Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
"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?"
"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.
The Father Superior bowed his head at his malicious lie, and
again spoke impressively:
It was at that moment Rakitin saw him and pointed him out
to Alyosha.
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.
"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.
"You've talked rot enough. You might rest a bit now," Ivan
snaped sullenly.
Fyodor Pavlovitch was silent again for two minutes.
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.
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:
2. One of many, or
(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:
Your answers to these questions will usually determine the correct article
choice, and the following sections will show you how.
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).
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.
1. Non-count nouns = no article (Ø) a. Our science class mixed boric acid
with water today.
2. Plural nouns = no article (Ø) a. We’re happy when people bring cookies!
4. Exception: “A few of” does not fit this category. See Number 8 in the
next section for the correct usage of this expression.
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!!
2. Note: Some proper nouns do require “the.” See the special notes on
nouns below.
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
2. You can get a giant ice cream cone downtown. If you can eat the
cone in five seconds, you get another one free.
5. Ordinals and superlatives (first, next, primary, most, best, least, etc.)
2. Also study the notes you took at the lecture that Dr. Science gave
yesterday.
Note:
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:
Natural phenomena: weather, rain, sunshine, fog, snow (but events are
countable: a hurricane, a blizzard, a tornado)
Liquids, gases, solids, and minerals: water, air, gasoline, coffee, wood,
iron, lead, boric acid
“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.
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:
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 newest Great Lakes museum. (as adjective with “this one exactly”
singular noun)
…Great Lakes shipping policies. (as adjective with “one of many” plural
noun)
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.
Make a Gift
View All Tips & Tools
© 2019
Article (grammar)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
For grammatical articles in English, see English articles.
"Definite article" redirects here. For the Eddie Izzard comedy DVD, see Definite Article.
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
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]
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.
partiti
Lang definite indefinite
ve
uage article article
article
Abkha
a- -k
z
Afrika
die 'n
ans
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
Cornis
an
h
Singular:
-en, -n -et,
-t (all
Danis suffixes)
en, et
h
Plural:
-ene, -ne
(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)
*
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
Categories:
Grammar
Parts of
speech
Navigation menu
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Article
Talk
Read
Edit
View history
Search
Go
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
العربية
Ελληνικά
Español
Bahasa Indonesia
Malti
Română
Русский
தமமிழ
中文
58 more
Edit links
This page was
last edited on 10
March 2019, at
09:53 (UTC).
Text is available
under
the Creative
Commons
Attribution-
ShareAlike
License;
additional terms
may apply. By
using this site,
you agree to
the Terms of
Use and Privacy
Policy.
Wikipedia® is a
registered
trademark of
the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc.,
a non-profit
organization.
Privacy policy
About
Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact
Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie
statement
Mobile view
Menu
Skip to content
Skip to footer
JAMES CLEAR
Header Right
ABOUT
ARTICLE S
BOOKS
E VE NTS
FAVORITE S
FREE NE WS LE T T E R
HABITS ACADE MY →
Search
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.
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
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
Footer
of the profits are donated to the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF). In fact, thanks to our advertising partners,
even a simple act like reading another article helps us contribute more.
With each donation, AMF distributes nets to protect children, pregnant mothers, and families from mosquitos
carrying malaria. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to extend life and fulfills my bigger mission to
spread healthy habits and help others realize their full potential.
4685
8433
PEOPLE PROTECTED
87
L I V E S S AV E D
Site Footer
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