Learn English – Creation of comprehensive flowchart for using English articles

articles

I am trying to create a comprehensive flowchart for using the English articles – the, a, an. Can you check it and give me some feedback about errors, inaccuracies, possible improvements? May be some branches can be simplified/generalized? Or some good examples can be added?

A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a workflow or
process. A flowchart can also be defined as a diagrammatic
representation of an algorithm, a step-by-step approach to solving a
task.
From Wikipedia.

The purpose:
It is hard to memorizing all article's rules in an unordered, unconnected form, so I want to have the scheme, which I can use for learning grammar rules in a convenient form, as well as a cheat list for rapidly looking in confusing cases. Also, I want to have an algorithm which I can execute step by step to get the right result (mentally or by a computer program). The scheme should have short, illustrative examples for each rule. In fact, I have used it for writing this paragraph, how many article's mistakes I did? 🙂

The flowchart for facilitation of determination necessity and a type of article. I created this flowchart using an online tool, so you can view the original in a resizable form and clone it for editing: link to the flowchart (doesn't work in Firefox today, use Google Chrome).

enter image description here

The sources I used:

  1. Grammar: Articles.

  2. When to use ‘the’ with country names (+ lakes, rivers, and more).

  3. Articles – when to use 'the' | English Grammar.

Some articles with similar approach:

  1. Articles: Choosing a/an, the, or nothing (ø) with proper nouns

  2. Articles: Choosing a/an, the, or nothing (ø) with common nouns

  3. “Using an articles chart with common nouns.” – the chart in the form of pdf file.

The tool I used: Online flowchart editor.

Best Answer

I think that while this chart will in many cases produce a correct answer, there are edge cases it does not catch. For example, in country names, until 1870 (Bismark's unification) the country now known as Germany was normally called "The Germanies". Cases such as "The Holy Land" do not seem properly handled. It also doesn't seem to catch when a plural countable noun should take an article:

John walked onto the lot. The cars there were all painted green.

There are no doubt other edge cases not currently covered. But more importantly, formatting this as a flowchart implies that there is always one correct answer to the question "is an article required". Often a noun or noun phrase may use or not use an article, perhaps with a change in meaning. And which nouns take articles changes over time, sometimes rather quickly, and may differ between varieties of English. Indian English, in particular, may differ from US English.

English in general has fewer rigid rules than learners used of other languages often suppose.

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