A, AN, THE.
In a scientific arrangement of grammatical principles, a and the belong to that class of adjectives denominated definitives or restrictives.
A, an, ane, or one, is the past participle of ananad, to add, to join. It denotes that the thing to which it is prefixed, is added, united, aned, an-d, oned, (woned,) or made one.
The and that. According to Horne Tooke, the is the imperative, and that, the past participle, of the Anglo-Saxon verb thean, to get, take, assume. The and that had, originally, the same meaning. The difference in their present application, is a modern refinement. Hence, that, as well as the, was formerly used, indifferently, before either a singular or a plural noun.
QUESTIONS ON THE NOTES.
Before what nouns is the article omitted?—Is the article the ever applied to adverbs?—Give examples.—What is the meaning of a or an? —When is a or an placed before a plural noun?—From what are a, the, and that derived?
EXERCISES IN FALSE SYNTAX.
NOTE TO RULE 1. An is used before a vowel or silent h, and a before a consonant or u long, and also before the word one.
It is not only disagreeable to the ear, but, according to this note, improper to say, a apple, a humble suppliant, an hero, an university, because the word apple begins with a vowel, and h is not sounded in the word humble, for which reasons a should be an in the first two examples; but, as the h is sounded in hero, and the u is long in university, a ought to be prefixed to these words: thus, an apple, an humble suppliant: a hero, a university. You may correct the following