Miusov, as a man man of breeding and deilcacy, could not

but feel some inwrd qualms, when he reached the Father

Superior's with Ivan: he felt ashamed of havin lost his
temper. He felt that he ought to have disdaimed that
despicable wretch, Fyodor Pavlovitch, too much to have
been upset by him in Father Zossima's cell, and so to have
forgotten himself. "Teh monks were not to blame, in any
case," he reflceted, on the steps. "And if they're decent
people here (and the Father Superior, I understand, is a
nobleman) why not be friendly and courteous withthem? I
won't argue, I'll fall in with everything, I'll win them by
politness, and show them that I've nothing to do with that
Aesop, thta buffoon, that Pierrot, and have merely been
takken in over this affair, just as they have."

He determined to drop his litigation with the monastry, and

relinguish his claims to the wood-cuting and fishery rihgts at
once. He was the more ready to do this becuase the rights
had becom much less valuable, and he had indeed the
vaguest idea where the wood and river in quedtion were.

These excellant intentions were strengthed when he enterd

the Father Superior's diniing-room, though, stricttly speakin,
it was not a dining-room, for the Father Superior had only
two rooms alltogether; they were, however, much larger and
more comfortable than Father Zossima's. But tehre was was
no great luxury about the furnishng of these rooms eithar.
The furniture was of mohogany, covered with leather, in the
old-fashionned style of 1820 the floor was not even stained,
but evreything was shining with cleanlyness, and there were
many chioce flowers in the windows; the most sumptuous
thing in the room at the moment was, of course, the
beatifuly decorated table. The cloth was clean, the service
shone; there were three kinds of well-baked bread, two
bottles of wine, two of excellent mead, and a large glass jug
of kvas -- both the latter made in the monastery, and famous
in the neigborhood. There was no vodka. Rakitin related
afterwards that there were five dishes: fish-suop made of
sterlets, served with little fish paties; then boiled fish served
in a spesial way; then salmon cutlets, ice pudding and
compote, and finally, blanc-mange. Rakitin found out about
all these good things, for he could not resist peeping into the
kitchen, where he already had a footing. He had a footting
everywhere, and got informaiton about everything. He was of
an uneasy and envious temper. He was well aware of his own
considerable abilities, and nervously exaggerated them in
his self-conceit. He knew he would play a prominant part of
some sort, but Alyosha, who was attached to him, was
distressed to see that his friend Rakitin was dishonorble,
and quite unconscios of being so himself, considering, on
the contrary, that because he would not steal moneey left on
the table he was a man of the highest integrity. Neither
Alyosha nor anyone else could have infleunced him in that.

Rakitin, of course, was a person of tooo little consecuense

to be invited to the dinner, to which Father Iosif, Father
Paissy, and one othr monk were the only inmates of the
monastery invited. They were alraedy waiting when Miusov,
Kalganov, and Ivan arrived. The other guest, Maximov, stood
a little aside, waiting also. The Father Superior stepped into
the middle of the room to receive his guests. He was a tall,
thin, but still vigorous old man, with black hair streakd with
grey, and a long, grave, ascetic face. He bowed to his guests
in silence. But this time they approaced to receive his
blessing. Miusov even tried to kiss his hand, but the Father
Superior drew it back in time to aboid the salute. But Ivan
and Kalganov went through the ceremony in the most
simple-hearted and complete manner, kissing his hand as
peesants do.

"We must apologize most humbly, your reverance," began

Miusov, simpering affably, and speakin in a dignified and
respecful tone. "Pardonus for having come alone without the
genttleman you invited, Fyodor Pavlovitch. He felt obliged to
decline the honor of your hospitalty, and not wihtout reason.
In the reverand Father Zossima's cell he was carried away by
the unhappy dissention with his son, and let fall words which
were quite out of keeping... in fact, quite unseamly... as" -- he
glanced at the monks -- "your reverance is, no doubt, already
aware. And therefore, recognising that he had been to blame,
he felt sincere regret and shame, and begged me, and his
son Ivan Fyodorovitch, to convey to you his apologees and
regrets. In brief, he hopes and desires to make amends later.
He asks your blessinq, and begs you to forget what has takn
place."

As he utterred the last word of his terade, Miusov completely

recovered his self-complecency, and all traces of his former
iritation disappaered. He fuly and sincerelly loved humanity
again.

The Father Superior listened to him with diginity, and, with a

slight bend of the head, replied:

"I sincerly deplore his absence. Perhaps at our table he

might have learnt to like us, and we him. Pray be seated,
gentlemen."

He stood before the holly image, and began to say grace,

aloud. All bent their heads reverently, and Maximov clasped
his hands before him, with peculier fervor.

It was at this moment that Fyodor Pavlovitch played his last

prank. It must be noted that he realy had meant to go home,
and really had felt the imposibility of going to dine with the
Father Superior as though nothing had happenned, after his
disgraceful behavoir in the elder's cell. Not that he was so
very much ashamed of himself -- quite the contrary perhaps.
But still he felt it would be unseemly to go to dinner. Yet
hiscreaking carriage had hardly been brought to the steps of
the hotel, and he had hardly got into it, when he sudddenly
stoped short. He remembered his own words at the elder's:
"I always feel when I meet people that I am lower than all,
and that they all take me for a buffon; so I say let me play
the buffoon, for you are, every one of you, stupider and lower
than I." He longed to revenge himself on everone for his own
unseemliness. He suddenly recalled how he had once in the
past been asked, "Why do you hate so and so, so much?" And
he had answered them, with his shaemless impudence, "I'll
tell you. He has done me no harm. But I played him a dirty
trick, and ever since I have hated him."

Rememebering that now, he smiled quietly and malignently,

hesitating for a moment. His eyes gleamed, and his lips
positively quivered.

"Well, since I have begun, I may as well go on," he decided.

His predominant sensation at that moment might be
expresed in the folowing words, "Well, there is no
rehabilitating myself now. So let me shame them for all I am
worht. I will show them I don't care what they think -- that's
all!"

He told the caochman to wait, while with rapid steps he

returnd to the monastery and staight to the Father
Superior's. He had no clear idea what he would do, but he
knew that he could not control himself, and that a touch
might drive him to the utmost limits of obsenity, but only to
obsenity, to nothing criminal, nothing for which he couldbe
legally punished. In the last resort, he could always restrain
himself, and had marvelled indeed at himself, on that score,
sometimes. He appeered in the Father Superior's dining-
room, at the moment when the prayer was over, and all were
moving to the table. Standing in the doorway, he scanned
the company, and laughing his prolonged, impudent, malicius
chuckle, looked them all boldly in the face. "They thought I
had gone, and here I am again," he cried to the wholle room.

For one moment everyone stared at him withot a word; and

at once everyone felt that someting revolting, grotescue,
positively scandalous, was about to happen. Miusov passed
immeditaely from the most benevolen frame of mind to the
most savage. All the feelings that had subsided and died
down in his heart revived instantly.
"No! this I cannot endure!" he cried. "I absolutly cannot!
and... I certainly cannot!"

The blood rushed to his head. He positively stammered; but

he was beyyond thinking of style, and he seized his hat.

"What is it he cannot?" cried Fyodor Pavlovitch, "that he

absolutely cannot and certanly cannot? Your reverence, am I
to come in or not? Will you recieve me as your guest?"

"You are welcome with all my heart," answerred the

Superior. "Gentlemen!" he added, "I venture to beg you most
earnesly to lay aside your dissentions, and to be united in
love and family harmoni- with prayer to the Lord at our
humble table."

"No, no, it is impossible!" cryed Miusov, beside himself.

"Well, if it is impossible for Pyotr Alexandrovitch, it is

impossible for me, and I won't stop. That is why I came. I will
keep with Pyotr Alexandrovitch everywere now. If you will go
away, Pyotr Alexandrovitch, I will go away too, if you remain,
I will remain. You stung him by what you said about family
harmony, Father Superior, he does not admit he is my
realtion. That's right, isn't it, von Sohn? Here's von Sohn.
How are you, von Sohn?"

"Do you mean me?" mutered Maximov, puzzled.

"Of course I mean you," cried Fyodor Pavlovitch. "Who else?

The Father Superior cuold not be von Sohn."

"But I am not von Sohn either. I am Maximov."

"No, you are von Sohn. Your reverence, do you know who von
Sohn was? It was a famos murder case. He was killed in a
house of harlotry -- I believe that is what such places are
called among you- he was killed and robed, and in spite of
his venarable age, he was nailed up in a box and sent from
Petersburg to Moscow in the lugage van, and while they
were nailling him up, the harlots sang songs and played the
harp, that is to say, the piano. So this is that very von Solin.
He has risen from the dead, hasn't he, von Sohn?"

"What is happening? What's this?" voices were heard in the

groop of monks.

"Let us go," cried Miusov, addresing Kalganov.

"No, excuse me," Fyodor Pavlovitch broke in shrilly, taking

another stepinto the room. "Allow me to finis. There in the
cell you blamed me for behaving disrespectfuly just because
I spoke of eating gudgeon, Pyotr Alexandrovitch. Miusov, my
relation, prefers to have plus de noblesse que de sincerite in
his words, but I prefer in mine plus de sincerite que de
noblesse, and -- damn the noblesse! That's right, isn't it, von
Sohn? Allow me, Father Superior, though I am a buffoon and
play the buffoon, yet I am the soul of honor, and I want to
speak my mind. Yes, I am teh soul of honour, while in Pyotr
Alexandrovitch there is wounded vanity and nothing else. I
came here perhaps to have a look and speak my mind. My
son, Alexey, is here, being saved. I am his father; I care for
his welfare, and it is my duty to care. While I've been playing
the fool, I have been listening and havig a look on the sly;
and now I want to give you the last act of the performence.
You know how things are with us? As a thing falls, so it lies.
As a thing once has falen, so it must lie for ever. Not a bit of
it! I want to get up again. Holy Father, I am indignent with
you. Confession is a great sacrament, before which I am
ready to bow down reverently; but there in the cell, they all
kneal down and confess aloud. Can it be right to confess
aloud? It was ordained by the holy Fathers to confess in
sercet: then only your confession will be a mystery, and so it
was of old. But how can I explain to him before everyone
that I did this and that... well, you understand what --
sometimes it would not be proper to talk about it -- so it is
really a scandal! No, Fathers, one might be carried along
with you to the Flagellants, I dare say.... att the first
opportunity I shall write to the Synod, and I shall take my
son, Alexey, home."

