Caution.
187. There is one use of the which is different from all the above. It is an adverbial use, and is spoken of more fully in Sec. 283. Compare this sentence with those above:—
There was something ugly and evil in his face, which they had not previously noticed, and which grew still the more obvious to the sight the oftener they looked upon him.—Hawthorne.
Exercise.—Find sentences with five uses of the definite article.
USES OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE.
Denotes any one of a class.
188. The most frequent use of the indefinite article is to denote any one of a class or group of objects: consequently it belongs to singular words; as in the sentence,—
Near the churchyard gate stands a poor-box, fastened to a post by iron bands and secured by a padlock, with a sloping wooden roof to keep off the rain.—Longfellow
Widens the scope of proper nouns.
189. When the indefinite article precedes proper names, it alters them to class names. The qualities or attributes of the object are made prominent, and transferred to any one possessing them; as,—