THE ARTICLE
The article is a structural word specifying the noun. There are two articles in English — the definite article the and the indefinite article a. The indefinite article conveys the idea of indefiniteness. The definite article conveys the idea of definiteness. Definiteness suggests that the object presented by the noun is individualized and singled out from all the other objects of the same kind, while indefiniteness means a more general reference to an object. Both the definite and the indefinite articles have developed from notional parts of speech, whose influence is traced in their meaning and use. The definite article developed from demonstrative pronouns this, that, which account for its meaning of definiteness. The demonstrative force remains in many phrases, such as at the time, of the kind. The indefinite article developed from the cardinal numeral one. The numerical meaning is evident in such phrases as at a time, in a moment, not a sound. Since the choice of articles is determined by the context or the general situation we should pay attention to different attributes modifying nouns. All attributes are generally divided into restrictive (or limiting) and descriptive. A descriptive attribute is used to describe an object (or a group of objects) or give additional information about it: He wore a large straw hat. A restrictive attribute indicates such a quality or characteristic of an object which makes it distinct from other objects of the class: She accepted the coffee he offered her. Both descritive and restrictive attributes can be premodifying (occupying the position before the noun), and postmodifying (used after the noun). Nouns modified by restrictive attributes are used with the definite article, nouns modified by descriptive attributes are mainly used with the indefinite article.
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