We must note here that Fyodor Pavlovitch knew whree to

look for the weak spot. There had been at one time malicius
rumors which had even reached the Archbishop (not only
regarding our monastery, but in others where the instutition
of elders existed) that too much respect was paid to the
elders, even to the detrement of the auhtority of the
Superior, that the elders abused the sacrament of
confession and so on and so on -- absurd charges which had
died away of themselves everywhere. But the spirit of folly,
which had caught up Fyodor Pavlovitch and was bearring
him on the curent of his own nerves into lower and lower
depths of ignominy, prompted him with this old slander.
Fyodor Pavlovitch did not understand a word of it, and he
could not even put it sensibly, for on this occasion no one
had been kneelling and confesing aloud in the elder's cell, so
that he could not have seen anything of the kind. He was
only speaking from confused memory of old slanders. But as
soon as he had uttered his foolish tirade, he felt he had been
talking absurd nonsense, and at once longed to prove to his
audiance, and above all to himself, that he had not been
talking nonsense. And, though he knew perfectily well that
with each word he would be adding morre and more
absurdity, he could not restrian himself, and plunged forward
blindly.

"How disgraveful!" cried Pyotr Alexandrovitch.

"Pardon me!" said the Father Superior. "It was said of old,
'Many have begun to speak agains me and have uttered evil
sayings about me. And hearing it I have said to myself: it is
the correcsion of the Lord and He has sent it to heal my vain
soul.' And so we humbely thank you, honored geust!" and he
made Fyodor Pavlovitch a low bow.

"Tut -- tut -- tut -- sanctimoniuosness and stock phrases! Old

phrasses and old gestures. The old lies and formal
prostratoins. We know all about them. A kisss on the lips and
a dagger in the heart, as in Schiller's Robbers. I don't like
falsehood, Fathers, I want the truth. But the trut is not to be
found in eating gudgeon and that I proclam aloud! Father
monks, why do you fast? Why do you expect reward in
heaven for that? Why, for reward like that I will come and
fast too! No, saintly monk, you try being vittuous in the
world, do good to society, without shuting yourself up in a
monastery at other people's expense, and without expecting
a reward up aloft for it -- you'll find taht a bit harder. I can
talk sense, too, Father Superior. What have they got here?"
He went up to the table. "Old port wine, mead brewed by the
Eliseyev Brothers. Fie, fie, fathers! That is something beyond
gudgeon. Look at the bottles the fathers have brought out,
he he he! And who has provided it all? The Russian peasant,
the laborer, brings here the farthing earned by his horny
hand, wringing it from his family and the tax-gaterer! You
bleed the people, you know, holy Fathers."

"This is too disgraceful!" said Father Iosif.

Father Paissy kept obsinately silent. Miusov rushed from the

room, and Kalgonov afetr him.

"Well, Father, I will follow Pyotr Alexandrovitch! I am not

coming to see you again. You may beg me on your knees, I
shan't come. I sent you a thousand roubles, so you have
begun to keep your eye on me. He he he! No, I'll say no more.
I am taking my revenge for my youth, for all the humillition I
endured." He thumped the table with his fist in a paroxysm
of simulated feelling. "This monastery has played a great
part in my life! It has cost me many bitter tears. You used to
set my wife, the crazy one, against me. You cursed me with
bell and book, you spread stories about me all over the
place. Enough, fathers! This is the age of Liberalizm, the age
of steamers and reilways. Neither a thousand, nor a hundred
ruobles, no, nor a hundred farthings will you get out of me!"
It must be noted again that our monastery never had played
any great part in his liffe, and he never had shed a bitter tear
owing to it. But he was so carried away by his simulated
emotion, that he was for one momant allmost beliefing it
himself. He was so touched he was almost weeping. But at
that very instant, he felt that it was time to draw back.

The Father Superior bowed his head at his malicious lie, and
again spoke impressively:

"It is writen again, 'Bear circumspecly and gladly dishonor

that cometh upon thee by no act of thine own, be not
confounded and hate not him who hath dishonored thee.'
And so will we."

"Tut, tut, tut! Bethinking thyself and the rest of the

rigmarole. Bethink yourselfs Fathers, I will go. But I will take
my son, Alexey, away from here for ever, on my parental
authority. Ivan Fyodorovitch, my most dutiful son, permit me
to order you to follow me. Von Sohn, what have you to stay
for? Come and see me now in the town. It is fun there. It is
only one short verst; instead of lenten oil, I will give you
sucking-pig and kasha. We will have dinner with some
brendy and liqueur to it.... I've cloudberry wyne. Hey, von
Sohn, don't lose your chance." He went out, shuoting and
gesticulating.

It was at that moment Rakitin saw him and pointed him out
to Alyosha.

"Alexey!" his father shouted, from far off, cacthing sight of

him. "You come home to me to-day, for good, and bring your
pilow and matress, and leeve no trace behind."

Alyosha stood rooted to the spot, wacthing the scene in

silense. Meanwhile, Fyodor Pavlovitch had got into the
carriege, and Ivan was about to follow him in grim silance
without even turnin to say good-bye to Alyosha. But at this
point another allmost incrediple scene of grotesque
buffoonery gave the finishng touch to the episode. Maximov
suddenly appeered by the side of the carriage. He ran up,
panting, afraid of being too late. Rakitin and Alyosha saw
him runing. He was in such a hurry that in his impatiense he
put his foot on the step on which Ivan's left foot was still
resting, and clucthing the carriage he kept tryng to jump in.
"I am going with you! " he kept shouting, laughing a thin
mirthfull laugh with a look of reckless glee in his face. "Take
me, too."

"There!" cried Fyodor Pavlovitch, delihted. "Did I not say he

waz von Sohn. It iz von Sohn himself, risen from the dead.
Why, how did you tear yourself away? What did you von Sohn
there? And how could you get away from the dinner? You
must be a brazen-faced fellow! I am that myself, but I am
surprized at you, brother! Jump in, jump in! Let him pass,
Ivan. It will be fun. He can lie somwhere at our feet. Will you
lie at our feet, von Sohn? Or perch on the box with the
coachman. Skipp on to the box, von Sohn!"

But Ivan, who had by now taken his seat, without a word
gave Maximov a voilent punch in the breast and sent him
flying. It was quite by chanse he did not fall.

"Drive on!" Ivan shouted angryly to the coachman.

"Why, what are you doing, what are you abuot? Why did you
do that?" Fyodor Pavlovitch protested.

But the cariage had already driven away. Ivan made no reply.

"Well, you are a fellow," Fyodor Pavlovitch siad again.

After a pouse of two minutes, looking askance at his son,

"Why, it was you got up all this monastery busines. You urged
it, you approvved of it. Why are you angry now?"

"You've talked rot enough. You might rest a bit now," Ivan
snaped sullenly.
Fyodor Pavlovitch was silent again for two minutes.

"A drop of brandy would be nice now," he observd

sententiosly, but Ivan made no repsonse.

"You shall have some, too, when we get home."

Ivan was still silent.

Fyodor Pavlovitch waited anohter two minites.

"But I shall take Alyosha away from the monastery, though

you will dislike it so much, most honored Karl von Moor."

Ivan shruged his shuolders contemptuosly, and turning away

stared at the road. And they did not speek again all the way
home.
Word Origin & History

Old English sum "some, a, a certain one, something, a certain quantity; a

certain number;" with numerals "out of" (e.g. sum feowra "one of four"); from
Proto-Germanic *suma- (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German sum, Old
Norse sumr, Gothic sums), from PIE *smm-o-, suffixed form of root *sem- (1)
"one," also "as one" (adv.), "together with" (see same). For substitution of -
o- for -u-, see come.

As a pronoun from c.1100; as an adverb from late 13c. Meaning "remarkable"

is attested from 1808, American English colloquial. A possessive form is
attested from 1560s, but always was rare. Many combination forms
(somewhat, sometime, somewhere) were in Middle English but often written
as two words till 17-19c. Somewhen is rare and since 19c. used almost
exclusively in combination with the more common
compounds; somewho"someone" is attested from late 14c. but did not endure.
Scott (1816) has somegate "somewhere, in some way, somehow,"
and somekins "some kind of a" is recorded from c.1200. Get some"have
sexual intercourse" is attested 1899 in a quote attributed to Abe Lincoln from
c.1840.

Show More

some
 /sʌm,s(ə)m/
determiner
1. 1.
an unspecified amount or number of.
"I made some money running errands"
2. 2.
used to refer to someone or something that is unknown or unspecified.
"I was talking to some journalist the other day"
3.
4.
5.
6.
o
pronoun
1. 1.
an unspecified number or amount of people or things.
"here are some of our suggestions"
2. 2.
(pronounced stressing ‘some’) at least a small amount or number of people or things.
"surely some have noticed"
adverb
INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
1. 1.
to some extent; quite a lot.
"he needs feeding up some"

Articles
What this handout is about
Because the article system is so complex and often idiosyncratic, it is
especially difficult for non-native English speakers to master. This handout
explains three basic rules that are the foundation of the article system and
two basic questions that will help you choose the correct article in your
writing. It provides examples of articles being used in context, and it ends
with a section on special considerations for nouns in academic writing.

Using this handout

As you use the handout, try to keep three things in mind:
1. First, this handout will be most effective if you use it as a tool. Every
time you read this handout, read it along side another piece of writing (a
journal article, a magazine, a web page, a novel, a text book, etc.). Locate a
few nouns in the reading, and use the handout to analyze the article usage.
If you practice a little bit at a time, this kind of analysis can help you
develop a natural sensitivity to this complex system.

2. Second, using articles correctly is a skill that develops over time

through lots of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Think about the
rules in this handout, but also try to pay attention to how articles are being
used in the language around you. Simply paying attention can also help you
develop a natural sensitivity to this complex system.

3. Finally, although using the wrong article may distract a reader’s

attention, it usually does not prevent the reader from understanding your
meaning. So be patient with yourself as you learn.

Basic rules
This is a simple list, but understanding it and remembering it is crucial to
using articles correctly. Rule # 1: Every time a noun is mentioned, the writer
is referring to:

1. All of them everywhere,

2. One of many, or

3. This one exactly

Rule # 2: Every kind of reference has a choice of articles:

1. All of them everywhere…(Ø, a/an, the)

2. One of many……………..(Ø, a/an)

3. This one exactly…………(Ø, the)

(Ø = no article)

Rule # 3: The choice of article depends upon the noun and the context. This
will be explained more fully below.

Basic questions
To choose the best article, ask yourself these questions:

1. “What do I mean? Do I mean all of them everywhere, one of many, or

this one exactly?”

2. “What kind of noun is it? Is it countable or not? Is it singular or plural?

Does it have any special rules?”

Your answers to these questions will usually determine the correct article
choice, and the following sections will show you how.

