§ 196. The absence of any article, which is sometimes referred to as the zero article, is as meaningful as their actual use. It is regularly observed with count nouns in the plural, with non-counts used in a general sense, with proper nouns.
§ 197. The indefinite article has no plural form and thus it cannot be used with nouns in the plural in any of its functions.
The plural form without an article corresponds to the classifying and generic uses of the indefinite article and sometimes to the generic use of the definite article.
Jane is a student.
A dog barks.
A man who has nothing to say has no words.
The tiger lives in the jungle.
Jane and Mary are students.
Dogs bark.
Men who have nothing to say have no words.
Tigers live in the jungle.
If the idea of number is retained, an indefinite pronoun (some, any, no), adjectives (several, a lot of, many), or a cardinal numeral accompanies the plural noun.
Have you a record teaching English pronunciation?
There grew a cherry-tree once.
Have you any records teaching English pronunciation?
They have some (several, many, ten) records of the kind.
There grew three (some, a lot of) cherry-trees once.
§ 198. Non-count nouns, abstract or material, when used in a general sense, are not preceded by any article, as in:
Time will show who is right.
He has such huge pride.
She said with astonishment, “Where are you, Maurice?”
We walked forward in silence.
They greeted him without enthusiasm.
Premodifiers of abstract non-count nouns do not influence the use of articles, they only restrict the meaning of the noun, as in: history - English history, medieval English history; music - folk music, pop music, classical music; art - modern art, abstract art; weather - nasty weather, fine weather; advice - valuable advice.
He doesn’t love abstract art.
The same refers to material non-counts beautiful silk, Venetian glass, stained glass.
However the indefinite article is used with both kinds of noun if the classifying idea predominates (An English grammar - a kind of it, a soil of it); with words denoting feeling the indefinite article suggests a manifestation of that feeling, with nouns of material a particular kind of the substance mentioned. In contexts of the kind non-counts are usually accompanied by descriptive attributes.
That, sir, was a profound knowledge of man.
He always had a love for the concrete.
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t painting with my father standing beside me.
I was no good at football, but does it make an unhappy boyhood?
It is incredible to me that there should be an after life.
She put down the mirror with a feeling of hopelessness.
In nouns which may function as both counts and non-counts the absence of the article indicates a non-count with general meaning, whereas the indefinite article shows that it is a count noun, abstract or concrete.
Compare the meanings in such pairs of nouns as:
Language is a means of communication.
It is always interesting to study a foreign language.
Light is necessary for life.
They saw a light in the distance.
Absence of the article before an originally count noun may suggest a shift in its meaning. Thus in to teach piano (violin) the noun piano means a subject to be taught, just as history, literature, etc., whereas in to play the piano the noun piano denotes a musical instrument with the article in its generic function. In such expressions as to go to school, to be at school the adverbial meaning predominates and the noun loses its nominal quality.
If partition or indefinite amount is meant, it is expressed by an indefinite pronoun (some, any) or a partitive noun (a piece, an item, a bit). With material nouns partitive meaning is also expressed with the help of nouns denoting measure or amount (a cup of tea, a glass of milk, a pint of beer, a slice of bread, a loaf of bread, a spoonful of medicine, a sack of coal, etc.).
All non-counts can be preceded by the definite article in its specifying function. Thus we say the art of the nineteenth century, the music of the Renaissance, the history of England, (but: English history) the history of the Middle Ages, and also: What’s the weather like today? How did you like the music?
Note the difference between English (French, Spanish) literature and the English (French, Spanish) language. Here literature is a non-count, whereas the word language is used as a count noun. The adjectives operate as specifiers restricting the abstract notion of language to one particular language.
Compare also the use of in darkness, in the darkness. The first suggests the state of darkness as such, the second is situationally or contextually determined, as in these two examples: The yard and the lane outside it were in darkness. In the darkness he could discern the figure of the watchman.
§ 199. Proper names point out individual objects. Their individualizing meaning makes the use of an article unnecessary. All proper names of living beings are situationally specified (when we say Tom, Mary, Mrs Brown, Mr Wilson, etc.), for there are hundreds if not thousands of people bearing the same name.
