{"id":97,"date":"2017-07-20T16:28:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/articles\/"},"modified":"2017-07-20T16:28:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:28:51","slug":"articles","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/articles\/","title":{"raw":"Articles","rendered":"Articles"},"content":{"raw":"<p>There are three articles in the English language:\u00a0<i>the<\/i>,\u00a0<i>a<\/i>, and <i>an<\/i>. These are divided into two types of articles: definite (<em>the<\/em>) and indefinite (<em>a<\/em>,\u00a0<em>an<\/em>).\u00a0The definite article indicates a level of specificity that the indefinite does not. \"An apple\" could refer to any apple; however \"the apple\" is referring back to a specific apple.\n\nThus, when using the definite article, 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.\n\nThere are also cases where no article\u00a0is required:\n<\/p><ul><li>with generic nouns (plural or uncountable): <i>cars have accelerators<\/i>, <i>happiness is contagious<\/i>, referring to cars in general and happiness in general (compare <i>the happiness I felt yesterday<\/i>, specifying particular happiness);<\/li>\n \t<li>with many proper names: <em>Sabrina<\/em>, <i>France<\/i>, <i>London<\/i>, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWatch this quick introduction to indefinite and definite articles and the difference between the two:\n\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/TSd0uByBoTo\n<h2><span id=\"Indefinite_article\" class=\"mw-headline\">Indefinite Article<\/span><\/h2>\nThe indefinite article of English takes the two forms <i>a<\/i> and <i>an<\/i>. These can be regarded as meaning \"one,\" usually without emphasis.\n<h3><span id=\"Distinction_between_a_and_an\" class=\"mw-headline\">Distinction between <i>a<\/i> and <i>an<\/i><\/span><\/h3>\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2424\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162842\/a-964x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing the article a\" width=\"150\" height=\"159\"\/>You've probably learned the rule that <em>an<\/em> comes before a vowel, and that\u00a0<em>a<\/em> comes before a consonant. While this is generally true, it's more accurate to say that\u00a0<em>an<\/em> comes before a vowel\u00a0<em>sound<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>a<\/em> comes before a consonant\u00a0<em>sound<\/em>. Let's look at a couple of examples with\u00a0<em>a<\/em>:\n<ul><li><i>a box<\/i><\/li>\n \t<li><i>a\u00a0HEPA filter<\/i> (HEPA is pronounced as a word rather than as letters)<\/li>\n \t<li><i>a one-armed bandit<\/i> (pronounced \"won.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0\")<\/li>\n \t<li><i>a unicorn<\/i> (pronounced \"yoo.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0\")<\/li>\n<\/ul><img class=\"alignright wp-image-2423\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162845\/an-1024x971.png\" alt=\"an icon showing the article an\" width=\"150\" height=\"142\"\/>Let's try it again with\u00a0<em>an<\/em>:\n<ul><li><i>an apple<\/i><\/li>\n \t<li><em>an EPA policy<\/em> (the letter\u00a0<em>E<\/em> read as a letter still starts with a vowel sound)<\/li>\n \t<li><i>an SSO<\/i> (pronounced \"es-es-oh\")<\/li>\n \t<li><i>an hour<\/i> (the <i>h<\/i> is silent)<\/li>\n \t<li><i>an heir<\/i> (pronounced \"air\")<\/li>\n<\/ul><div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> Some speakers and writers use <i>an<\/i> before a word beginning with the sound <span class=\"IPA\" title=\"Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)\"><em>h<\/em><\/span>\u00a0in an unstressed syllable: <i>an historical novel<\/i>, <i>an hotel<\/i>.\u00a0However, where the <em>h<\/em> is clearly pronounced, this usage is now less common, and <em>a<\/em> is preferred.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\nLook at\u00a0the following words. When they require an indefinite article, should it be\u00a0<em>a<\/em> or\u00a0<em>an<\/em>?\n<ol><li>ewe<\/li>\n \t<li>SEO specialist<\/li>\n \t<li>apple<\/li>\n \t<li>URL<\/li>\n \t<li>herb<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[reveal-answer q=\"172524\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"172524\"]\n<ol><li>a\u00a0ewe: The word is pronounced\u00a0\"you\"; it starts with a consonant sound.<\/li>\n \t<li>an\u00a0SEO specialist: The word is pronounced \"es-ee-oh\"; it starts with a vowel sound.<\/li>\n \t<li>an apple: The word starts with,\u00a0<em>a<\/em>,\u00a0a vowel sound.<\/li>\n \t<li>a\u00a0URL: The word is pronounced \"yoo-ar-el\"; it starts with a consonant sound.<\/li>\n \t<li>an herb: The\u00a0<em>h<\/em> is silent, so the word\u00a0is pronounced \"erb\"; it starts with a vowel sound.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Definite_article\" class=\"mw-headline\">Definite Article<\/span>\n<img class=\"wp-image-2422 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162849\/the-1024x716.png\" alt=\"an icon showing the article the\" width=\"200\" height=\"140\"\/><\/h2>\nThe definite article <i>the<\/i> 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.