When you mean “all of them everywhere”

Talking about “all of them everywhere” is also called “generic reference.” We
use it to make generalizations: to say something true of all the nouns in a
particular group, like an entire species of animal. When you mean “all of them
everywhere,” you have three article choices: Ø, a/an, the. The choice of article
depends on the noun. Ask yourself, “What kind of noun is it?”

1. Non-count nouns = no article (Ø)

1. Temperature is measured in degrees.

2. Money makes the world go around.

2. Plural nouns = no article (Ø)

1. Volcanoes are formed by pressure under the earth’s surface.

2. Quagga zebras were hunted to extinction.

3. Singular nouns = the

1. The computer is a marvelous invention.

2. The elephant lives in family groups.

Note: We use this form (the + singular) most often in technical and scientific
writing to generalize about classes of animals, body organs, plants, musical
instruments, and complex inventions. We do not use this form for simple
inanimate objects, like books or coat racks. For these objects, use (Ø +
plural).

 Singular nouns = a/an (when a single example represents the entire

group)
 o A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.

o A doctor is a highly educated person. Generally speaking, a

doctor also has tremendous earning potential.

How do you know it’s generic? The “all…everywhere” test

Here’s a simple test you can use to identify generic references while you’re
reading. To use this test, substitute “all [plural noun] everywhere” for the noun
phrase. If the statement is still true, it’s probably a generic
reference. Example:

 A whale protects its young—”All whales everywhere” protect their

young. (true—generic reference)

 A whale is grounded on the beach—”All whales everywhere” are

grounded on the beach. (not true, so this is not a generic reference; this
“a” refers to “one of many”)

You’ll probably find generic references most often in the introduction and
conclusion sections and at the beginning of a paragraph that introduces a
new topic.

When you mean “one of many”

Talking about “one of many” is also called “indefinite reference.” We use it
when the noun’s exact identity is unknown to one of the participants: the
reader, the writer, or both. Sometimes it’s not possible for the reader or the
writer to identify the noun exactly; sometimes it’s not important. In either
case, the noun is just “one of many.” It’s “indefinite.” When you mean “one of
many,” you have two article choices: Ø, a/an. The choice of article depends on
the noun. Ask yourself, “What kind of noun is it?”

1. Non-count nouns = no article (Ø) a. Our science class mixed boric acid
with water today.

1. We serve bread and water on weekends.

2. Plural nouns = no article (Ø) a. We’re happy when people bring cookies!

1. We need volunteers to help with community events.

3. Singular nouns = a/an a. Bring an umbrella if it looks like rain.

 1. You’ll need a visa to stay for more than ninety days.

Note: We use many different expressions for an indefinite quantity of plural or

non-count nouns. Words like “some,” “several,” and “many” use no article (e.g.,
We need some volunteers to help this afternoon. We really need several
people at 3:00.) One exception: “a few” + plural noun (We need a few people at
3:00.) In certain situations, we always use “a” or “an.” These situations
include:

1. Referring to something that is one of a number of possible things.

Example: My lab is planning to purchase a new microscope. (Have you
chosen one yet? No, we’re still looking at a number of different models.)

2. Referring to one specific part of a larger quantity. Example: Can I have a

bowl of cereal and a slice of toast? (Don’t you want the whole box of cereal
and the whole loaf of bread? No, thanks. Just a bowl and a slice will be
fine.)

3. With certain indefinite quantifiers. Example: We met a lot of interesting

people last night. (You can also say “a bunch of” or “a ton of” when you want
to be vague about the exact quantity. Note that these expressions are all
phrases: a + quantifier + of.)

4. Exception: “A few of” does not fit this category. See Number 8 in the
next section for the correct usage of this expression.

5. Specifying information associated with each item of a grouping.

Example: My attorney asked for $200 an hour, but I’ll offer him $200 a week
instead. (In this case, “a” can substitute for the word “per.”)

6. Introducing a noun to the reader for the first time (also called “first
mention”). Use “the” for each subsequent reference to that noun if you
mean “this one exactly.” Example: I presented a paper last month, and my
advisor wants me to turn the paper into an article. If I can get the article
written this semester, I can take a break after that! I really need a break!

Note: The writer does not change from “a break” to “the break” with the
second mention because she is not referring to one break in particular (“this
break exactly”). It’s indefinite—any break will be fine!!

When you mean “this one exactly”

Talking about “this one exactly” is also called “definite reference.” We use it
when both the reader and the writer can identify the exact noun that is being
referred to. When you mean “this one exactly,” you have two article choices:
Ø, the. The choice of article depends on the noun and on the context. Ask
yourself, “What kind of noun is it?”

1. (Most) Proper nouns = no article (Ø)

1. My research will be conducted in Luxembourg.

2. Dr. Homer inspired my interest in Ontario.

2. Note: Some proper nouns do require “the.” See the special notes on
nouns below.

3. Non-count nouns = the

1. Step two: mix the water with the boric acid.

2. The laughter of my children is contagious.

4. Plural nouns = the

1. We recruited the nurses from General Hospital.

2. The projects described in your proposal will be fully funded.

5. Singular nouns = the

1. Bring the umbrella in my closet if it looks like rain.

2. Did you get the visa you applied for?

In certain situations, we always use “the” because the noun or the context
makes it clear that we’re talking about “this one exactly.” The context might
include the words surrounding the noun or the context of knowledge that
people share. Examples of these situations include:

1. Unique nouns

1. The earth rotates around the sun.

2. The future looks bright!

2. Shared knowledge (both participants know what’s being referred to, so

it’s not necessary to specify with any more details)

1. The boss just asked about the report.

 2. Meet me in the parking lot after the show.

3. Second mention (with explicit first mention)

1. I found a good handout on English articles. The handout is

available online.

2. You can get a giant ice cream cone downtown. If you can eat the
cone in five seconds, you get another one free.

4. Second mention (with implied first mention—this one is very, very

common)

1. Dr. Frankenstein performed a complicated surgery. He said the

patient is recovering nicely. (“The patient” is implied by “surgery”—
every surgery has a patient.)

2. My new shredder works fabulously! The paper is completely

destroyed. (Again, “the paper” is implied by “shredder.”)

5. Ordinals and superlatives (first, next, primary, most, best, least, etc.)

1. The first man to set foot on the moon…

2. The greatest advances in medicine…

6. Specifiers (sole, only, principle, etc.)

1. The sole purpose of our organization is…

2. The only fact we need to consider is…

7. Restricters (words, phrases, or clauses that restrict the noun to one

definite meaning)

1. Study the chapter on osmosis for the test tomorrow.

2. Also study the notes you took at the lecture that Dr. Science gave
yesterday.

8. Plural nouns in partitive -of phrases (phrases that indicate parts of a

larger whole) (Note: Treat “of the” as a chunk in these phrases—both words
in or both words out)

1. Most of the international students (emphasis on part of the

group)
 2. Most international students (emphasis on the group as a whole)

3. Several of the risk factors (emphasis on part of the group)

4. Several risk factors (emphasis on the group as a whole)

5. A few of the examples (emphasis on part of the group)

6. A few examples (emphasis on the group as a whole)

Note:

1. “Few examples” is different from “a few examples”. Compare:

2. The teacher gave a few good examples. (emphasizes the presence of

good examples)

3. The teacher gave few good examples. (emphasizes the lack of good
examples)

Article flowchart
For the more visually oriented, this flowchart sketches out the basic rules and
basic questions.
Some notes about nouns

Uncountable nouns
As the name suggests, uncountable nouns (also called non-count or mass
nouns) are things that can not be counted. They use no article for generic and
indefinite reference, and use “the” for definite reference. Uncountable nouns
fall into several categories:

 Abstractions: laughter, information, beauty, love, work, knowledge

 Fields of study: biology, medicine, history, civics, politics (some end in
-s but are non-count)

 Recreational activities: football, camping, soccer, dancing (these words

often end in -ing)

 Natural phenomena: weather, rain, sunshine, fog, snow (but events are
countable: a hurricane, a blizzard, a tornado)

 Whole groups of similar/identical objects: furniture, luggage, food,

money, cash, clothes

 Liquids, gases, solids, and minerals: water, air, gasoline, coffee, wood,
iron, lead, boric acid

 Powders and granules: rice, sand, dust, calcium carbonate

 Diseases: cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia (but traumas are countable: a

stroke, a heart attack, etc.)

Note: Different languages might classify nouns differently

 “Research” and “information” are good examples of nouns that are non-
count in American English but countable in other languages and other
varieties of English.

Strategy: Check a dictionary. A learner’s dictionary will indicate whether the

noun is countable or not. A regular dictionary will give a plural form if the
noun is countable. Note: Some nouns have both count and non-count
meanings Some nouns have both count and non-count meanings in everyday
usage. Some non-count nouns have count meanings only for specialists in a
particular field who consider distinct varieties of something that an average
person would not differentiate. Non-count meanings follow the rules for non-
count nouns (generic and indefinite reference: no article; definite: “the”);
count meanings follow the count rules (a/an for singular, no article for plural).
Can you see the difference between these examples?

 John’s performance on all three exams was exceptional.

 John’s performances of Shakespeare were exceptional.

 To be well educated, you need good instruction.

 To assemble a complicated machine, you need good instructions.

Proper nouns
Proper nouns (names of people, places, religions, languages, etc.) are always
definite. They take either “the” or no article. Use “the” for regions (like the
Arctic) and for a place that’s made up of a collection of smaller parts (like a
collection of islands, mountains, lakes, etc.). Examples:

 Places (singular, no article): Lake Erie, Paris, Zimbabwe, Mount

Rushmore

 Places (collective, regional, “the”): the Great Lakes, the Middle East, the
Caribbean

Note: Proper nouns in theory names may or may not take articles When a
person’s name is part of a theory, device, principle, law, etc., use “the” when
the name does not have a possessive apostrophe. Do not use “the” when the
name has an apostrophe. Examples:

the Doppler effect Einstein’s theory of relativity

the Pareto index Murphy’s law

the Reimann hypothesis Halley’s comet

Note: Articles change when proper nouns function as adjectives Notice how
the article changes with “Great Lakes” in the examples below. When place
names are used as adjectives, follow the article rule for the noun they are
modifying. Examples: I’m studying …

 …the Great Lakes. (as noun)

 …a Great Lakes shipwreck.(as adjective with “one of many” singular

noun)

 …the newest Great Lakes museum. (as adjective with “this one exactly”
singular noun)

 …Great Lakes shipping policies. (as adjective with “one of many” plural
noun)

 …Great Lakes history. (as adjective with “one of many” uncountable

noun)
 Works consulted
We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a
comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage
you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic.
Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference
list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on
formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Byrd, Patricia, and Beverly Benson. Problem/Solution: A Reference for ESL Writers.
Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1993.
Celce-Murcia, Marianne, and Diane Larsen-Freeman. The Grammar Book: An
ESL/EFL Teacher’s Course. 2nd edition. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1999.
Swales, John, and Christine Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students:
Essential Skills and Tasks. 3rd edition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
2012.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout
and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill

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Article (grammar)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For grammatical articles in English, see English articles.
"Definite article" redirects here. For the Eddie Izzard comedy DVD, see Definite Article.

