Articles and Prepositions

Articles*
Articles are modifiers that appear before nouns and phrases. They help clarify the meaning of the noun in the
sentence. In English, there are three articles: the, a, and an (the latter of which is a variant of “a” used typically
before a word that begins with a vowel).

There are other special modifiers called determiners or markers that may appear in front of a noun phrase. Do
not use an article if you also intend to use any of the following markers directly before the noun: this, that, these, those,
my, her, his, your, own, their, its, any, either, each, every, many, few, several, some, all.

Count and Non-Count Nouns

You can determine which article to place in front of almost any noun by answering the following three questions:
 Is the noun countable or non-countable?
o A noun is countable if you can have more than one instance of it. The word “exam” is countable
because you can have, for example, three exams scheduled at the end of the year. The
word “intelligence,” however, is non-countable because it would not make sense to speak of having
three intelligences. Many words have both countable and non-countable meanings, depending on
the sentence.
 Is it singular or plural?
o Knowing whether the particular use of a noun is singular or plural is quite straightforward. Just ask
the question, am I referring to more than one instance of something?
 Is it definite or indefinite?
o A noun is definite when it is clear to your reader which specific instance(s) of an entity you are
referring to; otherwise, it is indefinite. Often the first use of a noun is indefinite and subsequent uses
are definite. For more clarity on definite and indefinite, refer to the table below:
Prepositions**
Prepositions are words that start a prepositional phrase (a phrase that contains a preposition and an object). *See
Grammar Overview Handout. For example, “She placed her cup on the table” contains a prepositional phrase (the
italicized part), which informs the reader where exactly she put the cup. Often prepositions are used in descriptions
of time, place, and objects.

Time
“At,” “on,” and “in” are used to describe a moment in time.
 At is used with noon, night, midnight, and with the time of day.
o My plane leaves at noon.
o The movie starts at 6 p.m.
 On is used with days.
o I will see you on Monday.
o The week begins on Sunday.
 In is used with other parts of the day, with months, with years, and with seasons.
o He likes to read in the afternoon.
o The book was published in August in 1999.
o The flowers will bloom in spring.

Place
 In: to talk about an object being contained
o There is a wasp in the house. (The wasp is contained in the house.)
 Inside: to refer more specifically to where the object is contained
o Go look inside the refrigerator. (Inside is used as a specific place, the inside of the refrigerator.)
 On: to talk about the surface
o I left your keys on the table. (The keys are on the surface of the table).
 At: to talk about a general vicinity
o She was waiting at the corner. (The corner is a general location she was waiting at.)

Objects
“At” is used with the following verbs: glance, laugh, look, rejoice, smile, stare
 She glanced at her reflection. (exception with mirror: She glanced in the mirror.)
 I’m looking at the computer monitor.
 That pretty guy smiled at you.
“Of” is used with the following verbs: approve, consist, smell
 I don’t approve of his speech.
 My contribution to the article consists of many pages.
“Of” (or “about”) is used with the following verbs: dream, think
 Can you think of a number between one and ten?
 I am thinking about this problem.
“For” is used with the following verbs: call, hope, look, wait, watch, wish
 Did someone call for a taxi?
 I’m looking for my keys.
 We’ll wait for her here.
 You go buy the tickets, and I’ll watch for the train.

*Adapted from the University of Toronto

**Adapted from The Purdue Owl