The indefinite article and its omission
The indefinite article marks a singular count noun as general or newly mentioned. Repairing its omission may require adding an article or changing the noun to a plural; the choice between a and an follows pronunciation.
Singular count nouns
The definite article can convey emphasis and is more nuanced than the indefinite article.
The indefinite article is a determiner before a singular count noun, whether tangible, as in a human, or abstract, as in a trait. It signals that the noun is mentioned for the first time, is general in meaning, or both. Native English readers may recognise an omitted article intuitively, while readers whose first language lacks articles may not.
A singular count noun can be identified by testing whether it can be pluralised, as in humans, or used with a quantifier or numeral, as in many humans or 10 humans. The non-count noun information takes neither the plural form informations nor the combinations many information or 10 information. Reading a sentence aloud can also reveal a missing article, which a reader may add spontaneously when speaking.
Repairs in context
The repair depends on the scientific meaning, sentence context and section of the paper. The following examples show the alternatives:
| Situation | Original wording | Consideration | Revision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular count noun | Phagocytosis by dermal fibroblast increased. | Addition of the indefinite article | Phagocytosis by a dermal fibroblast increased. |
| A single cell is unlikely to be the focus | Phagocytosis by dermal fibroblasts increased. | ||
| In Results, a specific group of fibroblasts was probably already mentioned in Methods | Phagocytosis by the dermal fibroblasts increased. | ||
| Singular count noun | In human, the craniosynostosis trait is present in all individuals who carry the Pro7His mutation. | Unconventional wording | In a human |
| In a human | The sentence refers to all individuals | In humans | |
| Singular count noun with a premodifier | UWB waveform was constructed | The first sound of UWB is the consonant sound yoo | A UWB waveform was constructed |
Where the fibroblasts are a specific group already mentioned, the marks continuity between sentences.
The sound that determines a or an
The first sound determines whether the article is a or an, rather than the first written letter. These examples distinguish vowel and consonant sounds:
| Written form and first sound | Example | First sound | Article and phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel letter, vowel sound | ATM network | Ay | An ATM network |
| Consonant letter, consonant sound | Historic importance | His | A historic event |
| Vowel letter, consonant sound | One-page report | Won | A one-page report |
| Unique approach | Yoo | A unique approach | |
| Consonant letter, vowel sound | MTE membrane | Em | An MTE membrane |
| NEN-inhibited enzyme | En | An NEN-inhibited enzyme | |
| Hour-long incubation | Ohr | An hour-long incubation | |
| RCP | Ar | An RCP | |
| SDS | Es | An SDS |
ATM is an initialism pronounced letter by letter, whereas an acronym such as RADAR is pronounced by syllables. When a premodifier precedes the noun, its first sound determines the article, as in a UWB waveform; post-modification does not affect the choice. A premodifier should not obscure the singular countable nature of the noun it modifies.