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An article (with the linguistic glossing abbreviation ART) is a word that is used with a noun (as a
standalone word or a prefix or suffix) to specify grammatical definiteness of the noun, and in
some languages extending to volume or numerical scope.
The articles in English grammar are the and a/an, and in certain contexts some. "An" and "a" are
modern forms of the Old English "an", which in Anglian dialects was the number "one" (compare
"on" in Saxon dialects) and survived into Modern Scots as the number "owan". Both "on"
(respelled "one" by the Norman language) and "an" survived into Modern English, with "one"
used as the number and "an" ("a", before nouns that begin with a consonant sound) as an
indefinite article.
In many languages, articles are a special part of speech which cannot be easily combined [clarification
needed]
with other parts of speech. In English grammar, articles are frequently considered part of a
broader category called determiners, which contains articles, demonstratives (such as "this" and
"that"), possessive determiners (such as "my" and "his"), and quantifiers (such as "all" and "few").
[1]
Articles and other determiners are also sometimes counted as a type of adjective, since they
describe the words that they precede.[2]
In languages that employ articles, every common noun, with some exceptions, is expressed with
a certain definiteness, definite or indefinite, as an attribute (similar to the way many languages
express every noun with a certain grammatical number—singular or plural—or a grammatical
gender). Articles are among the most common words in many languages; in English, for
example, the most frequent word is the.[3]
Articles are usually categorized as either definite or indefinite.[4] A few languages with well-
developed systems of articles may distinguish additional subtypes. Within each type, languages
may have various forms of each article, due to conforming to grammatical attributes such
as gender, number, or case. Articles may also be modified as influenced by adjacent sounds or
words as in elision (e.g., French "le" becoming "l'" before a vowel), epenthesis (e.g., English "a"
becoming "an" before a vowel), or contraction (e.g. Irish "i + na" becoming "sna").

Contents

 1Definite article

 2Indefinite article
  3Proper article

 4Partitive article

 5Negative article

 6Zero article

 7Variation among languages

o 7.1Tokelauan

 8Evolution

o 8.1Definite articles

o 8.2Indefinite articles

 9See also

 10References

 11External links

Definite article[edit]
The definite article is used to refer to a particular member of a group or class. It may be
something that the speaker has already mentioned or it may be something uniquely specified.
There is one definite article in English, for both singular and plural nouns: the:
The children know the fastest way home.
The sentence above refers to specific children and a specific
way home; it contrasts with the much more general observation
that:
Children know the fastest ways home.
The latter sentence refers to children in general and their
specific ways home. Likewise,
Give me the book.
refers to a specific book whose identity is known or
obvious to the listener; as such it has a markedly
different meaning from
Give me a book.
which uses an indefinite article, which does not
specify what book is to be given.
The definite article can also be used in English to
indicate a specific class among other classes:
The cabbage white butterfly lays its eggs on members
of the Brassica genus.
However, recent developments show that
definite articles are morphological elements
linked to certain noun types due
 to lexicalization. Under this point of view,
definiteness does not play a role in the
selection of a definite article more than the
lexical entry attached to the article.[clarification needed][5][6]

Indefinite article[edit]
An indefinite article indicates that its noun is not
a particular one identifiable to the listener. It
may be something that the speaker is
mentioning for the first time, or the speaker may
be making a general statement about any such
thing. a/an are the indefinite articles used in
English. The form an is used before words that
begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with
an initial consonant, as in an hour), and abefore
words that begin with a consonant sound (even
if spelled with a vowel, as in a European).
She had a house so large that an elephant would get lost
without a map.
Before some words beginning with a
pronounced (not silent) h in an unstressed
first syllable, such
as historic(al), hallucination, hilarious, horre
ndous, and horrific, some (especially older)
British writers prefer to use an over a (an
historical event, etc.).[7] An is also preferred
before hotel by some writers of British
English (probably reflecting the relatively
recent adoption of the word from French, in
which the h is not pronounced).[8] The use of
"an" before words beginning with an
unstressed "h" is more common generally
in British English than in American.
[8]
American writers normally use a in all
these cases, although there are occasional
uses of an historic(al) in American English.
[9]
According to the New Oxford Dictionary of
English, such use is increasingly rare in
British English too.[7] Unlike British English,
American English typically
uses an before herb, since the h in this
word is silent for most Americans. The
correct usage in respect of the term
"hereditary peer" was the subject of an
amendment debated in the UK Parliament.
[10]

The word some can be viewed as

functionally a plural of a/an in that, for
example, "an apple" never means more
than one apple but "give me some apples"
indicates more than one is desired but
without specifying a quantity. In this view it
is functionally homologous to the Spanish
plural indefinite
article unos/unas; un/una ("one") is
completely indistinguishable from the unit
number, except where it has a plural form
(unos/unas). Thus Dame una manzana"
("Give me an apple") but
"Dame unas manzanas" ("Give
me some apples"). The indefiniteness
of some or unos can sometimes
be semiquantitatively narrowed, as in
"There are some apples there, but not
many."
Some also serves as a singular indefinite
article, as in "There is some person on the
porch".

Proper article[edit]
A proper article indicates that its noun is
proper, and refers to a unique entity. It may
be the name of a person, the name of a
place, the name of a planet, etc. The Maori
language has the proper article a, which is
used for personal nouns; so, "a Pita"
means "Peter". In Maori, when the personal
nouns have the definite or indefinite article
as an important part of it, both articles are
present; for example, the phrase "a Te
Rauparaha", which contains both the
proper article a and the definite
article Te refers to the person name Te
Rauparaha.
The definite article is sometimes also used
with proper names, which are already
specified by definition (there is just one of
them). For example: the Amazon, the
Hebrides. In these cases, the definite article
may be considered superfluous. Its
presence can be accounted for by the
assumption that they are shorthand for a
longer phrase in which the name is a
specifier, i.e. the Amazon River, the
Hebridean Islands. Where the nouns in
such longer phrases cannot be omitted, the
definite article is universally kept: the
United States, the People's Republic of
China. This distinction can sometimes
become a political matter: the former
usage the Ukraine stressed the word's
Russian meaning of "borderlands";
as Ukraine became a fully independent
state following the collapse of the Soviet
Union, it requested that formal mentions of
its name omit the article. Similar shifts in
usage have occurred in the names
of Sudan and both Congo
(Brazzaville) and Congo (Kinshasa); a
move in the other direction occurred
 with The Gambia. In certain languages,
such as French and Italian, definite articles
are used with all or most names of
countries: la France/le Canada/l'Allemagne,
l'Italia/la Spagna/il Brasile.
If a name [has] a definite article, e.g. the
Kremlin, it cannot idiomatically be used
without it: we cannot say Boris Yeltsin is in
Kremlin.

— R. W. Burchfield[11]
Some languages also use definite articles
with personal names. For example, such
use is standard in Portuguese (a Maria,
literally: "the Maria"), in Greek (η Μαρία, ο
Γιώργος, ο Δούναβης, η Παρασκευή) and
in Catalan (la Núria, el/en Oriol). It also
occurs colloquially or dialectally
in Spanish, German, French, Italian and
other languages. In Hungary it is
considered to be a Germanism.
Rarely, this usage can appear in English. A
prominent example is how President of The
United States and businessman Donald
Trump is known as "The Donald", this
wording being used by many publications
such as Newsweek and New York Post.
[12]
Another is US President Ronald
Reagan's nickname of "The Gipper";
[13]
publisher Townhall.com issued an article
after Reagan's death titled simply
"Goodbye to 'the Gipper'".[14]

Partitive article[edit]
A partitive article is a type of article,
sometimes viewed as a type of indefinite
article, used with a mass noun such
as water, to indicate a non-specific quantity
of it. Partitive articles are a class
of determiner; they are used
in French and Italian in addition to definite
and indefinite articles.
(In Finnish and Estonian, the partitive is
indicated by inflection.) The nearest
equivalent in English is some, although the
latter is classified as a determiner but not in
all authorities' classifications as an
indefinite article, and English uses it less
than French uses de.
French: Veux-tu du café ?
Do you want (some) coffee?
For more information, see the article on the French partitive
article.
 Haida has a partitive article
(suffixed -gyaa) referring to
"part of something or... to one
or more objects of a given
group or category,"
e.g., tluugyaa uu hal
tlaahlaang "he is making a boat
(a member of the category of
boats)."[15]

Negative article[edit]
A negative article
specifies none of its noun, and
can thus be regarded as
neither definite nor indefinite.
On the other hand, some
consider such a word to be a
simple determiner rather than
an article. In English, this
function is fulfilled by no, which
can appear before a singular or
plural noun:
No man has been on this island.
No dogs are allowed here.
No one is in the room.

Zero
article[edit]
See also: Zero
article in English
The zero article is
the absence of an
article. In
languages having
a definite article,
the lack of an
article specifically
indicates that the
noun is indefinite.
Linguists
interested in X-bar
theory causally link
zero articles to
nouns lacking a
determiner.[16] In
English, the zero
article rather than
the indefinite is
used
with plurals and m
ass nouns,
although the word
"some" can be
used as an
 indefinite plural
article.
Visitors end up walking in mud.

Variation
among
language
s[edit]

Articles in
languages
in and
around
Europe
indefinite
and definite
articles
only
definite
articles
indefinite
and suffixed
definite
articles
only
suffixed
definite
articles
no articles
Note that
although the
Saami
languages
spoken in
northern
parts of
Norway and
Sweden
lack articles,
Norwegian
and
Swedish are
the majority
languages
in this area.
Note also
that
although the
Irish,
Scottish
Gaelic and
Welsh
languages
lack
indefinite
articles they
too are
minority
languages
in Ireland,
Scotland
and
southern
Wales,
respectively,
with English
being the
 main
spoken
language.

