I saw a pretty girl of about 20 in the corner of the room. Her face was unusually pale.
Somebody threw a large snowball at me as I was walking along the road.
As is seen from the given examples, a noun with the indefinite article often has one or more descriptive attributes preceding or sometimes following it. It must be pointed out that the 'zero article' also has the meaning of indefiniteness and novelty, so whenever the situation requires the use of 'о/ал', but the type or the form of the noun (uncountable, countable plural) does not permit it, the zero article is used.
This car doesn Y use petrol, it's battery-powered. Intelligence is something you are born with, not something you learn.
The typical uses of the indefinite and the zero articles are demonstrated by the following sentence-patterns:
| 1. a predicative noun | Mr younger sister is a first-year student. Is it tea or coffee, waiter? They are experienced engineers. |
| 2. a noun-object not mentioned in the context (after 'have', 'have got', 'see', 'buy', 'eat', etc.) | I've got an envelope, but I haven 't got a stamp. We went to the market to buy tomatoes and cucumbers. I never eat garlic. Are you interested in science? |
| 3. a singular or plural noun after 'there is (are) ' | There is a bedroom to the right. There are apples and pears in the basket. Wliile there is life - there is hope. |
| 4. exclamatory sentences beginning with 'what' | What a lovely day! What juicy oranges! What tender meat! |
| 5. after 'such ' as an intensifying adjective | He is such a wise man! You shouldn 't say such words! |
B. The Definite Article
The article 'the'derives from the Old English demonstrative pronoun 'se' (that), which accounts for deflniteness as its basic meaning: both the speaker and the hearer know what is being talked about.
The definiteness of the thing, object, etc. arises from a) an earlier mention of the noun in the context.
Sue and Frank have got two children: a girl and a boy. The girl is a student and the boy is still at school.
A man came up to a policeman and asked him a question. The policeman didn 't understand the question and so he asked the man to repeat it.
I've recently bought new jeans. The jeans cost me a pretty penny.
I found cheese and yogurt in the fridge. The cheese was absolutely stale.
b) the presence of a specifying (particularizing) modifier
(a prepositional phrase, an attributive clause, etc).
Who was the woman you were talking to just now? The house beyond the church was for sale.
|
|
|
c) the uniqueness of the object or group of objects denoted by the noun: the sun, the moon, the earth, the world, the horizon, the equator; the Queen (of this country), the kitchen (of this house), the children (belonging to a particular family), etc.
Shut the door! (there is only one open)
I had some trouble with the car. (I own one car only)
The definite article is not restricted in its usage: it can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
Wow, the sand is really hot! (an uncountable nounof material)
The film wasn 't good but we liked the music, (an uncountable abstract noun)
Come and look at the horses! (a countable noun, plural)
The definite article can also precede a proper noun. It is used, in particular, with nouns denoting the name of the whole family (the Browns) or geographical names such as waterways (the Indian Ocean, the Volga, the Naroch, but Lake Naroch), mountain ranges (the Alps, the Urals, but Everest), and the name of cardinal points (the South, the North}. It must be remembered, however, that no article is used with the names of the continents (Asia, Europe), countries (Russia. Belarus, France), mountain peaks and towns.* There are a great number of set expressions and phrases in English in which the use of the indefinite, definite or zero article does not depend on the context. Memorizing some of them will help the learner to cope with the difficulties of using the article. Below is a list of such phrases.
With the indefinite article
as a result as a rule as a matter of fact at a glance at a gulp at a distance in a hurry in a loud/low voice in a sense
in a whisper in a mess in a good humour in a way in a while in a rush it is a shame it is a pity it is a pleasure once a year/week to have a bath to have a shower to have a wash to have a meal to have a cold to have a row to a certain degree to have a swim to have a smoke to have a rest to have a good time to have a headache (a toothache, etc.) to go for a walk to tell a lie to be at a loss to do smb a favour to make a mistake to give a hand to a certain extent
|
|
|
With the definite article
all the same at the latest at the time at the moment by the way for the time being in the afternoon/ evening/morning in the singular in the plural in (the) winter/ summer/spring in the day-time in the past/present in the centre in the middle in the distance in the doorway in the original in the shade on the whole on the spot on the one hand on the other hand on the safe side out of the question the other day the day after tomorrow the wrong side the right route most of the time the only place (but an only child) the same opinion
the poor/the rich the sick the wounded the unemployed the needy the handicapped to tell the truth to tell the time to keep the house to make the bed under the influence (of) to lay the table to make the most (best) of smth
to do the washing up
With the zero article
arm in arm at dawn at dusk at daybreak at twilight at night at midnight at sunrise (sunset) at noon at first sight
at night at home at present at dinner beyond recognition by phone/by radio by mistake by chance by name
by accident from beginning to end from east to west at work from side to side for sale hand in hand in charge
in future in service in demand in spite of in (on) time in search (of) in secret in sight in (for) fun in fact
in debt in detail in person it's time on board the ship on fire on sale on leave on hand/at hand/off hand on account (of) on condition (that) out of control out of date out of order out of sight out of place from head to foot
step by step to be/to stay in bed to get out of bed/town to be at home/school/college to be in hospital to go to hospital/school/ college/university/prison/church to go home/down-town to leave school/home to travel/go/come/get by bus/car to stay/invite for lunch/tea/dinner to have breakfast/lunch/tea to do research
to be in trouble to get into trouble to lose control to be in despair to pay attention (to) to take care (of) to make fun (of) to have great fun to shake hands (with) to keep time to ask for permission to study mathematics, physics, history, but the history of Art to speak English, but the English language to play football, tennis, etc., but to play the piano/violin, etc. a kind/sort of place (book, house, etc.)
|
|
|
Дата добавления: 2018-09-20; просмотров: 369; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!