USES OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE.
Denotes any one of a
class.
188. The most frequent use
of the indefinite article is to denote any one of a class or group of objects:
consequently it belongs to singular words; as in the sentence,—
Near the churchyard gate stands a poor-box,
fastened to a post by iron bands and secured by a padlock, with
a sloping wooden roof to keep off the rain.—Longfellow
Widens the scope of proper
nouns.
189. When the indefinite
article precedes proper names, it alters them to class names. The qualities or
attributes of the object are made prominent, and transferred to any one
possessing them; as,—
The vulgar riot and debauchery, which scarcely disgraced
an Alcibiades or a Cæsar, have been exchanged for the
higher ideals of a Bayard or a Sydney.—Pearson
With abstract nouns.
190. An or a
before abstract nouns often changes them to half abstract: the idea of quality
remains, but the word now denotes only one instance or example of things
possessing the quality.
Become half abstract.
The simple perception of natural forms is a
delight.—Emerson
If thou hadst a sorrow of thine own, the brook
might tell thee of it.—Hawthorne
In the first sentence, instead of the general abstract
notion of delight, which cannot be singular or plural, a delight means
one thing delightful, and implies others having the same quality.
So a sorrow
means one cause of sorrow, implying that there are other things that bring
sorrow.
Become pure class nouns.
NOTE.—Some abstract nouns become common class nouns
with the indefinite article, referring simply to persons; thus,—
If the poet of the "Rape of the Lock" be not a
wit, who deserves to be called so?—Thackeray.
He had a little brother in London with him at this
time,—as great a beauty, as great a dandy, as great a
villain.—Id.
A youth to fortune and to fame unknown.—Gray.
Changes material to class
nouns.
191. An or a
before a material noun indicates the change to a class noun, meaning one kind
or a detached portion; as,—
They that dwell up in the
steeple,...
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone.
—Poe.
When God at first made
man,
Having a glass of blessings standing
by.
—Herbert.
The roofs were turned into arches of massy stone, joined
by a cement that grew harder by time.—Johnson.
Like the numeral adjective
one.
192. In some cases
an or a has the full force of the numeral adjective one.
It is shown in the following:—
To every room there was an open and a
secret passage.—Johnson.
In a short time these become a small tree, an
inverted pyramid resting on the apex of the other.—Thoreau.
All men are at last of a size.—Emerson.
At the approach of spring the red squirrels got under my
house, two at a time.—Thoreau.
Equivalent to the word each
or every.
193. Often, also, the
indefinite article has the force of each or every, particularly
to express measure or frequency.
It would be so much more pleasant to live at his ease
than to work eight or ten hours a day.—Bulwer
Compare to Sec. 184.
Strong beer, such as we now buy for eighteenpence a
gallon, was then a penny a gallon.—Froude
With such, many, what.
194. An or a
is added to the adjectives such, many, and what, and may
be considered a part of these in modifying substantives.
How was I to pay such a debt?—Thackeray.
Many a one you and I have had here below.—Thackeray.
What a world of merriment then melody
foretells!—Poe.
With not and many.
195. Not and
never with a or an are numeral adjectives, instead of
adverbs, which they are in general.
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral
note.—Wolfe
My Lord Duke was as hot as a flame at this salute, but
said never a word.—Thackeray.
NOTE.—All these have the function of adjectives; but
in the last analysis of the expressions, such, many, not,
etc., might be considered as adverbs modifying the article.
With few or little.
196. The adjectives
few and little have the negative meaning of not much,
not many, without the article; but when a is put before them,
they have the positive meaning of some. Notice the contrast in the
following sentences:—
Of the country beyond the Mississippi little more
was known than of the heart of Africa.—Mcmaster
To both must I of necessity cling, supported always by
the hope that when a little time, a few years, shall have tried
me more fully in their esteem, I may be able to bring them
together.—Keats's Letters.
Few of the great characters of history have been
so differently judged as Alexander.—Smith,
History of Greece
With adjectives, changed to
nouns.
197. When the is
used before adjectives with no substantive following (Sec. 181 and note), these
words are adjectives used as nouns, or
pure nouns; but when an or a precedes such words, they are always
nouns, having the regular use and inflections of nouns; for example,—
Such are the words a brave should use.—Cooper.
In the great society of wits, John Gay deserves to be
a favorite, and to have a good place.—Thackeray
Only the name of one obscure epigrammatist has been
embalmed for use in the verses of a rival.—Pearson.
Exercise.—Bring up sentences with five uses
of the indefinite article. |