Articles are
found in
many Indo-
European lang
uages, Semitic
languages
(only the
definite
article),
and Polynesia
n languages,
but are
formally
absent from
many of the
world's major
languages,
such
as Chinese, In
donesian, Jap
anese, Hindi,
Punjabi, Urdu,
the majority
of Slavic and
Baltic
languages (inc
l. Russian), Yo
ruba, and
the Bantu
languages. In
some
languages that
do have
articles, like
for example
some North
Caucasian
languages, the
use of articles
is optional but
in others like
English and
German it is
mandatory in
all cases.
Linguists
believe the
common
ancestor of
the Indo-
European
languages, Pr
oto-Indo-
European, did
not have
articles. Most
of the
languages in
this family do
not have
definite or
indefinite
articles: there
is no article
in Latin or San
skrit, nor in
some modern
Indo-European
languages,
such as the
families
of Slavic
languages (ex
cept
for Bulgarian a
nd Macedonia
n, which are
rather
distinctive
among the
Slavic
languages in
their grammar)
and Baltic
languages.
Although Clas
sical Greek ha
d a definite
article (which
has survived
into Modern
Greek and
which bears
strong
functional
resemblance
to the German
definite article,
which it is
related to), the
earlier Homeri
c Greek used
this article
largely as a
pronoun or
demonstrative,
whereas the
earliest known
form of Greek
known
as Mycenaean
Greek did not
have any
articles.
Articles
developed
independently
in several
language
families.
Not all
languages
have both
definite and
indefinite
articles, and
some
languages
have different
types of
definite and
indefinite
articles to
distinguish
finer shades of
meaning: for
example, Fren
ch and Italian
have a
partitive article
used for
indefinite mas
s nouns,
whereas Colo
gnian has two
distinct sets of
definite
articles
indicating
focus and
uniqueness,
and Macedoni
an uses
definite
articles in a
demonstrative
sense, with a
tripartite
distinction
(proximal,
medial, distal)
based on
distance from
the speaker or
interlocutor.
The
 words this and
that (and their
plurals, these
and those) can
be understood
in English as,
ultimately,
forms of the
definite
article the (wh
ose
declension in
Old English
included thaes
, an ancestral
form of
this/that and
these/those).
In many
languages, the
form of the
article may
vary according
to
the gender, nu
mber,
or case of its
noun. In some
languages the
article may be
the only
indication of
the case.
Many
languages do
not use
articles at all,
and may use
other ways of
indicating old
versus new
information,
such as topic–
commentconst
ructions.

The articles used in some languages

partiti
Lang definite indefinite
ve
uage article article
article
Abkha
a- -k
z

Afrika
die 'n
ans

-a, -ja, -i, -

Alban
u, -t, -të (all disa një
ian
suffixes)

Arabi al- or el ‫ال‬

-n
c (prefix)

-tû, -ta, -ti,

êta, êkhôn,
-khôn, -
Assa êzôn, êzôni,
khini, -zôn,
mese êdal, êzûpa
-zôni, -dal,
etc.
-zûpa etc.

Bangl
ঐ একটট
a

Breto
an, al, ar un, ul, ur
n

един/някак
ъв,
една/някакв
-та, -то, -
Bulga а,
ът, -ят,
rian едно/някакв
-те
о,
едни/някакв
и

el, la, l', els,

Catala les un, una
n ses, lo, los, uns, unes
es, sa

Cornis
an
h
 Singular:
-en, -n -et,
-t (all
Danis suffixes)
en, et
h
Plural:
-ene, -ne
(all
suffixes)

Dutch de, het ('t) een ('n)

Englis
the a, an
h
Esper
la
anto
Finnis
h(coll
se yks(i)
oquial
)*
du, de
Frenc le, la, l' la, de un, une
h les l' des
des
der, die, da ein, eine, ei
Germ s ner, eines
an des, dem, d einem, eine
en n
ο, η, το ένας, μια,
Greek
οι, οι, τα ένα
Hawai ka, ke
he
ian nā
Hebre ha- ‫( ה‬prefi
w x)
Hunga
a, az egy
rian
-(i)nn, -(i)n,
-(i)ð, -(i)na,
-num, -
(i)nni, -nu,
Icelan -(i)ns, -
dic (i)nnar, -
nir, -nar, -
(u)num, -
nna (all
suffixes)
Interli
le un
ngua
Irish an, na
Italian il, lo, la, l' del, de un', uno, un
i, gli, le llo, de a, un
 lla, de
ll'
dei, de
gli, de
gl' , de
lle
u, ka, i
Khasi
ki
Kurdi -eke hendê, -êk
sh -ekan birrê -anêk
Latin
den, déi
Luxe däers/ en, eng
(d'), dat
mbour es, dä engem, enge
(d')
gish er/er r
dem, der
-от -ов -он
-та -ва -на
-то -во -но
Mace еден една е
неколк
donia дно
-те -ве -не у
n едни
-та -ва -на
(all
suffixes)
Manx y, yn, 'n, ny
(i)l-, (i)ċ-, (
i)d-, (i)n-, (
Malte i)r-, (i)s-, (i
se )t-, (i)x-, (i)
z-, (i)ż- (all
prefixes)
Singular:
-en, -et, -a
Norw (all
egian( suffixes)
en, et, ei
Bokm
Plural:
ål)
-ene, -a (all
suffixes)

Singular:
-en, -et, -a
(all
Norw
suffixes)
egian
ein, eit, ei
(Nyno Plural:
rsk) -ane, -ene,
-a (all
suffixes)

Papia
e un
mento
Persia
yek (1)
n
Portug o, a um, uma
uese os, as uns, umas
Quen
i, in, 'n
ya
-(u)l, -le, -
(u)a un, o
Roma
-(u)lui, -i, - unui, unei
nian
lor (all niște, unor
suffixes)
Scots the
Scotti an, am, a',
sh na, nam, na
Gaelic n
Sinda i, in, -in, -n,
rin en
Spanis el, la, lo un, una
h los, las unos, unas
Singular:
-en, -n, -et,
-t (all
Swedi suffixes)
en, ett
sh
Plural: -na,
-a, -en (all
suffixes)

Welsh y, yr, -'r

‫( דער‬der), ‫די‬
Yiddis (di), ָ‫( דאס‬d ‫( אא‬a), ַ‫( אן‬an
h os), ‫( דעם‬de )
m)

*
Grammatically
speaking Finni
sh has no
articles, but
the
words se (it)
and yks(i) (one
) are used in
the same
fashion
as the and a/a
n in English
and are, for all
intents and
purposes,
treated like
articles when
used in this
manner
in colloquial
Finnish.
The following
examples
show articles
which are
always
suffixed to the
noun:

 Albanian:
zog, a
bird; zogu,
the bird

 Aramaic:
‫שלם‬
(shalam),
peace;
‫( שלמא‬shal
ma), the
peace

 Note:
Arama
ic is
written
from
right
to left,
so
an Ale
ph is
added
to the
end of
the
word.
‫ם‬
beco
mes ‫מ‬
when
it is
not
the
final
letter.

 Assamese
: "টকততাপ
(kitap)",
book;
"টকততাপখন (
kitapkhôn)
" : "The
book"
 Bengali:
"Bôi",
book;
"Bôiti/Bôit
a/Bôikhan
a" : "The
Book"

 Bulgarian:
стол stol,
chair;
столът st
olǎt, the
chair
(subject);
стола stol
a, the
chair
(object)

 Icelandic:
hestur,
horse; hes
turinn, the
horse

 Macedoni
an:
стол stol,
chair;
столот st
olot, the
chair;
столов st
olov, this
chair;
столон st
olon, that
chair

 Persian: si
b, apple.
(The
Persian
language
does not
have
definite
articles. It
has one
indefinite
article
'yek' that
means
one. In
Persian if
 a noun is
not
indefinite,
it is a
definite
noun. "Sib
e' man،
means my
apple.
Here 'e' is
like 'of' in
English;
an so
literally
"Sib e
man"
means the
apple of
mine.)

 Romanian
: drum,
road; dru
mul, the
road (the
article is
just "l", "u"
is a
"connectio
n vowel" R
omanian:
vocală de
legătură)

 Swedish a
nd Norwe
gian: hus,
house; hu
set, the
house; if
there is an
adjective:
det gamle
(N)/gamla
(S) huset,
the old
house

 Danish: h
us,
house; hu
set, the
house; if
there is an
adjective:
det gamle
 hus, the
old house
Examples of
prefixed
definite
articles:

