ABSTRACT
As the indefinite article is a weakened numeral, it is not used with" uncountables " (mass-words, Ch. XIV). And as one-and consequentlya(n)-has no plural, there is no plural indefinite article, unless you count thE: curious Sp. unos as one. But in a different way French has developed what may be called an indefinite article to be used with mass-word'3 and plurals in its " partitive article," as in du vin, de Z'or, des amis. This, of course, originated in a prepositional group, but is now hardly felt as such and at any rate can be used after another preposition: avec du vin I j'en ai parle a des amis. It is now just as good an adjunct as any numeral or as the synonym quelque(s) or E. some.