\n\n<em>The<\/em> can be used with both singular and plural nouns, with nouns of any gender, and with nouns that start with any letter. This is different from many other languages which have different articles for different genders or numbers.\u00a0<i>The<\/i> is the most commonly used word in the English language.\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\nChoose the article that should go in each sentence:\n<ol><li>Every day, I eat (a \/ an \/ the) egg salad sandwich.<\/li>\n \t<li>I love looking at (a \/ an \/ the) stars with you.<\/li>\n \t<li>Dani\u00a0was planning\u00a0to buy (a \/ an \/ the)\u00a0book she had been eyeing\u00a0as soon as she got paid.<\/li>\n \t<li>(A \/ An \/ The) brain like that will get you far in life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[reveal-answer q=\"170373\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"170373\"]\n<ol><li>an;\u00a0Every day, I eat <strong>an<\/strong>\u00a0egg salad sandwich.\n<ul><li>Since you can only eat a sandwich once, there must be a different sandwich every day\u2014thus we need an indefinite article.\u00a0<em>Egg<\/em> starts with an\u00a0<em>e<\/em> sound, so it requires\u00a0<em>an<\/em> not\u00a0<em>a<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li>the;\u00a0I love looking at <strong>the<\/strong> stars with you.\n<ul><li><em>stars<\/em> is plural, so it cannot take an indefinite article<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li>the;\u00a0Dani\u00a0was planning\u00a0to buy <strong>the<\/strong> book she had been eyeing\u00a0as soon as she got paid.\n<ul><li>While\u00a0<em>a<\/em> would be an acceptable answer (as\u00a0<em>book<\/em> starts with a consonant sound), the sentence\u00a0implies that there is a specific book she wants. Thus, the definite article is required.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li>a; <strong>A<\/strong>\u00a0brain like that will get you far in life.\n<ul><li>The sentence is about one \"brain like that\"; there could be several, but the sentence is just talking about one. Thus, the indefinite article is required.\u00a0<em>Brain<\/em> starts with a consonant sound, so\u00a0<em>a<\/em> is required, not\u00a0<em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Word_order\" class=\"mw-headline\">Word Order<\/span><\/h2>\nIn most cases, the article is the first word of its noun phrase, preceding all other adjectives and modifiers.\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><i>The<\/i> little old red bag held <i>a<\/i> very big surprise.<\/p>\nThere are a few exceptions, however:\n<ul><li>Certain determiners, such as <i>all<\/i>, <i>both<\/i>, <i>half<\/i>, <i>double<\/i>, precede the definite article when used in combination (<i>all the team<\/i>, <i>both the girls<\/i>, <i>half the time<\/i>, <i>double the amount<\/i>).<\/li>\n \t<li><i>Such<\/i> and\u00a0<i>what<\/i> precede the indefinite article (<i>such an idiot<\/i>, <i>what a day!<\/i>).<\/li>\n \t<li>Adjectives qualified by <i>too<\/i>, <i>so<\/i>, <i>as<\/i> and <i>how<\/i> generally precede the indefinite article: <i>too great a loss<\/i>, <i>so hard a problem<\/i>, <i>as delicious an apple as I have ever tasted<\/i>, <i>I know how pretty a girl she is<\/i>.<\/li>\n \t<li>When adjectives are qualified by <i>quite<\/i> (particularly when it means \"fairly\"), the word <i>quite<\/i> (but not the adjective itself) often precedes the indefinite article: <i>quite a long letter<\/i>.\u00a0<strong>Note:<\/strong> the phrase\u00a0<em>a quite long letter<\/em> is also a correct construction. However the two have different meanings:\n<ul><li>In <em>quite a long letter<\/em>,\u00a0<em>quite<\/em> modifies\u00a0<em>letter<\/em>: it's quite a letter.<\/li>\n \t<li>In\u00a0<em>a quite long letter<\/em>,\u00a0<em>quite<\/em> modifies\u00a0<em>long<\/em>: the letter is quite long.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ul><div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\nRead the following passage and make any necessary changes. Explain your reasoning for each change.\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A\u00a0Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. Although not the\u00a0first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both an\u00a0vital research tool and an\u00a0public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images. Hubble has recorded the some of most detailed visible-light images ever, allowing the\u00a0deep view into space and time.<\/p>\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\n[reveal-answer q=\"666227\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"666227\"]Here is the\u00a0corrected passage. Each correction has been numbered. Explanations for each correction are given below the passage.\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">(1)<strong> The<\/strong> Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both (2)\u00a0<strong>a<\/strong> vital research tool and (3)\u00a0<strong>a<\/strong> public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images. Hubble has recorded (4)\u00a0<strong>some of the<\/strong> most detailed visible-light images ever, allowing (5)\u00a0<strong>a<\/strong> deep view into space and time.