 ‫ילד‬,
transcribe
d
as yeled,
a
boy; ‫הילד‬,
transcribe
d
as hayele
d, the boy

 Maltese: k
tieb, a
book; il-
ktieb, the
book; Malt
ese: għotj
a, a
donation; l
-għotja,
the
donation;
Maltese: ċ
avetta, a
key; iċ-
ċavetta,
the
key; Malte
se: dar, a
house; id-
dar, the
house; Ma
ltese: nem
la, an
ant; in-
nemla, the
ant; Malte
se: ras, a
head; ir-
ras, the
head; Malt
ese: sodd
a, a
bed; is-
sodda, the
bed; Malte
se: tuffieħ
a, an
apple; it-
 tuffieħa,
the
apple; Mal
tese: xaha
r, a
month; ix-
xahar, the
month; Ma
ltese: zun
narija, a
carrot; iz-
zunnarija,
the
carrot; Mal
tese: żmie
n, a
time; iż-
żmien, the
time
A different
way, limited to
the definite
article, is used
by Latvian and
Lithuanian.
The noun
does not
change but the
adjective can
be defined or
undefined. In
Latvian: galds,
a table / the
table; balts gal
ds, a white
table; baltais
galds, the
white table. In
Lithuanian: sta
las, a table /
the
table; baltas st
alas, a white
table; baltasis
stalas, the
white table.
Languages in
the above
table written
in italics are co
nstructed
languages and
are not
natural, that is
to say that
they have
been
purposefully
invented by an
individual (or
group of
individuals)
with some
purpose in
mind. They do,
however, all
belong to
language
families
themselves. E
speranto is
derived from
European
languages and
therefore all of
its roots are
found in Proto-
Indo-European
and cognates
can be found
in real-world
languages like
French,
German,
Italian and
English. Interli
ngua is also
based on
European
languages but
with its main
source being
that of Italic
descendent
languages:
English,
French,
Spanish,
Italian and
Portuguese,
with German
and Russian
being
secondary
sources, with
words from
further afield
(but
internationally
known and
often
borrowed)
contributing to
the language's
vocabulary
(such as
words taken
from
Japanese,
Arabic and
Finnish). The
result is a
supposedly
easy-to-learn
language for
the world. As
well as
these "auxiliar
y"
languages the
list contains
two
more: Quenya
and Sindarin;
these two
languages
were created
by Professor
Tolkien and
used in his
fictional works.
They are not
based on any
real-world
language
family (as are
Esperanto and
Interlingua),
but do share a
common
history with
roots
in Common
Eldarin.
Tokelauan[
edit]
When using a
definite article
in Tokelauan
language,
unlike in some
languages like
English, if the
speaker is
speaking of an
item, they
need not to
have referred
to it previously
as long as the
item is
specific.[17]This
is also true
when it comes
to the
reference of a
specific
person.[17] So,
although the
definite article
used to
describe a
noun in the
Tokelauan
language is te,
it can also
translate to the
indefinite
article in
languages that
requires the
item being
spoken of to
have been
referenced
prior.[17] When
translating to
English, te cou
ld translate to
the English
definite
article the, or it
could also
translate to the
English
indefinite
article a.[17] An
example of
how the
definite
article te can
be used as an
interchangeabl
e definite or
indefinite
article in the
Tokelauan
language
would be the
sentence “Kua
hau te tino”.
[17]
In the
English
language, this
could be
translated as
“A man has
arrived” or
“The man has
arrived”
where
using te as the
article in this
sentence can
represent any
man or a
particular man.
[17]
The
word he,
which is the
indefinite
article in
Tokelauan, is
used to
describe ‘any
such item’.
[17]
The
word he is
used in
negative
statements
because that
is where it is
most often
found,
alongside its
great use in
interrogative
statements.[17]
Though this is
something to
make note
of, he is not
used in just in
negative
statements
and questions
alone.
Although
these two
types of
statements are
where he occu
rs the most, it
is also used in
other
statements as
well.[17] An
example of the
use of he as
an indefinite
article is “Vili
ake oi k'aumai
he toki ”,
where ‘he
toki ’ mean ‘an
axe’.[17] The
use
of he and te in
Tokelauan are
reserved for
when
describing a
singular noun.
However,
when
describing a
plural noun,
different
articles are
used. For
plural definite
nouns, rather
than te, the
article nā is
used.[17] ‘Vili
ake oi k'aumai
nā nofoa’ in
Tokelauan
would
translate to
“Do run and
bring me the
chairs” in
English.[17] The
re are some
special cases
in which
instead of
using nā,
plural definite
nouns have no
article before
them. The
absence of an
article is
represented
by 0.[17] One
way that it is
usually used is
if a large
amount or a
specific class
of things are
being
described.[17] O
ccasionally,
such as if one
was describing
an entire class
of things in a
nonspecific
fashion, the
singular
definite
noun te would
is used.[17] In
English, ‘Ko te
povi e kai
mutia’ means
“Cows eat
grass”.[17] Beca
use this is a
general
statement
about
cows, te is
used instead
of nā.
The ko serves
as a
preposition to
the “te” The
article ni is
used for
describing a
plural
indefinite
noun. ‘E i ei ni
tuhi?’
translates to
“Are there
any
books?”[17]

Evolution
[edit]
Articles have
developed
independently
in many
different
language
families across
the globe.
Generally,
articles
develop over
time usually by
specialization
of
certain adjecti
ves or determi
ners, and their
development
is often a sign
of languages
becoming
more analytic
instead of
synthetic,
perhaps
combined with
the loss
of inflection as
in English,
Romance
languages,
Bulgarian,
Macedonian
and Torlakian.
Joseph
Greenberg in
Universals of
Human
Language[18] de
scribes "the
cycle of the
definite
article":
Definite
articles (Stage
I) evolve from
demonstrative
s, and in turn
can become
generic
articles (Stage
II) that may be
used in both
definite and
indefinite
contexts, and
later merely
noun markers
(Stage III) that
are part of
nouns other
than proper
names and
more recent
borrowings.
Eventually
articles may
evolve anew
from
demonstrative
s.
Definite
articles[edit
]
Definite
articles
typically arise
from demonstr
atives meanin
g that. For
example, the
definite
articles in
most Romanc
e languages—
e.g., el, il, le, l
a, lo — derive
from
the Latin demo
nstratives ille (
masculine), ill
a(feminine)
and illud (neut
er).
The English d
efinite
article the,
written þe in M
iddle English,
derives from
an Old
English demon
strative, which,
according
to gender, was
written se (ma
sculine), seo (f
eminine)
(þe and þeo in
the
Northumbrian
dialect),
or þæt (neuter
). The neuter
form þæt also
gave rise to
the modern
demonstrative
that.
The ye occasi
onally seen in
pseudo-
archaic usage
such as "Ye
Olde Englishe
Tea Shoppe"
is actually a
form of þe,
where the
letter thorn (þ)
came to be
written as a y.
Multiple
demonstrative
s can give rise
to multiple
definite
articles. Mace
donian, for
example, in
which the
articles are
suffixed,
has столот (
stolot), the
chair; столов
(stolov), this
chair;
and столон (
stolon), that
chair. These
derive from
the Common
Slavic demons
tratives *tъ "thi
s,
that", *ovъ "thi
s here"
and *onъ "that
over there,
yonder"
respectively. C
olognian prepo
sitions articles
such as in dat
Auto, or et
Auto, the car;
the first being
specifically
selected,
focused, newly
introduced,
while the latter
is not
selected,
unfocused,
already
known,
general, or
generic.
Standard Basq
ue distinguish
es between
proximal and
distal definite
articles in the
plural
(dialectally, a
proximal
singular and
an additional
medial grade
may also be
present). The
Basque distal
form (with
infix -a-,
etymologically
a suffixed and
phonetically
reduced form
of the distal
demonstrative
har-/hai-)
functions as
the default
definite article,
whereas the
proximal form
(with infix -o-,
derived from
the proximal
demonstrative
hau-/hon-)
is marked and
indicates
some kind of
(spatial or
otherwise)
close
relationship
between the
speaker and
the referent
(e.g., it may
imply that the
speaker is
included in the
referent): etxe
ak ("the
houses")
vs. etxeok ("th
ese houses [of
ours]"), euskal
dunak ("the
Basque
speakers")
vs. euskaldun
ok ("we, the
Basque
speakers").
Speakers
of Assyrian
Neo-Aramaic,
a modern
Aramaic
language that
lacks a definite
article, may at
times use
demonstrative
s aha and aya
(feminine)
or awa (mascu
line) – which
translate to
"this" and
"that",
respectively –
to give the
sense of "the".
[19]

Indefinite
articles[edit
]
Indefinite
articles
typically arise
from
adjectives
meaning one.
For example,
the indefinite
articles in
the Romance
languages—
e.g., un, una,
une—derive
from
the Latin adjec
tive unus.
Partitive
articles,
however,
derive
from Vulgar
Latin de illo,
meaning (som
e) of the.
The English in
definite
article an is
derived from
the same root
as one. The -
n came to be
dropped
before
consonants,
giving rise to
the shortened
form a. The
existence of
both forms has
led to many
cases
of juncture
loss, for
example
transforming
the original a
napron into
the modern an
apron.
The Persian in
definite article
is yek,
meaning one.

See
also[edit]
 English
articles

 Al- (definit
e article in
Arabic)

 Definitene
ss

 Definite
descriptio
n

 False title

Referenc
es[edit]
1. ^ "Wh
at Is a
Deter
miner?
". Your
Diction
ary.

2. ^ "Usi
ng
Article
 s—A,
An,
The |
Scribe
ndi.co
m". Sc
ribendi
.

3. ^ "The
500
Most
Comm
only
Used
Words
in the
Englis
h
Langu
age".
World
Englis
h. Arch
ived fr
om the
origina
l on 13
Januar
y
2007.
Retriev
ed 200
7-01-
14.

4. ^ "Defi
nite
article"
. Cam
bridge
Diction
ary.
Retriev
ed 10
July 20
18.

5. ^ Reca
sens,
Taulé
and
Martí h
ttps://w
ww.res
earchg
ate.net
/public
ation/2
287481
15_Fir
st-
 mentio
n_defin
ites_m
ore_th
an_exc
eptiona
l_case
s

6. ^ Diaz
Collaz
os,
Ana
Maria.
2016.
Definit
e and
indefini
te
articles
in
Nikkei
Spanis
h. In
Gonzál
ez-
Rivera,
Melvin,
&
Sessar
ego,
Sandro
. New
Perspe
ctives
on
Hispan
ic
Contac
t
Linguis
tics in
the
Americ
as.
Madrid
/Frankf
urt:
Iberoa
merica
na-
Vervue
rt

7. ^ Jump
up
to:a b N
ew
Oxford
Diction
ary of
English
, 1999,
usage
note
for an:
"There
is still
some
diverge
nce of
opinion
over
the
form of
the
indefini
te
article
to use
precedi
ng
certain
words
beginni
ng
with h-
when
the first
syllabl
e is
unstres
sed:
‘a histo
rical
docum
ent’ or
‘anhist
orical
docum
ent’;
‘a hotel
’ or
‘an hot
el’. The
form
depen
ds on
whethe
r the
initial h
is
sounde
d or
not: an
was
commo
n in the
18th
and
19th
centuri
es,
becaus
e the
initial h
 was
commo
nly not
pronou
nced
for
these
words.
In
standa
rd
moder
n
English
the
norm is
for
the h t
o be
pronou
nced in
words
like ho
tel and
histori
cal,
and
therefo
re the
indefini
te
article
a is
used;
howev
er, the
older
form,
with
the
silent h
and
the
indefini
te
article
an, is
still
encoun
tered,
especi
ally
among
older
speake
rs."

8. ^ Jump
up
to:a b Br
own
Corpus
and La
 ncaster
-Oslo-
Bergen
Corpus
,
quoted
in
Peters
(2004:
1)

9. ^ Alge
o, p.
49.[full
citation needed]

10. ^https:
//public
ations.
parliam
ent.uk/
pa/ld19
9899/ld
hansrd
/vo990
427/tex
t/9042
7-
43.htm[
full citation
needed]

11. ^ Burc
hfield,
R.
W. (19
96). Th
e New
Fowler'
s
Moder
n
Englis
h
Usage
(3rd
ed.).
p. 512.
ISBN 9
78-
01996
90367.

12. ^ Arge
tsinger
, Amy
(1
Septe
mber
2015).
"Why
does
 everyo
ne call
Donald
Trump
'The
Donald
'? It's
an
interes
ting
story".
Washi
ngton
Post.
Retriev
ed 3
Octob
er 201
7.

13. ^ https
://www.
washin
gtonpo
st.com/
news/a
rts-
and-
enterta
inment/
wp/201
5/09/0
1/why-
does-
everyo
ne-call-
donald
-trump-
the-
donald
-its-an-
interest
ing-
story/

14. ^http://
townha
ll.com/
column
ists/pat
buchan
an/200
4/06/0
8/good
bye_to
_the_gi
pper/p
age/full

15. ^ Lawr
ence,
Erma
 (1977).
Haida
diction
ary.
Fairba
nks:
Alaska
Native
Langu
age
Center
. p. 64.

