PERFECTING THE LANGUAGE OF THE LAW: ARTICLES (1)
Study Unit PERFECTING THE LANGUAGE OF THE LAW: ARTICLES (1)
(A) TYPES OF ARTICLES There are three types of articles: (i) the definite article (the); (ii) the indefinite article (a, an); or, (iii) no article at all, sometimes referred to as the ‘zero’ article. Articles provide important additional information in sentences and using them correctly is necessary for the creation of accurate and professional legal documents.
(B) THE GENERAL RULES ‘A’ or ‘an’ with a singular noun often introduces something new which is not familiar to the listener or reader; for example, ‘I think I might buy a house somewhere in Italy when I retire from law’, or, ‘I sent him an email yesterday regarding his debt to my client, but he hasn’t responded’. On the other hand, ‘the’ is often used to show that there is mutual knowledge between the speaker and the listener or enables the listener to understand from the context of the sentence what exactly is being mentioned. For example, ‘I bought the house in Sorrento that I told you about’, or, ‘Have you seen my response to the email you sent me this morning?’ In this case the speaker uses ‘the’ because he or she knows that the listener knows exactly which house or which email is being referred to.
In addition to these general rules, no article is needed before plural and uncountable nouns when speaking about something in general; for example, ‘Creditors are often entitled to charge interest on debts’ or ‘Judges retire at the age of 70’.
Read the information above and complete the following sentences with a/an/no article.
1. Many people think that (1) ….. lawyers spend all of their time in court. 2. I have (2) ….. new client who is being sued for copyright infringement. 3. (3) ….. client that you spoke to yesterday has made another appointment for next week. 4. She asked me for (4) ….. advice about her divorce but I told her I am a tax lawyer. 5. I am thinking of writing (5) ….. book on my experiences in court. 6. She is an ambitious lawyer and her aim is to make (6) ….. money as quickly as possible. 7. I think once this case is over I will need (7) …. relaxing holiday in a warm country. 8. If you don’t pay me within seven days I will see you in (8) ….. court. 9. My client is in (9) ….. hospital for five days so I can’t really contact him. 10. Do you have (10) ….. evidence of any kind to support your claim of discrimination?
(C) SPECIFIC RULES: THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE There are some rules related to the use of indefinite articles in the table below.
The indefinite article (a/an) Example: Explanation: A new female judge has been appointed to the Supreme Court.
Use when introducing a singular countable noun for the first time: a case, a dispute. Are you waiting for a client? There’s someone waiting in reception.
Use when talking about something non- specific: an office, a person, a judge. I have a degree in engineering and two law degrees: an LLB and an LLM.
Use to refer to one person or thing: a judge, a director, a merger, an email, a meeting. He works as a barrister specialising in construction disputes.
Use when talking about someone’s job: she has always wanted to be a lawyer.
(D) A OR AN? ‘An’ is used before a noun beginning with a vowel sound (a,e,i,o,u), for example, an advisor, an employment lawyer, an interesting case, an offer to buy a house, an unfair dismissal claim.
However, there are some exceptions because the question of whether to use ‘a’ or ‘an’ depends on the pronunciation of the noun or adjective that follows. For example, when discussing Oxford University, a native English speaker might say, “Oxford has a university that dates back to 1096”. This is because the word ‘university’ starts with a vowel but it is not pronounced with a vowel sound. In fact, the sound it makes is ‘yoo’ rather than ‘un’, so the article ‘a’ is necessary. The contrary rule to this is that words that begin with a consonant but don’t make a consonant sound need the article ‘an’. For example, “I have been working on this email for an hour.” The noun ‘hour’ is pronounced as though it begins with an ‘o’ so therefore it needs the article ‘an’.
Read the information above and complete the following sentences with a/an/no article.
1. I own three houses that I rent out to students and I’m here to ask your advice about (1) …..
problem tenant who hasn’t paid her rent for four months. 2. It is (2) ….. honour to receive the Young Lawyer of the Year Award. 3. It is (3) ….. huge honour, after my long legal career, to be appointed as a QC. 4. I’m looking for (4) ….. lawyer to help me with a partnership dispute. 5. Did you remember to buy (5) ….. liability insurance for your hotel business? 6. If you want to make a claim for (6)..... lost luggage I suggest you read the insurance policy you took out with AFT Insurance and check the terms and conditions first. 7. The lawyer claimed that his client had made (7) …. honest mistake. 8. We are doing a lot of business in France next year so we really should look for (8) ….. office in Paris. 9. Did you know that the judge’s husband used to be (9) …. FBI agent? 10. Is your creditor charging you (10) ….. interest on your debt?
No article (zero article) Example: Explanation: Judges in this country are often white, male and from the upper classes of society.
No article with plural countable nouns used in a general sense: I enjoy working on mergers, I think clients can be difficult. My client hired equipment from you which turned out to be defective.
No article with uncountable nouns: we need furniture for the boardroom. If conflict arises between the partners, the partnership agreement should be consulted.
No article with abstract nouns or when a noun is used in an abstract sense: there is jealousy among my staff due to Jane Hill’s promotion to assistant manager. I studied a lot of law at university that I rarely use in my day-to-day work.
No article when talking about a certain place to indicate a connection with it: in court, in hospital, in prison, at school.
Read the information above and complete the following sentences with a/an/no article. 1. My client is a corporation that grows and exports (1) ….. wheat and other grains. 2. My sister decided not to go into law and she did (2) ….. MBA at Harvard instead. 3. My client bought (3) ….. unique piece of art at auction and it was damaged at some point on
the journey between Amsterdam and London. 4. I have (4) ….. confidence in the strength of our case and I’m sure we’ll be successful in court tomorrow. 5. (5) ….. health professionals should be fully insured because more and more patients are deciding to sue if something goes wrong.
Speaking & Writing for this topic
Two short tasks scored against TOEFL rubrics. The prompt is generated for this topic — use the vocabulary you have just studied.