冠词(a/the)属于修饰名词的形容词。如果使用不当，会让读者感到困惑，不知道你是泛指某一事物，还是特指某一件事或某一类别的事。更糟糕的是，这会引起读者对文章的错误理解，从而得出错误的假说。冠词的使用不当也可以引起单数和复数的混淆。冠词“the”应该与特指某一件事或某一组事物的名词连用(可以与复数或单数名词连用)；例如，“the sections were/the section was then stained with H&E”是指之前句子中提到的部分被染色。相比之下，“a”应该与非特指性名词连用，例如“a section was then stained”指单独一段，任何一段被染色。“A”指某一单独的事物或一个类别的事物，不应该与复数名词连用；也就是说“a sections”是错误的。来自亚洲的作者经常在句子之中不使用冠词，这样使得句子看上去很糟也不自然，例如，“adenovirus was injected into the fourth ventricle”，如果省略“the”就会出现这一情况。

•    “The antibody was injected into the hippocampus…”(这里需要使用定冠词，特指某一特殊的抗生素，可能此前在文章中已提到过，特指“海马回”属于之前已经描述过的一件事物)
•    “A new method of extraction was devised…” (这里使用了不定冠词“a”，而不是定冠词“the”，因为此句子只是作为陈述向读者介绍一种方法，而不是指当时的某一特定方法。一旦这一方法已经介绍给了读者就必须使用“the new method of extraction”特指那一方法)

名词的复数形式需要在字尾处加“s”(绝大多数情况下如此)。在没有冠词的情况下，如果名词形式(指复数和单数)使用错误，有时可导致句子意思不清楚。例如，“Acetyl group was added”，读者不清楚作者是指一种Acetyl group被加入或者一组Acetyl被加入。因此，在指多种事物时应使用复数形式，以避免可能出现的混淆。在描述数字时这一点通常被忽略(图中出现多个箭头时应使用复数“arrowheads”而不使用单数“arrowhead”)；同样，使用柱状图时，如果一个图中出现多个柱桩图时应使用复数“solid bars”而不使用单数“solid bar”。

•    “A biopsy was obtained…” (描述一种活体组织)
•    “Biopsies were obtained from eight patients…” (如果之前这一活体组织未被介绍给读者可以不使用冠词，相反应使用定冠词“the”，“The biopsies were obtained…”)


Articles (a/the) are adjectives that modify nouns. Where they are used incorrectly the reader can be left wondering if you are referring to a specific thing or to a non-specific item or category. Worse, they could interpret the text incorrectly and make a wrong assumption. Incorrect use of articles can also lead to confusion relating to singular vs plural senses. The word “the” should be used in conjunction with a noun referring to a particular item or group of items (it can be used with both plural and singular nouns); for example, “the sections were/the section was then stained with H&E” implies that the sections you had referred to in recent sentences were stained. By contrast, “a” should be used in conjunction with non-specific nouns; for example, “a section was then stained” infers that a single section, any section, was stained. “A” should only be used to refer to a single item or category, and should not be used in conjunction with plural nouns; that is, “a sections” would be incorrect. Asian authors frequently leave articles out of sentences making them sound awkward and unnatural, which would be the case when omitting the “the” in “adenovirus was injected into the fourth ventricle”.

•    “The antibody was injected into the hippocampus…” (articles required to specify a particular antibody, presumably already referred to in the text, and a specific hippocampus, belonging to a subject already described).
•    “A new method of extraction was devised…” (“a” used rather than “the” because this statement introduces this method to the reader; therefore it is non-specific at that time. Once introduced to the reader, “the new method of extraction” should be used to refer to that method in the specific sense).

Nouns are used in the plural sense by adding an “s” to the end (in most cases). In the absence of an article, it can sometimes be unclear if the wrong sense (plural vs singular) has been used. For example, in the sentence “Acetyl group was added”, the reader is not clear whether the author means “An acetyl group was added” or perhaps “Acetyl groups were added”. Thus, when referring to multiple items, the plural sense should be used to avoid potential confusion. This is commonly forgotten when describing figures (use “arrowheads” rather than “arrowhead” where there is more than one in the figure; likewise, use “solid bars” rather than “solid bar” when referring to a bar chart with multiple bars).

•    “A biopsy was obtained…” (describing a single biopsy).
•    “Biopsies were obtained from eight patients…” (no article necessary unless these biopsies had already been introduced to the reader, in which case they would need to be referred to in the specific sense “The biopsies were obtained…”).

Dr Daniel McGowan
分子神经学博士
理文编辑学术总监



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