7. When we talk about people or things "in general" (with plural no article is used).
□ A cat is a domestic animal.
□ Cats are domestic animals.
8. We use a/an in detached apposition:
□ My friend, a history teacher, knows a lot about it.
But: Pushkin, the great Russian poet,...
Ivanov, the inventor of this machine,...
9. We use a/an after the attributes such, rather, quite:
□ He is such a clever man.
□ She is quite a young girl.
□ It was rather a difficult job.
10. A/an with price, distance and frequency:
price/weight: 80 p a kilo distance/fuel: 30 miles a (or to the) gallon distance/speed: 40 km an hour frequency/time: twice a day
11. A/an or zero with reference to illness:
1. use a/an with these illnesses: a cold, a headache, a sore throat.
2. use or omit a/an with these: catch (a) cold, have (a/an) backache/earache/ stomach-ache/toothache.
3. no article at all with these plurals: measles, mumps, shingles.
4. no articles with these: (high) blood pressure, flu*, gout, hepatitis.
EXERCISES__________________________________________________________
Ex. 1. (A, B) Supply a/an where necessary. Note where you can use a/an or zero (-).
1. I'm going to bed. I've got _a_ headache.
2. I was awake all night with______ toothache.
* Flu - short for influenza
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3. IthinkGillan'sgot_______ flu.
4. The children are in bed with______ mumps.
5. Mind you don't catch_______ cold.
6. ______ measles can be very unpleasant.
7. Don't come near me. I've got_______ sore throat.
8. I think I've got______ cold!
9. I've had______ terrible backache.
10. I often suffer from______ backache.
Ex. 2. (А, В, С) Translate the words in brackets.
1. The apples are (90 рублей за 1 килограмм).
2. I take these pills (два раза в день).
3. We are going (100 км в час).
4. I do the dishes (1 раз в день).
5. Rubbish is collected (три раза в неделю).
6. Olive oil costs (20 рублей за литр).
Ex. 3. (В, С) Say what articles you would use for the italicized nouns in this text.
Вот это здоровье !*
"Я думаю, это все, миссис Грант," - сказал доктор Колдл и протянул ей список предписаний. Список был очень длинным, и миссис Грант чуть удар 2 не хватил пока дочитала его до конца 3 . У нее болела голова *, у нее была простуда 5 , у нее начинался грипп 6 . В довершение всего, у одного из ее детей была свинка 7 . "Я также прописал вам таблетки от повышенного давления *," - сказал доктор Колд. "Сколько таблеток я должна принимать?" " Одну таблетку 9 после каждого приема пищию , то есть три таблетки вдень "." Миссис Грант поблагодарила доктора™ и с трудом™ дошла до аптекиы . Она протянула свой длинный список аптекарю ^5 -мистеру Байту. Мистер Байт весело приветствовал ее. "Вот это здоровье!" сказал он, взглянув на список ™ .
1.2 THE USE OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE (THE)
The definite article is used :
1. When the speaker and the listener know what particular object is meant:
□ How did you like the play?
□ Where is the key?
NB! There is a difference between knowing what object is spoken about and knowing the object itself.
□ A. I can't speak to the girl. I have never seen her. Won't you speak to her?
B. But I don't know the girl either.
2. When the speaker uses an attribute pointing out a particular object - a particularising
attribute.
□ This is the house that Jack built.
□ Show me the telegram you received yesterday.
* Here's Health 184
□ The pictures in this book are very interesting.
□ The walls of my room are painted blue.
NB! A particularising attribute should not be confused with a descriptive attribute, which is used to describe an object or to give some additional information about it. A descriptive attribute does not affect the use of the article:
□ I have a wonderful clock which is 100 years old.
□ We went to the lake which was stormy that day.
□ We've received a letter containing interesting information about...
3. When the situation (context) itself makes the object definite:
□ The wedding looked sad. The bride was too old and the bridegroom was too
young.
4. When the noun denotes a thing unique: the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, the Universe,
the Galaxy, the Solar system, etc.
□ The sun was getting warmer.
□ The earth doesn't belong to us.
NB! The indefinite article can be used when we mean a certain state or aspect of the sun, the moon, the sky:
□ A pearl-white moon smiles through the green trees.
5. With nouns used in a generic sense (as a type or a genre):
□ The tragedy and the comedy appeared in Greece.
□ The pine grows in the North.
□ When was the telephone invented?
NB! In a generic sense:
- With the noun man no artticle is used.
□ His trust in man has been destroyed.
- With the noun woman the definite article or no article is used.
□ He had always been interested in that mysterious being - the woman.
6. With the nouns modified by:
a) adjectives in the superlative degree
□ Moscow has the best underground in the world.
□ The highest mountains are in Asia.
b) the pronouns same, all and the adjectives wrong, right, very, next, following, last, only,
whole:
□ I found him in the last carriage of the train.
□ You're the very person I need.
□ We sat in the first row.