When a proper name is preceded by a modifier no article is used in case the latter denotes a title, relationship, or rank, or if the proper name is accompanied by adjectives which sometimes form part of it: simple Simon, lucky Jim, old Jolyon, young Jolyon, poor Smith, Miss Dodson, Mister Brown, Colonel Pickering, Queen Elisabeth, Professor Jones, President Kennedy, Doctor Manson.
When modified by other adjectives, not commonly used, proper names may take the definite article.
Use of the definite article before proper names
§ 200. The definite article is necessary:
1. When additional specification is needed. This is realized with a restricting attribute, usually formed as an of-phrase or a clause, or with the definite article alone, or a premodifier operating as one:
Gloria at twenty-six was still the Gloria of twenty.
Did Bait understand the England of today?
That’s not the George Lamb I knew.
“You are the Mr Murdstone who married the widow of my late nephew?” said my aunt.
“Why, she’s Sue Courtenay,” Gladys informed her uncle impressively.
“The Sue Courtenay! Why, don’t you know her?”
“Cap’n Kit, that’s my name.” “What? The Captain Kit? O’course I’ve heard of him.”
2. When the specifying premodifier denotes a profession or points out some peculiar feature or temporary state (often expressed by a participle): the playwright Pinter, the painter Reynolds, the electrician Smith, the unsophisticated Kitty, the susceptible Mr Snodgrass, the puzzled Henry, the calculating Becky, the brilliant George Osborne, the offended Soames.
3. Before a group of objects or persons bearing the same name and forming one whole: The Pennines, the Alps, the Rockies, the Urals - a group of mountains, a mountain range; the British Isles, the Philippines, the Canaries, the Hebrides, the Shetlands - a group of islands, an archipelago; the Browns, theTullivers - a family, a clan, as in: the Dobsons were a very respectable family indeed.
The absence of the article before a plural proper name suggests a mere plurality, as in: There are a lot of Wilsons, Browns and Smiths in England.
4. Before proper nouns formed by means of substantivized adjectives: the Pacific (ocean), the Atlantic (ocean), the Mediterranean (Sea), the Argentine (Republic), but Argentina (because it is a proper name).
5. Before nicknames: the Gadfly, the Scout.
Use of the indefinite article before proper names
§ 201. The indefinite article is necessary:
1. When the person mentioned belongs to the family bearing the same name:
Mrs Tulliver had been a Miss Dodson...
No daughter of the house could be indifferent of having been born a Dodson, rather than a Gibson or a
Watson.
2. When nothing is known about the person mentioned but the name.
This usage corresponds to the Russian word «íåêèé».
There’s a young American girl staying at the hotel. She’s a Miss Render.
3. When an originally proper name comes to be used as a common noun (usually as a result of metonymy or metaphor), as in:
This man doesn’t know a Rubens from a Rembrandt (pictures of these painters).
There is in Gary’s work the naturalness and zest of a Defoe, the generosity of a Fielding (like that of
Defoe, like that of Fielding).
Everybody isn’t a Mary Pickford (a film star like Mary Pickfbrd).
He was a Crusoe with no need to look for footprints in the sand (a man like Crusoe).
‘Have a cigar.’ ‘If it is a real Havana.’
4. When some phase, aspect, or state is meant, whether it refers to a living being or a geographical place:
John was inside, a very different John from the lad he had known seven years ago.
And now here was Gulliver’s girl Barbara, that mournful-eyed waif from an unhappy France.
So at night Castle dreamt of a South Africa reconstructed with hatred.
(Compare with the same use of the indefinite article before unique and non-count nouns.)
§ 202. Absence of the articles in set expressions
at dinner (breakfast, etc.)
at first notice
at first sight
at night
at table
at war
in search of
in spite of
by airmail
by letter
by telegram
by air
by car
by land
by plane
by sea
by ship (boat)
by train
by tram
by tube
by water
out of date
out of order
out of place
out of sight
arm in arm
day after day
day by day
hand in hand
night after night
night by night
a kind of
a sort of
place,
book,
task, etc.
