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A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines.
A library is a collection of books.
The noun preceded by the generic indefinite article may be modified by an attribute which restricts the class
represented by the object mentioned or narrows the scope of reference, but does not individualize it.
A complex sentence has two or more clauses.
A man who looks after the books in a library is called a librarian.
The indefinite article in its generic function is often used in proverbs and sentences expressing a general
truth.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
An elephant never forgets.
As a man sows, so he shall mow.
With the nouns in the plural in this case no article is used. It should be noted that the generic function of the
indefinite article, though akin to the classifying function, is different not only in its meaning, but also in its role
in the process of communication. In the majority of cases a noun with the indefinite article in its generic
function is the starting point of the utterance, whereas a noun with the indefinite article in its classifying
function used as subject or predicative presents a new item of information, which is the most important part of
the utterance.
§ 189. In its numerical function the indefinite article retains its original meaning of the cardinal numeral
one.
The Indian summer returned for a day.
Of course I won’t say a word.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
A stitch in time saves nine.
The numerical function of the indefinite article is evident with nouns denoting units of measure (time,
distance, length, weight, etc.): 60 miles an hour, ten shillings a yard. The wireless had become a ton weight. We
walked a mile or two.
The function of the indefinite article is also numerical in noun phrases with an ordinal numeral as
premodifier, where the article suggests the meaning one more, another:
In this final chapter, we come to a third way in which one may view these parts of the sentence.
The indefinite article in its numerical function may signal a change in the meaning of a non-count making it
a count. Thus an ice-cream, a coffee, a tea, a beer, a whisky, etc. mean a portion of, a glass of, a pint of, etc.:
David has ordered a second whisky.
The three main functions of the indefinite article are interrelated, one of them predominating in the context.
Thus in the sentence I’ve bought a new dictionary the function of the article is classifying. The numerical idea
is implied, but it is not conspicuous enough. If the speaker is interested in number he must say: I’ve bought one
dictionary or I want only one dictionary.
On the other hand when the article is used in its numerical sense, the classifying function coexists with the
numerical function. Thus in the proverb An apple a day keeps the doctor away the idea of number (one apple,
one day) goes together with the idea of class (a kind of fruit, a unit of time),
In the generic function the ideas of oneness and class are combined, but there is no reference to a specific
existing thing, person or notion. If we say A triangle has three sides we mean one triangle and a certain class
of geometrical figures, but we do not refer the figure drawn on the blackboard to the class mentioned. To
express the latter idea we must say The figure is a triangle. The same applies to the following sentences: I
wanted to be a doctor where we deal with a classifying meaning of the article, but A doctor is an intelligent
man - with generic.