<\/p>\nSo why were these changes necessary?\n<ol><li>There is only one Hubble Space Telescope, so it requires the\u00a0definite article:\u00a0<em>the<\/em>.<\/li>\n \t<li><em>Vital<\/em> starts with a consonant sound, so it requires\u00a0<em>a<\/em> not\u00a0<em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n \t<li><i>Public<\/i> starts with a consonant sound, so it requires <em>a<\/em> not <em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n \t<li>As we discussed, phrases like \"some of\" are exceptions to the general word order rule, and they come before articles.<\/li>\n \t<li>There are several different views into space, and this is just one of them. Thus, we need to use the indefinite article. <em>Deep<\/em> starts with a consonant, so it requires\u00a0<em>a<\/em> not\u00a0<em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>There are three articles in the English language:\u00a0<i>the<\/i>,\u00a0<i>a<\/i>, and <i>an<\/i>. These are divided into two types of articles: definite (<em>the<\/em>) and indefinite (<em>a<\/em>,\u00a0<em>an<\/em>).\u00a0The definite article indicates a level of specificity that the indefinite does not. &#8220;An apple&#8221; could refer to any apple; however &#8220;the apple&#8221; is referring back to a specific apple.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, when using the definite article, the speaker assumes the listener knows the identity of the noun&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>There are also cases where no article\u00a0is required:\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>with generic nouns (plural or uncountable): <i>cars have accelerators<\/i>, <i>happiness is contagious<\/i>, referring to cars in general and happiness in general (compare <i>the happiness I felt yesterday<\/i>, specifying particular happiness);<\/li>\n<li>with many proper names: <em>Sabrina<\/em>, <i>France<\/i>, <i>London<\/i>, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Watch this quick introduction to indefinite and definite articles and the difference between the two:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Definite and indefinite articles | The parts of speech | Grammar | Khan Academy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TSd0uByBoTo?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Indefinite_article\" class=\"mw-headline\">Indefinite Article<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The indefinite article of English takes the two forms <i>a<\/i> and <i>an<\/i>. These can be regarded as meaning &#8220;one,&#8221; usually without emphasis.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Distinction_between_a_and_an\" class=\"mw-headline\">Distinction between <i>a<\/i> and <i>an<\/i><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2424\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162842\/a-964x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing the article a\" width=\"150\" height=\"159\" \/>You&#8217;ve probably learned the rule that <em>an<\/em> comes before a vowel, and that\u00a0<em>a<\/em> comes before a consonant. While this is generally true, it&#8217;s more accurate to say that\u00a0<em>an<\/em> comes before a vowel\u00a0<em>sound<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>a<\/em> comes before a consonant\u00a0<em>sound<\/em>. Let&#8217;s look at a couple of examples with\u00a0<em>a<\/em>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>a box<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>a\u00a0HEPA filter<\/i> (HEPA is pronounced as a word rather than as letters)<\/li>\n<li><i>a one-armed bandit<\/i> (pronounced &#8220;won.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0&#8220;)<\/li>\n<li><i>a unicorn<\/i> (pronounced &#8220;yoo.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0&#8220;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2423\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162845\/an-1024x971.png\" alt=\"an icon showing the article an\" width=\"150\" height=\"142\" \/>Let&#8217;s try it again with\u00a0<em>an<\/em>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>an apple<\/i><\/li>\n<li><em>an EPA policy<\/em> (the letter\u00a0<em>E<\/em> read as a letter still starts with a vowel sound)<\/li>\n<li><i>an SSO<\/i> (pronounced &#8220;es-es-oh&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><i>an hour<\/i> (the <i>h<\/i> is silent)<\/li>\n<li><i>an heir<\/i> (pronounced &#8220;air&#8221;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> Some speakers and writers use <i>an<\/i> before a word beginning with the sound <span class=\"IPA\" title=\"Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)\"><em>h<\/em><\/span>\u00a0in an unstressed syllable: <i>an historical novel<\/i>, <i>an hotel<\/i>.\u00a0However, where the <em>h<\/em> is clearly pronounced, this usage is now less common, and <em>a<\/em> is preferred.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Look at\u00a0the following words. When they require an indefinite article, should it be\u00a0<em>a<\/em> or\u00a0<em>an<\/em>?