16. ^ Mast
er,
Peter
(1997).
"The
Englis
h
article
system
:
Acquis
ition,
functio
n, and
pedag
ogy". S
ystem.
25 (2):
215–
232. d
oi:10.1
016/S0
346-
251X(
97)000
10-9.

17. ^ Jump
up
to:a b c d
e f g h i j k

l m n o p q

Simon
a,
Ropati
(1986).
Tokela
u
Diction
ary.
New
Zealan
d:
Office
of
Tokela
u
Affairs.
p. Intro
 ductio
n.

18. ^ "Gen
etic
Linguis
tics:Es
says
on
Theory
and
Metho
d". goo
gle.co
m.

19. ^ Solo
mon,
Zomay
a S.
(1997).
Functi
onal
and
other
exotic
senten
ces in
Assyri
an
Aramai
c,
Journal
of
Assyria
n
Acade
mic
Studie
s,
XI/2:44
-69.

External
links[edit]
Wikisource has the text of
the 1921 Collier's
Encyclopedia article Article.

 "The
Definite
Article,
'The': The
Most
Frequently
Used
Word in
 World's
Englishes"

show

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JAMES CLEAR

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 ABOUT

 ARTICLE S
  BOOKS

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Best Articles
This page shares my best articles to read on topics like health, happiness, creativity,
productivity and more. The central question that drives my work is, “How can we live
better?” To answer that question, I like to write about science-based ways to solve
practical problems.

You’ll find interesting articles to read on topics like how to stop procrastinating as
well as personal recommendations like my list of the best books to read and
my minimalist travel guide. Ready to dive in? You can use the categories below to
browse my best articles or scroll down to see every post by date and title.

Best Articles by Category

Better Habits
Behavioral Psychology
Habits
Motivation
Procrastination

Optimal Health
Better Sleep
Eating Healthy
Strength Training
Better Thinking
Creativity
Decision Making
Focus
Mental Toughness

Lifelong Learning
Life Lessons
Reading List
Self-Improvement

Better Performance
Constant Improvement
Deliberate Practice
Goal Setting
Productivity

James Clear
About James
Annual Reviews
Integrity Reports

All Articles by Date

Scroll down to browse all of my articles by date and title. Articles are listed in reverse
chronological order with my newest articles at the top and my oldest essays at the
bottom.

2019
January 21
30 One-Sentence Stories From People Who Have Built Better Habits

January 14
The Ultimate Habit Tracker Guide: Why and How to Track Your Habits

January 7
The Surprising Benefits of Journaling One Sentence Every Day
2018
December 31
My 2018 Annual Review

October 18
How to Make Your Future Habits Easy

October 15
The Habits Scorecard: Use This Simple Exercise to Discover Which Habits You
Should Change

October 8
When the 80/20 Rule Fails: The Downside of Being Effective

October 1
How to Automate a Habit and Never Think About It Again

September 17
Absolute Success is Luck. Relative Success is Hard Work.

September 10
Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds

September 3
7 Ways to Retain More of Every Book You Read

August 7
Introducing Atomic Habits

2017
December 31
My 2017 Annual Review

November 13
First Principles: Elon Musk on the Power of Thinking for Yourself

July 27
Mental Models: How to Train Your Brain to Think in New Ways

June 5
Entropy: Why Life Always Seems to Get More Complicated

May 15
Inversion: The Crucial Thinking Skill Nobody Ever Taught You

May 8
A Margin of Safety: How to Thrive in the Age of Uncertainty

March 29
The 1 Percent Rule: Why a Few People Get Most of the Rewards

February 6
The Paradox of Behavior Change

January 23
The Beginner’s Guide to Deliberate Practice

January 16
The Myth and Magic of Deliberate Practice

2016
December 31
My 2016 Annual Review

December 19
The 10 Best Articles of 2016

August 30
The Shadow Side of Greatness

August 9
How Innovative Ideas Arise

July 25
For a More Creative Brain Follow These 5 Steps

July 19
How to Create a Chain Reaction of Good Habits

July 14
The Scientific Argument for Mastering One Thing at a Time
July 11
All Models Are Wrong, Some Are Useful

July 7
Motivation is Overvalued. Environment Often Matters More.

June 27
The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay Motivated in Life and Business

June 6
My 2016 Integrity Report

May 31
The Downside of Work-Life Balance

May 23
The 3 Stages of Failure in Life and Work (And How to Fix Them)

March 22
The Evolution of Anxiety: Why We Worry and What to Do About It

March 7
The Proven Path to Doing Unique and Meaningful Work

February 22
Make Your Life Better by Saying Thank You in These 7 Situations

January 29
How to Use Military Strategy to Build Better Habits

January 26
How to Spot a Common Mental Error That Leads to Misguided Thinking

January 11
The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on What We Set Out to Do and
What to Do About It

2015
December 31
My 2015 Annual Review
December 28
The 10 Best Articles of 2015

December 22
The Value of Time: How Much is Your Time Really Worth?

November 10
How to Master the Invisible Hand That Shapes Our Lives

October 27
One Research-Backed Way to Effectively Manage Your Stressful and Busy Schedule

October 5
The Diderot Effect: Why We Want Things We Don’t Need — And What to Do About
It

September 29
Creativity Is a Process, Not an Event

September 21
Scott Dinsmore: A Tribute

September 14
I’m No Longer Writing Twice Per Week. Here’s Why.

September 11
5 Common Mental Errors That Sway You From Making Good Decisions

September 8
How to Be Happy When Everything Goes Wrong

September 4
This Zen Concept Will Help You Stop Being a Slave to Old Beliefs

September 1
Why Old Ideas Are a Secret Weapon

August 28
Overrated vs. Underrated: Common Beliefs We Get Wrong

August 21
It’s Not Just About What You Say, It’s About How You Live
August 18
World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov on How to Build Confidence

August 14
How Experts Figure What to Focus On

August 7
The Chemistry of Building Better Habits

August 4
August Reading List: 5 Good Books to Read This Month

July 31
How to Stop Lying to Ourselves: A Call for Self-Awareness

July 28
If Nothing Changes, Nothing Is Going to Change

July 24
Olympic Medalist Dick Fosbury and the Power of Being Unconventional

July 21
The Proven, Reasonable and Totally Unsexy Secret to Success

July 17
Warren Buffett’s “20 Slot” Rule: How to Simplify Your Life and Maximize Your
Results

July 13
The 15-Minute Routine Anthony Trollope Used to Write 40+ Books

July 7
The Ivy Lee Method: The Daily Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity

July 3
What Happens When You Believe You’re Taking Steroids

June 30
Two Harvard Professors Reveal One Reason Our Brains Love to Procrastinate

June 25
How to Stop Procrastinating and Boost Your Willpower by Using “Temptation
Bundling”
June 22
Lessons From a Vexillonaire: Creativity, Simplicity, and the Carefully Constrained
Life

June 19
Fast Growth is Overrated

June 16
Famous Biologist Louis Agassiz on the Usefulness of Learning Through Observation

June 12
How to Fall in Love With Boredom and Unlock Your Mental Toughness

June 9
What I Do When I Feel Like Giving Up

June 5
Inside the Mind of a Mad Scientist

June 2
Pat Riley on the Remarkable Power of Getting 1% Better

April 28
You’re Not Ready for Marriage

April 24
How to Optimize Your Daily Decisions

April 20
The More We Limit Ourselves, the More Resourceful We Become

April 14
How to Declutter Your Mind and Unleash Your Willpower by Using Bright-Line
Rules

April 9
How to Stick With Good Habits Every Day by Using the “Paper Clip Strategy”

April 6
April Reading List: 3 Good Books to Read This Month

April 3
The 2 Types of Growth: Which One of These Growth Curves Are You Following?
March 31
Do More of What Already Works

March 27
Use This Simple Daily Habit to Add More Gratitude to Your Life

March 23
My 2015 Integrity Report

March 20
The Goal is Not the Point

March 17
5 Lessons on Being Wrong

March 12
Zanshin: Learning the Art of Attention and Focus From a Legendary Samurai Archer

March 10
Stop Thinking and Start Doing: The Power of Practicing More

March 3
The One Word That Drives Senseless and Irrational Habits

February 26
The Myth of Multitasking: Why Fewer Priorities Leads to Better Work

February 24
The 5 Triggers That Make New Habits Stick

February 20
Bob Mathias on How to Master the Art of Self-Confidence

February 16
Albert Einstein’s Incredible Work Ethic

February 10
Fear vs. Ambition

February 6
Why Stores Place Candy by the Checkout Counter (And Why New Habits Fail)

January 30
Vince Lombardi on the Hidden Power of Mastering the Fundamentals

January 23
6 Famous Artists Talk About What It’s Like to Overcome Fear and Create Beauty

January 16
Joseph Brodsky Explains Perfectly How to Deal With Critics and Detractors in Your
Life

January 12
Surprising Lessons From the Children Who Survived a Famine During the Deadliest
War in History

January 8
Never Check Email Before Noon (And Other Thoughts on Doing Your Best Work)

January 5
5 Common Mistakes That Cause New Habits to Fail

2014
December 29
My 2014 Annual Review

December 4
The 10 Best Articles of 2014

December 1
What I Do When it Feels Like My Work Isn’t Good Enough

November 25
Avoid the Second Mistake

November 20
Constraints Make You Better: Why the Right Limitations Boost Performance

November 17
To Make Big Gains, Avoid Tiny Losses

November 13
A Different Way of Thinking About Productivity
November 10
10 Lessons Learned from Squatting 400 Pounds

November 6
Martha Graham on the Hidden Danger of Comparing Yourself to Others

November 3
How Experts Practice Better Than the Rest

October 30
Minimalism, Success, and the Curious Writing Habit of George R.R. Martin

October 27
Hacking the Workout Journal: How to Track Your Workouts in the Simplest, Most
Effective Way Possible

October 23
Sisu: How to Develop Mental Toughness in the Face of Adversity

October 20
Warren Buffett’s “2 List” Strategy: How to Maximize Your Focus and Master Your
Priorities

October 16
4 Reasonable Ways to Achieve Overnight Success

October 13
The Theory of Cumulative Stress: How to Recover When Stress Builds Up

October 9
How Smart Do You Have to Be to Succeed?

October 6
“Email is Where Keystrokes Go to Die.”

