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Emails and text messages are slowly leading the way to the elimination of “a” and “the” from the English language. Until they disappear completely, it is important to use them correctly in scientific English. In addition, their use often presents a special problem for those whose first language lacks such words. This includes speakers of Chinese, Japanese, the Slav languages and most African languages.

Box 1.5 presents some guidelines for their use. The three sentences below illustrate the use of the guidelines.

“During his voyages, Darwin noticed variation in animals. He became interested in a variation in the beaks of finches. Only a scientist with Darwin's background could have noticed the variation in these birds.”

The word “variation” appears once in each sentence. In its first appearance, it is not preceded by “a” or “the” because it is a universal concept (guideline 3). In the second sentence, “variation” is preceded by “a” because the variation in the beaks is just one of many that Darwin observed (guideline 1). In the third sentence, “variation” is preceded by “the” because the variation is the specific one referred to in the second sentence (guideline 2).

Box 1.6 provides a further opportunity to practise using the guidelines for “the” and “a”.

Box 1.5Guidelines for using “the” and “a”

1. If you use a word to refer to something that is common (to be strictly accurate, something that occurs more than once in the universe), you will need to put “a” in front of that word. If the word begins with a vowel, you will need “an”. “A” and “an” are never used before words in the plural. Examine the use of “a” and “an” in the sentences below.

“There is a big mess on my desk.”

“We did an experiment to verify this.”

There are many messes on many desks in the universe. Many experiments are done every day.

2. You always need “the” if the thing you are referring to is specific, even though there are many of them. The following sentences follow on from those above.

“The big mess on my desk is growing.”

“The experiment verified our hypothesis.”

The mess and the experiment were specified in the sentences above. This excludes all other messes and experiments, wherever they are and whenever they occurred.

3. You do not need “a” or “the” at all if the word you are using covers a universal concept or has a general meaning.

“Messes are often interesting.”

“Experiments form the basis of science.”

4. Some words that are universal concepts can also be used specifically and therefore require “the” The word “hygiene” is a good example.

“Hygiene is important in hospitals.”

“The hygiene in the old hospital is poor.”

5. You do not need “a” or “the” if a word indicating possession (e. g. “my, its, their”) precedes the thing you are describing.

Box 1.6Practising the use of the articles “the” and “a” in English

The text below is based on an abstract written by a student whose first language does not use this type of article. The original has been modified to make it more accessible, whilst keeping the errors in the use of “the” and “a.” The idea of “patient-specific design of medicines” is fictitious but it fits well with the original text. Read the text, concentrating on the position and presence or absence of the articles “the” and “a”. Some are used correctly, some used incorrectly. Occasionally, an article is missing completely. Each sentence needs at least one correction. Use the guidelines to decide how to improve the text. My suggestions are to be found in section 1.6.2.

Patient-specific design of medicines (PSDM) is novel method which was first described by Smith and Jones. PSDM method is based on the conventional designs modified by using alternative gene-based protocol. Main feature of the PSDM approach is its high specificity of treatment. The principle of the PSDM approach is depicted in the Figure 1.

Using PSDM method, we observe the shift in the specificity of the treatment. During the normal design of medicines, specificity is obtained from experience of the scientists. In the PSDM method, the specificity is obtained from the genes of the patient. Specificity of the PSDM method can be augmented by adding information from the family members. The PSDM method is estimated to increase specificity by factor of five.