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>ewe<\/li>\n<li>SEO specialist<\/li>\n<li>apple<\/li>\n<li>URL<\/li>\n<li>herb<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q172524\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q172524\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>a\u00a0ewe: The word is pronounced\u00a0&#8220;you&#8221;; it starts with a consonant sound.<\/li>\n<li>an\u00a0SEO specialist: The word is pronounced &#8220;es-ee-oh&#8221;; it starts with a vowel sound.<\/li>\n<li>an apple: The word starts with,\u00a0<em>a<\/em>,\u00a0a vowel sound.<\/li>\n<li>a\u00a0URL: The word is pronounced &#8220;yoo-ar-el&#8221;; it starts with a consonant sound.<\/li>\n<li>an herb: The\u00a0<em>h<\/em> is silent, so the word\u00a0is pronounced &#8220;erb&#8221;; it starts with a vowel sound.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Definite_article\" class=\"mw-headline\">Definite Article<\/span><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2422 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162849\/the-1024x716.png\" alt=\"an icon showing the article the\" width=\"200\" height=\"140\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>The definite article <i>the<\/i> is used when the referent of the noun phrase is assumed to be unique or known from the context. For example, in the sentence &#8220;The boy with glasses was looking at the moon,&#8221; it is assumed that in the context the reference can only be to one boy and one moon.<\/p>\n<p><em>The<\/em> can be used with both singular and plural nouns, with nouns of any gender, and with nouns that start with any letter. This is different from many other languages which have different articles for different genders or numbers.\u00a0<i>The<\/i> is the most commonly used word in the English language.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Choose the article that should go in each sentence:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Every day, I eat (a \/ an \/ the) egg salad sandwich.<\/li>\n<li>I love looking at (a \/ an \/ the) stars with you.<\/li>\n<li>Dani\u00a0was planning\u00a0to buy (a \/ an \/ the)\u00a0book she had been eyeing\u00a0as soon as she got paid.<\/li>\n<li>(A \/ An \/ The) brain like that will get you far in life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q170373\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q170373\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>an;\u00a0Every day, I eat <strong>an<\/strong>\u00a0egg salad sandwich.\n<ul>\n<li>Since you can only eat a sandwich once, there must be a different sandwich every day\u2014thus we need an indefinite article.\u00a0<em>Egg<\/em> starts with an\u00a0<em>e<\/em> sound, so it requires\u00a0<em>an<\/em> not\u00a0<em>a<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>the;\u00a0I love looking at <strong>the<\/strong> stars with you.\n<ul>\n<li><em>stars<\/em> is plural, so it cannot take an indefinite article<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>the;\u00a0Dani\u00a0was planning\u00a0to buy <strong>the<\/strong> book she had been eyeing\u00a0as soon as she got paid.\n<ul>\n<li>While\u00a0<em>a<\/em> would be an acceptable answer (as\u00a0<em>book<\/em> starts with a consonant sound), the sentence\u00a0implies that there is a specific book she wants. Thus, the definite article is required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>a; <strong>A<\/strong>\u00a0brain like that will get you far in life.\n<ul>\n<li>The sentence is about one &#8220;brain like that&#8221;; there could be several, but the sentence is just talking about one. Thus, the indefinite article is required.\u00a0<em>Brain<\/em> starts with a consonant sound, so\u00a0<em>a<\/em> is required, not\u00a0<em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Word_order\" class=\"mw-headline\">Word Order<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In most cases, the article is the first word of its noun phrase, preceding all other adjectives and modifiers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><i>The<\/i> little old red bag held <i>a<\/i> very big surprise.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few exceptions, however:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Certain determiners, such as <i>all<\/i>, <i>both<\/i>, <i>half<\/i>, <i>double<\/i>, precede the definite article when used in combination (<i>all the team<\/i>, <i>both the girls<\/i>, <i>half the time<\/i>, <i>double the amount<\/i>).<\/li>\n<li><i>Such<\/i> and\u00a0<i>what<\/i> precede the indefinite article (<i>such an idiot<\/i>, <i>what a day!<\/i>).<\/li>\n<li>Adjectives qualified by <i>too<\/i>, <i>so<\/i>, <i>as<\/i> and <i>how<\/i> generally precede the indefinite article: <i>too great a loss<\/i>, <i>so hard a problem<\/i>, <i>as delicious an apple as I have ever tasted<\/i>, <i>I know how pretty a girl she is<\/i>.<\/li>\n<li>When adjectives are qualified by <i>quite<\/i> (particularly when it means &#8220;fairly&#8221;), the word <i>quite<\/i> (but not the adjective itself) often precedes the indefinite article: <i>quite a long letter<\/i>.