EX.3. Supply a or the in the text.

THE ARTICLE.

General notion.

       The article is a functional part of speech which serves to present the noun referent as a definite or indefinite entity. Thedoes notidentify the referent, but tells us that it can be identified somewhere, either earlier in the text or in the situation described or in our common knowledge of the world at large.The article a/an indicates that the noun referent is presented as belonging to a certain class of objects (It is often used in relative patterns like This is, It is, S/he is, There is). The usage of the definite article shows that a particular object is meant (Where are the flowers?). When a noun is used alone without any article this absence is considered to be significant. We call this position the ‘zero article’. It shows that class nouns in plural or abstract nouns or nouns of material are used in a general sense.

 

USE OF ARTICLES WITH COMMON NOUNS

The indefinite article.

1. The object expressed by the noun belongs to a certain class: She has a watch of her own. I liked the room because there were flowers in it.

       2. The noun is used in a general sense (the indefinite article has the meaning of ‘every’ ; the ‘zero’ article in plural can be substituted by ‘some’): 

A drowning man catches at a straw. Real friends should have everything in common.

       3. There are cases when the indefinite article has its old meaning of ‘one’:

A stitch in time saves nine. He had hardly spoken a worf inde they left Riccardo’s door…

The definite article

1. When the noun denotes an object or objects which the speaker singles out from all the objects of a given class if

i) it is clear from the situation (Did you like the play? Close the door, please! Show me the way to the station! Can you bring the milk from the kitchen? )

ii) the noun denotes a thing unique (the sun, the moon, the universe, the earth, the sky, the world, but space)

iii) with nouns used in a generic statements denoting a thing taken as a type, a genre: The telephone was invented in the 19^th cent. The tragedy and the comedy first appeared in Greece.

NB: A noun used in a generic sense should not be confused with a noun used in a general sense:

cf. A detective story helps to while away the time. (every, any)

Conan Doyle is a master of the detective story.

 

iv) the definite article is used with nouns modified by adjectives in the superlative, with nouns in word-groups with some of, many of, none of, most of, with nouns modified by the pronoun same, the adjective wrong, right, very, with substantivized adjectives the simple, the rich, the poor.

v) the speaker uses an attribute pointing out a particular object (That is the girl I’ve told you about). [When an object is singled out the definite article retains its demonstrative meaning – this, that.]

A particularizing attribute can be expressed by back reference, an of-phrase (a + noun + of) or an attributive clause. It is always used in post-position:

We stopped at a small village. The village was very pretty. He knocked at the door of a very neat house. The letters that I have here have come to me quite by accident.

A particularizing attribute which demonstrate an inner feature of a referent should not be confused with a descriptive attribute which is used to describe an object or to give some additional information about it: In a fortnight I got a letter, which I considered odd.

 

vi) the following words always need the definite article: the same, the following, the last, the next, the very, the only, the previous (the same class, the very thought, the only pupil, the next day…)

 

EX.1 Supply a/an or the in the text.

 

       During our journey we came to ¹_ bridge. As we were crossing ²_ bridge, we met ³ _ old man and spoke to him. ⁴ _ man refused to answer us at first. He could tell at a glance that we had escaped from ⁵_ prisoner-of-war camp and he was afraid of getting into trouble. We weren’t ⁶_ first prisoners of war to have escaped from ⁷ _ camp. As soon as Jim produced ⁸_ revolver, ⁹ _ man proved very willing to answer our questions. He told us exactly where we were and directed us to ¹⁰_ farm where we might find food.

 

EX.2. Put in a, some, any or ‘_’. Alternatives are possible.

 

AT YOUR SERVICE, SIR!

 

¹_ robots are common in industry and perhaps they will soon be common in the home. ²_ robot working in the home must be able to behave like ³_ human. You could ask it to make breakfast for you. ‘I’d like _ pot of coffee, please, and ⁵ _ boiled eggs.’ ‘How many sir?’ ‘Two please.’ You wouldn’t have to worry about bringing friends home to dinner.‘I’ve brought ⁶_ friends for dinner,’ you would say, ‘please, prepare ⁷ _ meal for six.’ Your robot would be ⁸ _ cook, ⁹ _ servant and ¹⁰ _ cleaner, and perhaps it could even do the shopping. ‘We haven’t got ¹¹_ tomatoes,’ you would say. ‘Be ¹²_ good robot and get some from the supermarket.’ ^{13 _} robots would never need to sleep, and would never complain. But I wouldn’t want them wandering round the house at night!