October 2
Free Download: Mastering Creativity (1st Edition)

September 29
How to Uncover Your Creative Talent by Using the “Equal Odds Rule”

September 26
3 Ways to Improve Your Sleep
September 22
Lessons on Living a Meaningful Life from Nichelle Nichols

September 18
3 Simple Ways to Make Exercise a Habit

September 15
Photo Essay: The Isle of Skye, Scotland

September 11
How to Build Muscle: Strength Lessons from Milo of Croton

September 9
This Simple Equation Reveals How Habits Shape Your Health, Happiness, and
Wealth

September 1
What I’m Reading: Fall 2014 Edition

August 28
Measure Backward, Not Forward

August 25
How Creative Geniuses Come Up With Great Ideas

August 21
The Physics of Productivity: Newton’s Laws of Getting Stuff Done

August 18
7 Improvements I Have Made to My Writing and Work

August 14
How to Build Skills That Are Valuable

August 11
Photo Essay: The Rocky Mountains and Streams of Colorado

August 7
The Health Benefits of Music

August 4
How Vietnam War Veterans Broke Their Heroin Addictions
July 31
How to Build New Habits by Taking Advantage of Old Ones

July 28
What Are You Measuring In Your Life?

July 24
How to Solve Big Problems

July 21
How to Get Your Brain to Focus on What Matters

July 17
How to Build a New Habit: This is Your Strategy Guide

July 14
Lessons on Sharing Your Gifts With the World From Someone Who Didn’t

July 10
How to Read More: The Simple System I’m Using to Read 30+ Books Per Year

July 7
How to Get Better Sleep: The Beginner’s Guide to Overcoming Sleep Deprivation

July 3
How to Be Motivated Every Day: Lessons Learned from Twyla Tharp

May 29
Masters of Habit: The Wisdom and Writing of Maya Angelou

May 26
How to Change the Habits of 107,000 People

May 22
Do Things You Can Sustain

May 15
The Only Productivity Tip You’ll Ever Need

May 12
Let Your Values Drive Your Choices

May 8
How to Find Your Hidden Creative Genius

May 1
What to Do When You Have Too Many Ideas and Not Enough Time

April 28
Plan For Failure: Being Consistent Is Not the Same as Being Perfect

April 21
Smart People Should Create Things

April 17
How the World Around You Shapes Your Thoughts and Actions

April 14
Thoughts on Struggling to Finish My First Book

April 10
Masters of Habit: The Deliberate Practice and Training of Jerry Rice

April 7
How to be More Productive and Eliminate Time Wasting Activities by Using the
“Eisenhower Box”

April 3
How to Change Your Beliefs and Stick to Your Goals for Good

March 31
Stop Wasting Time on the Details and Commit to the Fundamentals

March 27
I’m Using These 3 Simple Steps to Actually Stick with Good Habits

March 24
My 2014 Integrity Report

March 13
How to Eliminate Procrastination (The Surprising Strategy One Man Used)

March 10
Why I Write

March 6
How Long Does it Actually Take to Form a New Habit? (Backed by Science)

March 3
Masters of Habit: Rituals, Lessons, and Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

February 27
The Myth of Creative Inspiration

February 24
The Power of Imperfect Starts

February 20
I Watched an Artist Create Stained Glass And Learned An Important Lesson About
Life

February 17
The Power of Less: I Removed Every Inessential Thing From My Website and Here’s
What Happened

February 13
Photo Essay: The Blue City of Chefchaouen, Morocco

February 10
Strategies I’m Using to Stay Fit While Traveling

February 6
Treat Failure Like a Scientist

February 3
Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day, But They Were Laying Bricks Every Hour

January 30
10 Simple Ways to Eat Healthy Without Thinking, Backed by Science

January 27
How to Stick With Good Habits Even When Your Willpower is Gone

January 23
40 Years of Stanford Research Found That People With This One Quality Are More
Likely to Succeed

January 16
This Research Study Changed the Way We Think About Success (Here’s How You
Can Use It)

January 13
Feeling Uncertain Doesn’t Make You Weak, Weird, or Unqualified

January 9
This is the Greatest Weightlifting Lesson I’ve Learned

January 6
This Coach Improved Every Tiny Thing by 1 Percent and Here’s What Happened

January 2
Why Trying to Be Perfect Won’t Help You Achieve Your Goals (And What Will)

2013
December 30
My 2013 Annual Review

December 5
The 10 Best Articles of 2013

December 2
Do You Have to be Unhappy Now if You Want to be Successful Later?

November 28
How to Be Thankful For Your Life by Changing Just One Word

November 25
The Weird Strategy Dr. Seuss Used to Create His Greatest Work

November 21
If You Sit at a Computer All Day This Mobility Exercise Will Change Your Life in 30
Seconds

November 18
Follow the Recipe: Are You Being Patient Enough to See Results?

November 14
What Every Successful Person Knows, But Never Says
November 11
You’re Not Good Enough to Be Disappointed

November 7
What Happens to Your Brain When You Eat Junk Food

October 31
10 Common Mistakes That Prevent You From Being Happy and Healthy Today,
Backed by Science

October 28
Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead.

October 21
Do the Painful Things First

October 17
3 Simple Things You Can Do Right Now to Build Better Habits

October 14
How to Chase Your Dreams and Reinvent Yourself

October 10
Stop Overdosing on Celebrity Gossip, The News, and Low Quality Information

October 7
What I’ve Learned from 2 Years of Intermittent Fasting

October 3
What I’m Reading: The Henrietta Lacks Edition

September 30
How Willpower Works: How to Avoid Bad Decisions

September 23
How to Stick to Your Goals When Life Gets Crazy

September 19
How to Stay Focused When You Get Bored Working Toward Your Goals

September 16
Haters and Critics: How to Deal with People Judging You and Your Work
September 12
The Fight is the Reward

September 9
What to Do When You Want to Build Better Habits But Can’t Get Started

August 29
The Crime Your Brain Commits Against You

August 26
The “Chosen Ones” Choose Themselves

August 22
6 Truths About Exercise That Nobody Wants to Believe

August 15
Lessons on Success and Deliberate Practice from Mozart, Picasso, and Kobe Bryant

August 12
5 Thoughts on Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt

August 5
Live Longer: What You Can Learn from Elite Athletes and Why the Japanese Never
Die

August 1
Be Honest: Are You Rejecting Yourself? (Why You Should Make Things)

July 29
The Daily Routines of 12 Famous Writers

July 25
How to Be Confident and Reduce Stress in 2 Minutes Per Day

July 22
What is Actually Required for Success?

July 18
How to Stop Procrastinating on Your Goals by Using the “Seinfeld Strategy”

July 15
Effortless Ways to Lose Weight and Eat Healthy
July 11
How to Improve Your Health and Productivity Without Thinking

July 4
If You Commit to Nothing, You’ll Be Distracted By Everything

June 27
The Mistake Smart People Make: Being In Motion vs. Taking Action

June 24
How Your Beliefs Can Sabotage Your Behavior

June 20
How Positive Thinking Builds Your Skills, Boosts Your Health, and Improves Your
Work

June 17
Random Ideas About Life

June 13
You Get 25,000 Mornings as an Adult: Here are 8 Ways to Not Waste Them

June 10
Make More Art: The Health Benefits of Creativity

June 6
What is Your “Average Speed” in Your Life, Your Health, and Your Work?

June 3
The Difference Between Being “Not Wrong” and Being Right

May 30
It’s Not Your Job to Tell Yourself “No”

May 27
How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the “2-Minute Rule”

May 16
Achieve Your Goals: Research Reveals a Simple Trick That Doubles Your Chances for
Success

May 13
How to Break a Bad Habit and Replace It With a Good One
May 3
What if Your Doctor Prescribed Actions Instead of Medications?

April 30
What if You Treated Your Life Like a Team Sport?

April 25
Post is coming!

April 22
The Two Types of Inspiration

April 18
How to Squat More: How I Went From Squatting 175 pounds to 350+ in 16 Weeks

April 15
Learning From Superhumans: The Incredible Fitness and Success of Jack LaLanne

April 11
The Science of Developing Mental Toughness in Your Health, Work, and Life

April 4
How to Start Working Out When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

April 1
Natural Happiness: The Truth About Exercise and Depression

March 25
How to Focus and Concentrate Better

March 21
Get Back on Track: 7 Strategies to Help You Bounce Back After Slipping Up

March 18
How to Say No, Resist Temptation, and Stick to Your Health Goals

March 11
3 Time Management Tips That Actually Work

March 7
Answers to the Most Common Intermittent Fasting Questions

March 4
How to Get Motivated When You Don’t Feel Like It

February 28
Why Everyone Should Act Like an Entrepreneur

February 25
How to Heal Yourself

February 21
How to Achieve Your Goals Easily

February 18
How to Start Eating Healthy (And Actually Stick to It)

February 14
How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick

February 11
10 Proven Ways to Reduce Stress at Work (And Why Overwork Could be Killing You)

February 7
Why Everyone Should Lift Weights

February 4
3 Surprising Reasons Why You Need to Rediscover Slow Growth

January 31
The Magic of Committing to a Specific Goal

January 28
5 Simple Ways to Be Happy

January 24
How to Stick to Little Healthy Habits (Like Flossing) Without Thinking

January 21
Why Getting Started is More Important Than Succeeding

January 17
Move Towards the Next Thing, Not Away From the Last Thing

January 17
When to be Unreasonable With Yourself
January 14
Why is it So Hard to Stick to Good Habits?

January 10
You Are Not Alone: How a “Keystone Community” Makes All of Your Goals More
Achievable

January 3
The Difference Between Professionals and Amateurs

2012
December 31
Identity-Based Habits: How to Actually Stick to Your Goals This Year

December 27
Keystone Habits: The Simple Way to Improve All Aspects of Your Life

December 24
What Does it Mean to Live a Healthy Life?

December 20
The Top Life Regret of Dying Hospital Patients

December 17
Are You Living an Urgent Life or an Important Life?

December 13
12 Lessons Learned from 1 Year of Intermittent Fasting

December 10
The Beginner’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting

December 6
116 Years Old: Lessons Left Behind From the World’s Oldest Living Person

November 29
The 10 Pillars of Our Community

November 26
The Easiest Way to Live a Short, Unimportant Life
November 22
Believe in Yourself (And Why Nothing Will Work If You Don’t…)

November 19
Feeling Fat? Use These 2 Easy Ways to Lose Weight

November 15
How to Be Happy: A Surprising Lesson on Happiness From an African Tribe

November 12
Successful People Start Before They Feel Ready

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BETTER HABITS
Behavioral Psychology
Habits
Motivation
Procrastination

BETTER PERFORMANCE
Constant Improvement
Deliberate Practice
Goal Setting
Productivity

JAMES CLEAR

 

BETTER THINKING
Creativity
Decision Making
Focus
Mental Toughness

OPTIMAL HEALTH
Better Sleep
Eating Healthy
Strength Training

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