A Study On The Usage Of "A

This article aims to thoroughly explore the usage of "a". It is divided into seven chapters.In the Introduction of this article, it points out the necessity of selecting this topic. Usage of "a" is a difficult problem for foreign students and the present viewpoints in academic circles on this problem needs to be improved, so I started my research with this topic.The first chapter begins with positive observation. It analyzes why different sentence patterns at the same time add "a" before their objective nouns. Because all of these objective elements appear at the first time and the speaker can figure out that the information is new for the listener and in order to differentiate it from other information, he adds "a" before the new information . Besides, instead of ending the talk by introducing the information, the speaker will continue it into a new round of talk, which is more important. We have also discussed the problem of adding "a" before the Proper Nouns in Existing Sentence. The conclusion is: the indefinite mark "a" is decided by sentence patterns instead of by objective nouns. According to the economic principle of language, it combines the two expressions (one expresses existing, the other expressed judgment) into one sentence.The second chapter begins with negative observation. It analyzes the language environment in which the use of "a" is excluded. "A" can't be added before the nouns which in the concrete context appear as known informative nouns or nonreferential nouns. We also have discussed the specific conditions in which the known information nouns are used and different kinds of nonreferential nouns.In the third chapter, it explores the informative quality of those nouns used with "a" and points out the limitations of "definite/ indefinite" and "identifiable/ nonidentifiable" statements which put forward by the senior authorities and affirms the new informative quality of nouns which used after "a".The fourth chapter thoroughly probes the "Subjective Sentence of Indefinite Noun". The function of this kind of sentence is to transfer the episode in narrative context and at the same time to introduce a new participant and new event. This function presents the essential difference with "Existing Sentence". In news and reports, "Subjective Sentence of Nonidentifialbe Noun" isalways adopted for its two distinctive features--immediacy and simple-ness . For this reason,this kind of sentence forms a contrast with "there be" sentence.In the fifth chapter, we have discussed two phenomenon of "a+ generic reference noun" in the subjective place and "a+ generic reference noun" in the objective place. From our research we found that we can give a common explanation for these two phenomenon: in the "a+ generic reference noun" after a judgment verb, the use of "a" is to strengthen the predicable meaning of the modified noun. This function is outwardly shown by judgment sentence. The judgment verb is reduced in the subjective place and it realizes this function only by "a +generic reference noun".The sixth chapter discusses the phenomenon of flexible places of "a" in a structure with multitle attributes and center words. For the unmarked case, "a" is always put before the modifier, and wholly modifies the following elements. But when the speaker means to especially stress acertain modifying element, he should move the place of "a", and put this element before "a". This is marked case. The element moved before "a" is always especially stressed by the speaker, and it often presents a special emotion of the speaker with subjective tendency. Sometimes these two functions can be used together in practical language environment, and form a special phenomenon of adding "a" before and after the modifiers.In the Tag of the article, we conclude the usage of "a". Generally speaking, it is the old or new informative factors which decide the use or omission of "a". In another word, it is a mark of the speaker's stressing of the informative focus. With the above research on this problem, we s...