by accident
by chance
by mistake
by name
by sight
on account of
on condition that
to be in
to go to
bed
from beginning to end
from day to day
from east to west
from head to foot
from morning to (till) night
from side to side
in debt
in demand
in secret
in sight
in time
to be at
to go to
to come to
to come from
to leave
school,
college,
(the) university
to be at
to leave
to take to
hospital
to be at
to go to
sea
in addition to
in (on) behalf of
in care of
in case of
in charge of
in reference to
to be in
to go to
church
to be at
to put to
prison
to be in
to be out of
to go to
town
to ask (for) permission
to catch (lose) sight of
to give offence (permission)
to give way to
to keep house (to do housework)
to keep time
to lose touch with
to lose track of
to make fun of
to make use of
to pay attention to
to set fire to
to shake hands with
to take care of
to take notice of
In these set expressions nouns combine with prepositions or verbs and acquire a new shade of meaning, expressing an adverbial relation, a state or a process. Concrete count nouns lose their nominal meaning. Thus He is in bed may mean He is ill, or He is asleep, or He is not up. But we say: There were no chairs enough and we sat on the bed.
My brother goes to school (college) means He learns there. However, if we mean the building or the institution, we use an article according to the general rules, as in: We shall meet at the school. The school isn't far from our home. Ours is a very good school. Parents are regularly invited to the school.
The noun town without an article means the nearest big centre of population as contrasted to the country or a smaller town, it may also denote the central part of a big town, as opposed to its suburbs.
To be at sea may mean "far away from the land" or (figuratively) "to feel puzzled"; to go to sea is "to become a sailor". But we say: The swimmer jumped into the sea. We lived near the sea, etc.
No article is used as a rule when two notions, very closely related, are mentioned, as in:
They looked like mother and daughter.
We are no longer boy and girl.
It’s no use interfering into a quarrel between husband and wife.
§ 203. Notes on the use of nouns denoting time and meals.
Nouns denoting time are treated as abstract nouns bordering on proper names. No article is used with reference to parts of the day or of the year, light or darkness, as in:
Evening came. Night fell. Day broke. We’ll wait till night. Twilight is the faint light just before sunset and
just after sunrise. Winter set in. “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
It was early morning (late afternoon, Friday morning, Saturday night, etc.).
It was early spring (late autumn, etc.).
They met at noon (at sunset, at midnight).
However articles may occur with such words according to the common usage of the articles in their (a) specifying, (b) generic, (c) classifying or (d) numerical functions.
a) The evening was calm. The winter is severe this year.
The twilight was sad and cloudy.
We stayed at my aunt’s for the night. (òîé íî÷üþ, â òó íî÷ü)
We watched the sunrise from the balcony.
The winter of 1978 was severe.
It happened on the morning of April 12th.
b) Evening is the latest part of the day.
Tell me the four seasons of the year!
c) It was a wonderful day (a hot summer, a warm morning, a gloomy afternoon, a glorious sunrise, etc.).
That was a restless night.
d) I’ll ring you up in a day or two.
When names of meals denote simply an occasion or process of taking food, they are used without an article in phrases and patterns, such as:
to have (take, serve, cook) dinner, breakfast, lunch, supper;
to go to (to be at) dinner, lunch, etc.;
Lunch is at two p.m.
Dinner is ready (served, laid).
What have you bought for lunch (dinner, supper)
What shall we have for supper (dinner)?
An article is used mainly when a formal meal is meant or when the notion referred to is specified or classified.
They gave a dinner (luncheon, supper) in honour of the ambassador (a kind of reception)
The dinner you cooked was beyond all expectations! It was a marvellous dinner.
Note on the use of next and last as noun premodifiers
§ 204. Nouns with these premodifiers are not preceded by any articles when counting from the moment of speaking, as in;
We’ll speak about it next time (next Friday, next month, next spring, next year):
We spoke about it last time (last Friday, last month, etc.).
The definite article occurs when the situation is viewed from some moment in the past or in the future and when the noun is modified by a specifying attribute or attributive clause.
We spent (or: we’ll spend) a week in the Crimea, and the next two weeks in the Caucasus.
The last time I saw Mary she looked a picture of health.
We shall resume our talk the next time I see you.
Omission of the articles
§ 205. The omission of an article differs from the absence of an article in that it is stylistically or traditionally determined. It occurs in cases where economy of expression is required and is often accompanied by other ellipses, such as omission of prepositions, auxiliaries, etc.
1. In newspaper headlines:
‘Girl saw Flame’, ‘CTV is winning Fireside Battle’.
(Cp. the text of the newspaper report that follows the headline: Commercial television is winning the
battle of the fireside.)