□ We'll have more time the following week.
NB! "Next" meaning future and "last" meaning past are used without articles - next month, last week.
c) the ordinal numerals first, second, etc.
7. With substantivized adjectives and participles: the old, the dead, the rich, the poor,
the blind, the wounded, the sick, etc.
□ There are special schools for the blind and the deaf.
□ Do you think the rich should pay more taxes?
8. We use the when there is only one of something: the President, the manager, the director,
the captain.
□ Paris is the capital of France.
□ The captain was standing on the deck.
□ The president is elected every 4 years.
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9. We use the with the words: the country, the mountains, the seaside, the weekend,
the cinema, the theatre, the radio, the police, the firebrigade, the army, the post office,
the bank, the doctor, the dentist, though we don't necessarily mean something
in particular:
□ I must go to the bank to change some money.
□ John is not very well. He went to the doctor.
□ We are spending the weekend in the country/in the mountains/at the seaside.
□ We went to the cinema last night.
□ Do you often go to the theatre?
□ I heard the news on the radio. But: We watch television (without the).
10. We also use the for musical instruments:
□ Can you play the guitar?
□ The piano is my favourite instrument.
11. We use the in front of the nationality nouns (in general).
They can be divided into four groups:
a) the + -ese/ss: the Chinese, the Japanese, the Portuguese, the Swiss;
b) the + plural ending.
-ians: the Austrians, the Belgians, the Brazilians, the Egyptians, the Russians;
-ans: the Americans, the Koreans, the Mexicans;
-s: the Arabs, the Germans, the Greeks, the Poles, the Scots, the Turks;
c) the Danes/the Danish, the Spaniards/the Spanish, the Swedes/the Swedish;
d) the + ch/sh: the British, the English, the French, the Irish. But: We say: She is an American.
12. the is used to refer to "things that are unique":
- organisations: the United Nations (but Congress, Parliament)
- ships: the Titanic
- documents: the Constitution
- public bodies: the police, the Government
- climate: the weather
- historical events: the French Revolution
- political parties: the Labour Party
- the press: the Times
1.3 THE ZERO ARTICLE
BASIC USES OF THE ZERO ARTICLE (-):
No article (zero) is used:
1. In front of plural countable nouns used in general statements, e.g. for:
- people: Men are fond of hunting.
- animals: Dogs should eat meat.
- food: Oranges are good for you.
- places: Cities are polluted by cars.
- products: Shops are open on Sundays.
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2. In front of uncountable nouns (always singular) used in general statements, e.g. for:
- food: I like ice-cream.
- colours: Red is my favourite colour.
- abstract: No news is good news.
- substances: Coffee is produced in Brazil.
- activities: Smoking is not allowed here.
- languages: Chinese is difficult to study.
3. In front of most proper nouns (names spelt with a capital letter):
□ Tolstoy is my favourite writer.
□ This was made by Fassbinder and Son.
By comparison, we use the when the reference is specific, not in general statements:
a) in front of plural countable nouns: The oranges from Spain are sweet.
b) in front of uncountable nouns: I used all the butter that was in the butter dish.
c) in front of proper nouns: I mean the Tolstoy who wrote "Peter I".
EXERCISES
Ex. 4. ( А , В , С ) Say what articles you would use for the italicized nouns in these situations.
1. - Кем ты хочешь быть, Майк?
- Я хочу быть учителем .
- Почему?
- Я люблю детей .
2. К вам подбегает мальчик с газетами и спрашивает:
- Вы не купите газету , пожалуйста?
- Купите одну из газет , пожалуйста.
3. Вы видите у сына новую ручку и говорите: "Где ты купил ручку ?"
4. Ваш брат идет в библиотеку и вы его просите: "Принеси мне, пожалуйста, английский словарь ." - "Я не думаю, что в нашей библиотеке есть английские словари ."
5. На вопрос по телефону, что делает ваша сестра, вы ответили: "Она читает книгу . Она любит читать книги ."
6. На столе тарелки с пирожными . "Можно мне взять пирожное , мама?"
7. Вчера мы купили новый стол . Я попробовала работать за ним. Стол неудобен для письма.
8. Староста напоминает дежурному: "Сегодня твоя очередь мыть столы ."
9. Вы видите в руках у мальчика камень и просите: "Отберите у мальчика камень , пожалуйста."
10. Решив разбить палатку , вы говорите: "Найди где-нибудь камень , будем забивать колья."
11. Вы получили комнату . В ней абсолютно нет мебели . "Прежде всего мне необходим стол ," - думаете вы.
12. Мальчик говорит своим родителям: "В следующем году у нас будут столы вместо парт ."
13. "Посмотри на дуб . Ему, наверное, сто лет."
14. "Давайте посадим дуб . Он дает много тени."
15. "Наш парк преобразился: там посадили много новых деревьев . В основном это дубы и липы ."
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16. Дубы , которые мы посадили в парке , уже выросли.