 

EX.3. Supply a or the in the text.

 

       We wanted to reach ¹_ small village and knew we must be near. Then we saw ²_ woman just ahead and some children playing. When we stopped to ask the way, ³_ woman said she was ⁴_ stranger herself. We called out to ⁵ _ children, but they ignored us. Just then two men came along and we asked them the way. ⁶_ men didn’t know; but at least they were helpful. ‘There’s ⁷_ signpost a mile along the road,’ one of them said . We drove to ⁸ _ signpost eagerly. This is what it said: NORTH POLE 6,000 MILES.

 

THE Use of the article with proper names

 

       We do not normally use articles in front of proper nouns. But there may be different ways of using articles with place names.

We use thewith the names of

a) seas – the Black Sea, the Irish Sea;

b) oceans – the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean;

c) rivers – the Thames, the Nile, the (river) Volga, the Don;

d) mountain chains: the Alps, the Himalayas, the Urals, the Caucasus, but Mount Kazbek, Mount Elbrus;

e) canals and channels: the Volga-Don Canal, the English Channel, the Strait of Dover;

f) deserts: the Sahara, the Gobi;

g) some countries: the USA, the FRG, the U.K., the United Kingdom of Great Britain;

h) some geographical areas: the Arctic, the Balkans, the Crimea, (the) Ukraine;

i) the four cardinal points: the North, the South, the West, the East;

j) whole families: the Browns, the Ivanovs.

 

We also often use the definite article to refer to ‘things that are unique’-

organizations: the United Nations (the UNO);

ships: the Titanic the Queen Victoria, the Ermak;

hotels: the Rossia, the Astoria, the Hilton, the Ritz;

documents: the Constitution;

public bodies: the police, the Government;

titles of books and films: The Odyssey;

climate: the weather;

historical events and places: the French Revolution, the Civil War, the Stalingrad Battle, the British Museum, the Tower;

official titles: the President;

political parties: the Labour Party;

the press (newspapers): The Economist, The Times;

beliefs: the gods;

the whole species: the dinosaurs.

BUT we treat other, similar, words as proper nouns and use no articles –

       countries: Turkey, Sweden, Scotland ( the Netherlands, the Congo, the Argentine);

       states: Ohio, Washington, Texas;

       streets: Oxford Street;

       buildings: Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace;

       historical reference: Ancient Rome;

       organizations: Congress, Parliament;

       titles of books and films: Jaws

       beliefs: God, Buddha;

       official titles: Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Colonel Johnson;

       the press (magazines): Punch, Time Magazine

Word groups denoting places that were named after some famous persons should not be used with the definite article – Kennedy Airport, Nobel Prize etc. Names of cinemas, theatres, restaurants, hospitals, zoos may be used with zero or the.

Remeber that we make abbreviations with the first letters of the most important words. Then we treat them like ordinary nouns – an LP = a Long Playing Record; a VW = a Volkswagen; an M.A. = a Master of Arts; a B.Sc. – a Bachelor of Science; a MP = a Member of Parliament; a UFO = an Unidentified Flying Object

We use the  in front of institutions when we can’t say them as a single word – the BBC = the British Broadcasting Corporation; the EC = the European Community, but NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Basic = Beginners’ All-purpose Instruction Code; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Ex.4. Fill in the gaps with articles wherever required.

a) in… North America; in … Far East; a classic example of … Gothic architecture; to be characteristic of … US; a book on … ancient history; a book on … history  of … ancient Rome; serve the interests of … world imperialism; devoted to … Dutch painting; devoted to … Dutch painting of the 17^th cent.; in … occupied Paris; in … Northern Caucasus.

… Nelson's tomb; … Nelson's Column; … Shakespear's birthplace; … Royal Shakespear Theatre; … Queen Victoria's reign; … Queen Victoria Memorial;.

… Buchingham Palace, …Kennedy Airport, … Columbus Circle; .. New York State; … Scotland Yard, … Hyde Park Corner; … Waterloo Bridge; … Harvard / London / Oxford / Moscow University.

 

b) This is … welcome news. Don't go out in … wet weather. To give … advice is easier than to follow it. It is … sound advice. She is making … good / slow progress.This is … reliable information. It is … hard work. They gave … evidence against him. It was … important evidence. The earthquake caused … considerable damage. He asked (me) for … permission / got permission / was given permission.