2. In telegrams:
Attending cytological congress Rome will stop few days on way love John.
3. In newspaper announcements:
Anna Linden, daughter of a Manchester engineer, made her debut...
4. In stage directions:
At rise of curtain... goes to telephone; stands at door.
5. In reference entries or notes:
See table Taxonomic Classification on following page.
Hellman, Lilian, American dramatist, author of a succession of dramas ...
Use of the articles with nouns in some syntactical functions
§ 206. 1. A noun in the subject position is usually preceded by the definite article in its specifying function, or by either of the articles in their generic function. In these cases the noun denotes some notion forming the starting point of the utterance and therefore is presented as known to both the speaker and the addressee.
The way was long. The wind was cold.
The minstrel was infirm and old.
The indefinite article in its classifying function occurs to express the idea of novelty or unexpectedness, no matter what the position of the subject is:
On the opposite side of the landing a girl was standing.
A girl was standing on the opposite side of the landing.
Such sentences are translated into Russian with inverted word order:
A similar use of the indefinite article occurs in sentences with the existential construction There is (comes, appears, etc.), as in:
There is an exception to the rule.
2. When used as a predicative the noun is usually preceded by the indefinite article in its classifying function. The position of the predicative is most suitable for the manifestation of the classifying function and for giving some new information:
This is a house.
George is a telephone engineer.
The definite article before a noun in this position suggests the identity of the object expressed by the predicative noun with that expressed by the subject:
This is the house that Jack built.
He is the telephone engineer (the one we have sent for).
The absence of the article before predicative count nouns indicates:
a) that the noun has lost its original meaning and suggests some social position, post or title:
Mrs Mantoffle was president of all sorts of societies and committees.
With this knowledge he can be king.
He was on the programme as assistant stage Manager.
J. F. Kennedy was elected President in I960.
b) that the idea of quality or state predominates over the idea of thingness (usually when the noun is
preceded by ‘more’ or followed by ‘enough’).
Fool, fool that she was to get into such a state.
But you’ll be man enough to tell me the truth.
Randal was in the end more artist than scientist.
3. With the noun functioning as objects any article can be used depending on how the speaker formulates his thought; the indefinite article is preferable after verbs of possession and obligatory in verb-object phrases denoting a single action such as to have a smoke, to give a look, etc.
4. The use of the articles with nouns in the function of an adverbial modifier depends partly on the type of adverbial modifier.
In adverbial modifiers of place the definite article is used in its specifying function to identify the exact place:
Jane is in the garden.
The indefinite article in its classifying function is preferable when the attention is focused on a description of the place rather than on its identification, as in: Crystal lived alone in a small shabby house.
In adverbial modifiers of comparison the indefinite article is preferably used in its classifying function with the generic tinge since comparison is drawn with a representative of the class: e.g. I can read you like a book. It is used also in phraseological combinations as strong as a lion, as hard as a nail, as meek as a mouse, etc.
5. In attributes the indefinite article is used to emphasize the importance and novelty of the notion mentioned. Therefore we find the indefinite article in such phrases as the son of a teacher, the daughter of a doctor, or a doctor's daughter, it may be paraphrased as Her father is a doctor. She is the daughter of the doctor uggests reference to a definite person known from the situation equal to our doctor, the doctor here.
6. In apposition either of the articles can be used, depending on whether the noun in apposition serves to classify or to identify the notion expressed by the noun:
I've got acquainted with Mr Smith, an architect.
We've got acquainted with Mr Smith, the architect.
There is a substantial difference in the communicative value of the apposition depending on the use of the articles. The indefinite article implies that the listener (reader) does not know anything about the person or thing denoted by the head-noun and requires some new knowledge about it. Here the indefinite article has a classifying function:
Have you ever heard of 'Caesar's Wife', a play by Maugham?
Paul Long, a neighbour of yours, will be visiting us this evening.
The definite article implies that the listener (reader) is supposed to be familiar with the person or thing mentioned from his general knowledge or the situation
I want to speak to Mr Smith, the electrician.
"Hamlet", the tragedy by Shakespeare, has been screened many a time.
Note a restrictive appositions in noun phrases of the kind: the (famous) novelist Gr. Greene, the novel "The Heart of the Matter", the number ten ( (but: page number 10), the noun "story" the letter "e".