Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
The indefinite article is used when a person or concept is mentioned for the first time
and subsequent references to the noun, once it has been identified, use the definite
article.
When an adjective is used as a noun to represent a a group of people or examples of a
type, the definite article is always used.
No article is used when making a general statement using an uncountable noun but the
definite article is used when making a specific point about an uncountable noun.
A general statement can be made which refers to all examples of a kind of countable
noun using an indefinite article and the singular form of the countable noun, e.g. A PC
card is an insertable piece of hardware for notebooks. It is also possible to make this
kind of statement using the plural form with no article, e.g. PC cards are insertable
pieces of hardware for notebooks (notice that in this case, other countable nouns in the
sentence are generally put in the plural form too).
Both countable nouns in their plural form and uncountable nouns require the definite
article in front of them when being used in a specific context, e.g. Eighty percent of the
customers who were interviewed responded positively; The company's turnover this
year has been exceptional.
The definite article is needed in front of the superlative form, 'first', 'second' etc, and
'next'.
The definite article can be used with a singular noun to make a general statement
about that group. The statement refers to the whole class and not to the individuals in
the class e.g. The fast food outlet has become an established part of urban life. Here the
use of the indefinite article would not be possible because the statement refers to all the
members of the group rather than the group itself so the following sentence would be
wrong: A fast food outlet has become an established part of urban life.