''America's history''), although one can combine articles with certain other determiners, as in ''the many issues'', ''such a child'' (see ). * with pronouns (''he'', ''nobody''), although again certain combinations are possible (as ''the one'', ''the many'', ''the few''). * preceding noun phrases consisting of a clause or infinitive phrase (''what you've done is very good'', ''to surrender is to die''). If it is required to be concise, e.g. in headlines, signs, labels, and notes, articles are often omitted along with certain other function words. For example, rather than ''The mayor was attacked'', a newspaper headline might say just ''Mayor attacked''. For more information on article usage, see the sections and below. For more cases where no article is used, see Zero article in English. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「English articles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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