Use of A/An/The ...... Articles

Maaarysia, marvellous insight! I'd have to ask Ewelina (my co-teacher) or even my wife as they are more up on the history and origins of things than I am. My own personal belief? Yes, French is the stem but it could also be that Londoners dictate things. What do I mean? Well, if you know how they speak then you know that they don't say H but I. It becomes 'istory' and not 'history'. So, 'an historian' is pronounced as 'an istorian' (thus a vowel). This approach has grown in stock amongst prominent writers.

Maaarysia, not exactly. 'A European' and 'a university' are correct due to 'E' and 'u' having consonant (współgłoska) sounds. As codger said, it is a phonetic thing. Mods, please permit a MINOR digression for the purposes of making a point. We have sth that is called the 'schwa' in English. Phonetically, it means an omission, e.g there are 3 syllables in comfortable and not 4. CUM F TIBLE. We have to have an awareness of phonetics to see how it impacts on any given matter. The vowel/consonant distinction is key here :)

It was ubiquitous in the prose of Defoe, Dickens, even conan Doyle I think...

I read Robinson Crusoe not long ago at all but he wrote in the 17thC. Dickens? I read Oliver Twist in 1987/1988. I have a huge tome of ACD. I might have picked up some things from them but it would be subconsciously. It doesn't get to the heart of the matter. Why not 'a historian' as I'd say? Sometimes there is 'ellision' to make things easier. That explains why we don't combine certain sounds.

It's a little on a tangent so let's stay central. What's the difference between 'life' and 'the life'???

The case of "an historian" was told to me by some American people, the same who had drawn my attention to PF. The rest is simple, it's phonetically e juropijen and e juniwersiti ;)

Exactly, AS! A eunuch, LOL :)

Ok what about usual day.
A usual day or an usual day?

e jużual dej, ofc. but en anjużual dej.


e junek ;))))))))

AS is right :) :)

O kurde. I would never guess that :)

but there's no alliteration in speech, only in writing - the initial sound in show and strength is not the same

btw, another question, which one is better:
the initial sound in show and strengthis not the same
or
the initial sounds in show and strengthare not the same
?

Strzyga had better be a native speaker as she is better than me ;) ;) She is right, codger.

Maaarysia, 'I would never have guessed' is correct.

Strzyga, what are you asking in the second part as I am unsure?

The initial sounds as it's one sound :)

Folks, please stay on topic as this is about the articles. Thanks!

I have to be careful not to derail Seanus train of thought. Alliteration is more important in speech most of the poets use it in oratory going back all the way to Beowulf, which was read out to the illiterate masses. Alexw68 used it very well in Defoe,Dickens and Doyle. It appears more intentional in writing and is often unconscious in speech/conversation. I'm sure wiki will give the lowdown.

Show or display of strength both work, codger, but you have a point. Still, I don't think alliteration is the key concern in the modern age.

putting my head on the block now.

I am going to Jednosci (street)

I am going to Plac Bema (square)

I am going to Rynek (place name + square)

folks may have noticed that in posts i never say "the Rynek".

so, my question is why do brits add ''the'' when there is no actual market and it counts as a street/place name.

it seems to me that translation has gone too far. to my mind it's:

I am going to Rynek. or. I am going to the market square. not a mix of both.

chciałabym, ale nic z tego - I'm neither ;)


I'm moving that to the all-purpose grammar mix, or whatever it's caled :)


thx codger
Alliteration seems to be an English-language phenomenon, sort of rhymes taken backwards

Wrocław missed his chance to comment on regional English and 'the'. Peter Kay, a renowned stand-up comedian from Bolton in England, often omits the use of 'the'. Where I would say 'I'm going up the motorway and listening to the radio', he'd say 'Am goin up motoway and listenin to radio' in his classic Yorkshire accent. He also says 't'intanet' instead of 'the internet', lol.

Alliteration occurs in Dylan Thomas' poetry, for example "The Wolves in Wales,...Slink and Sidle..." etc..

Be careful not to confuse alliteration with assonance which focuses in on vowel sounds and pairings.

OK, articles. Is the basic pattern clear to resident Poles? Any hard cases you want to ask about?

Nice one, Seanus-:) Yes, the sibilance of final voiced s'-sounds would confirm your comments. Thomas' verse is though as alliterative as it is assonantal, wouldn't you agree?

absolutely alliterative as an.....(fill the gap someone!)

polite request:

please keep it simple. it is a learner's thread after all.

Oh, I'm not too well up on the man, I'm afraid.

Besides, this is about articles, remember? ;) ;) Do you have a question?

Seanus, you are back at last! :):):) We missed you.

Thanks, pawian. I'm not popular with those that value true help, I don't know why. I'm a target of their attack.

Pawian, you are a teacher. In all your years of teaching, have you ever run into difficulties when teaching articles?

Pawian is a history teacher :)

He could teach historical articles ; ;)

Articles are one of major grammar problems that Polish students run into. In written and spoken utterances, missing articles make about 50% of most blatant mistakes. Only really brilliant students use them correctly.


Yes.

True. What's the difference between:

This is sh*t?

This is the sh*t?

To jest g*wno


To jest zajefajny towar

Oh, very good. Shame my Japanese friend wasn't as proficient as that, lol. Zannen nagara ;)

Why do we say Mount Everest but The Himalayas?