\u00a0<strong>Note:<\/strong> the phrase\u00a0<em>a quite long letter<\/em> is also a correct construction. However the two have different meanings:\n<ul>\n<li>In <em>quite a long letter<\/em>,\u00a0<em>quite<\/em> modifies\u00a0<em>letter<\/em>: it&#8217;s quite a letter.<\/li>\n<li>In\u00a0<em>a quite long letter<\/em>,\u00a0<em>quite<\/em> modifies\u00a0<em>long<\/em>: the letter is quite long.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Read the following passage and make any necessary changes. Explain your reasoning for each change.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A\u00a0Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. Although not the\u00a0first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both an\u00a0vital research tool and an\u00a0public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Hubble&#8217;s orbit outside the distortion of Earth&#8217;s atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images. Hubble has recorded the some of most detailed visible-light images ever, allowing the\u00a0deep view into space and time.<\/p>\n<p><textarea aria-label=\"Your Answer\" rows=\"4\"><\/textarea><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q666227\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q666227\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">Here is the\u00a0corrected passage. Each correction has been numbered. Explanations for each correction are given below the passage.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">(1)<strong> The<\/strong> Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, and remains in operation. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both (2)\u00a0<strong>a<\/strong> vital research tool and (3)\u00a0<strong>a<\/strong> public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Hubble&#8217;s orbit outside the distortion of Earth&#8217;s atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images. Hubble has recorded (4)\u00a0<strong>some of the<\/strong> most detailed visible-light images ever, allowing (5)\u00a0<strong>a<\/strong> deep view into space and time.<\/p>\n<p>So why were these changes necessary?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>There is only one Hubble Space Telescope, so it requires the\u00a0definite article:\u00a0<em>the<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Vital<\/em> starts with a consonant sound, so it requires\u00a0<em>a<\/em> not\u00a0<em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><i>Public<\/i> starts with a consonant sound, so it requires <em>a<\/em> not <em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>As we discussed, phrases like &#8220;some of&#8221; are exceptions to the general word order rule, and they come before articles.<\/li>\n<li>There are several different views into space, and this is just one of them. Thus, we need to use the indefinite article. <em>Deep<\/em> starts with a consonant, so it requires\u00a0<em>a<\/em> not\u00a0<em>an<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-97\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>English articles. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_articles\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_articles<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Definite and indefinite articles. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David Rheinstrom. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Khan Academy. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/the-modifier\/v\/definite-and-indefinite-articles\">https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/the-modifier\/v\/definite-and-indefinite-articles<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Modification of Hubble Space Telescope (with errors inserted). <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hubble_Space_Telescope\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hubble_Space_Telescope<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":19,"menu_order":40,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"English articles\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_articles\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and Adaptation\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Definite and indefinite articles\",\"author\":\"David Rheinstrom\",\"organization\":\"Khan Academy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/the-modifier\/v\/definite-and-indefinite-articles\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Modification of Hubble Space Telescope (with errors inserted)\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hubble_Space_Telescope\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-97","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":22,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/97\/revisions"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/22"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/97\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}