 

USE OF ARTICLE WITH NOUNS OF MATERIAL

1. When they are used in a general sense, when a certain material is meant, no article is used.: Wine is made of grape.

2. When a definite part of the substance is meant, the definite article is used: He gulped down a glass of the cherry which Cornelius had finally brought. The meat was good and he was hungry (the noun is modified by a particularizing attribute or is made definite by the situation).

3. When an indefinite part of the substance is meant, some is used.

 

USE OF ARTICLE WITH ABSTRACT NOUNS

       1. When they are used in a general sense, no article is used: While there is life there is hope.

       2. When they are modified by a particularizing attribute or when the situation makes the idea definite, they are used with the definite article:Last night I heard Carmen and enjoyed the music.

       3. The indefinite article is used with the nouns period, population, distance, height, salary followed by ‘of + numeral + noun’: He was out of the city for a period of ten days.

 

SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES IN THE USE OF ARTICLES

 

A/AN	ZERO ARTICLE		THE
a few a little	to have breakfast (dinner, supper…)	to be (not) true to fact	the other day the rest of
a lot of a great deal of a great number of	to come to power to commit murder	to be in debt to be in bed to be on holiday	the day after tomorrow
as a result as a rule	to declare war on		the day before tomorrow
at a distance	to get (ask, give) permission	to stay away from school	the whole of London
at a glance	to go by tram	to be expelled from school	the whole city (class)
80p a kilo 40km an hour	to go by water	to be on sick leave to be at fault	the more the merrier
in a panic in a passion	to go to town (the capital or in the neighbourhood)	to be in (alphabetical)n order	the sooner the better
in a low (loud) voice	to go on board a plane (a ship)	to be in good health (condition)	in the morning in the afternoon
in a wisper	to go to sea	to be (come) into fashion (out of fasion)	in the evening in the day time in the past
for a while on a large scale	to go to school / college	to be great fun	in the present
to be at a loss	to keep house to pay attention to	to be part of the plan (programme)	in the plural in the singular
to be in a hurry to be in a rage to commit a crime	to lose heart to lose control (consciousness)	to be in power	on the whole on the eve of
to have a good time	to make use of	to be at war (at peace)	on the one hand / on the other hand
to have an appetite	to take somebody prisoner (hostage)		out of the question
to have a bite to have a bath	to return from holiday	to be (not) true to fact	just the same
to have a cold to have a sore throat	to have measles, mumps, flu, blood pressure, hepatitis	in company in fact in mind	by the by by the way
to have a drink to have a look	to take place	in public in trouble	to keep the bed to keep the house
to go for a walk	to take part in	in time	to go to the club
to have a headache (ear/toothache)	to take notice of	in translation	to be on the safe side
to have a lesson	to take interest in		to go to the cinema / the theatre / the supermarket / the /bank
to have a mind to do smth	to take care of to take to heart	on Monday evening	to spend the weekend in the country / in the mountain / at the seaside
	to take offence to take hold	on board on deck	to look somebody in the face (in the eyes)
to have a rest to have a smoke	to travel first (tourist, business, economy) lass	on foot	to play the piano
to have a talk to have a walk	according to /behind / ahead of plan /schedule	from head to foot	to read in the original
	at down	out of doors	to tell the time
to fly into a passion	at first	side by side	to tell the truth
to take an interest in	at first sight	for (at) dinner	to come to the conclusion
to take a seat	at full speed (volume)	for ages, hours by chance	It’s a slip of the tongue
to tell a lie	at home	by heart	It’s a slip of the pen
What a shame!	at night	by land by water	It’s out of the question
It’s a pity	at present	by mistake	What’s the time?
It’s pleasure	at sunset	by means of	last time, month
It’s a shame	at table	by name	next day, year

 

EX.5. Translate sentences:

1. Things done in a hurry are done badly.

2. He was at a loss what to say.

3. We can't skate today. There is a great deal of snow on the ice.

4. It's a shame not to know these things.

5. It's a pity you didn't go to the concert last time.

6. Don't speak in a low voice.

7. I've a great mind to have a serious talk with her.

8. As a result of the inhabitants efforts the damaged city was soon rebuilt.

9. Last night we went to an evening party and had a very good time.

10. She saw at a glance that something had happened.

11. It's a pleasure to read a beautiful poetry.

 

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