Itwas a reliefto know that she was safely home, b) What a disappointment!What a pity!

Apposition:Margaret, daughter of a history professor,was work- ing as secretary to a Labour member. But usually we find the definite article here, e.g. Predicative:She was the wife of a local tradesman.

He is heir to a rich manufacturer.

County committee.

Predicative: Hewas an extremely boring fellow.

Apposition: Hart, an uneasy nervous man, made a few sarcastic

remarks.

2) The definite article, in accordance with its individualizing
function, serves to show that the speaker or writer is referring to
a definite person or object. As a rule, the noun in this case has a
limiting attribute, e.g.

Predicative: Philip had been the hero of his childhood.
Apposition: Then Jack, the most impudent person there, in-
terrupted me.

In addition to this rule it should be mentioned that a noun in
apposition is also used with the definite article when the speaker
takes it for granted that the hearer knows the person in question,
e.g. "What is it, Maty?" "It's Mr Hooker, the newspaper editor,

he wants to see you."
As the invited entered the house they were greeted by Elsie,

the maid.
Erich Maria Remarque, the German-born anti-war writer,

said that his novels were successful because in them he told
"about a generation which had been destroyed by war in
spite of the fact that it escaped death."

3) Nouns used predicatively or in apposition may have no arti-
cle. This is found in the following cases:

a) when they denote a position (rank, state, post or occupation)
which is unique. Note that the noun in this case usually has an of
phrase attribute, e.g.
Predicative: Mike Slattery was chairman of the Republican

Apposition: W. Carl Johnson, Superintendent of the School, re-
ceived me in his office.
Occasionally the definite article is also used in such cases, e.g.
Predicative: I think we all realize that Mr Passant has been the
leader of our group.
Apposition: So one day I took the opportunity to talk to Mr

Руке, the assistant director of the firm.

b) when they denote a relationship and stress is laid on the social
position of the person expressed by the subject (or the head-noun).
The noun is usually modified by an of-phrase in this case, e.g.
Predicative: Mrs Nelson was wife of the manager of the firm.

One of these young men was the son of an eminent
writer.

Apposition: Ann, the daughter of the landlady, cooked break-
fast, for the boarders.

Then I was introduced to Charles March, the nephew
of our host.

Note. On the whole, with the nouns son and daughter used predicatively or in
apposition we find the following three variants:

a. She is the daughter of a doctor {which is the most common variant express-
ing mere relationship).

b. She is a daughter of a doctor (which expresses the idea that the doctor has
more than one daughter, the variant is not used unless this idea becomes im-
portant).

с She is daughter of a doctor (which describes the social position of the person
in question).

c) when nouns used predicatively serve to denote a certain
characteristic of the person indicated by the subject. The noun
predicative is usually followed by enough here. (This case is not
found with nouns in apposition.)

e.g. He isn't fool enough to believe that sort of thing.
She is woman enough to understand it.

d) when predicative nouns are used in clauses of concession
with inverted word-order.

e.g. Child though she was, she had suffered much.
Boy as he was, he was chosen their leader.

Constructions of this kind are characteristic only of literary
style.

Note. There is no article with the predicative noun in the phraseological units
to turn traitor, to turn pirate, to turn miser.

§ 24. In English there are a number of verbs which in the Ac-
tive Voice require the use of nouns as objective predicatives (a)
and in the Passive Voice — as subjective predicatives (b).

e.g. a) They thought him a prig.

They named the child John.
b) He was thought a prig.
The child was named John.

The number of verbs which can be used in sentences con-
taining an objective or a subjective predicative expressed by a
noun is limited. The most commonly used of them are: to appoint,
to call, to choose, to elect, to fancy, to imagine, to make, to
name, to think.

Note. There are a number of other verbs requiring the same construction but
they belong to literary style. Some of these verbs may be used both in the passive
and active constructions; others occur only in one of them.

The use of articles with nouns which serve as objective (a) and
subjective (b) predicatives is similar to that of predicative nouns
and nouns in apposition (see "Articles", § 23).

e.g. a) They appointed him a member of the delegation.

We elected him an honorary member of the Committee.
He fancied her the most wonderful woman in the world.
They chose him chairman of the Society.
They appointed him secretary of the new Committee.
b) He was appointed a member of the delegation.

He was elected an honorary member of the Committee.
She was thought the most impudent little flirt in London.
He was chosen chairman of the Society.
He was appointed secretary of the new Committee.

Note. In the sentences They took him prisoner and He was taken prisoner, They
called him names and He was called names we are dealing with set phrases.

§ 25. The rules given for the use of articles with predicative
nouns and nouns in apposition also hold good for nouns intro-
duced by as.

e.g. I regarded my uncle as a terrible tyrant.
He meant it as a joke but forgot to smile.
He went to the conference as the head of the delegation.
He acted as interpreter for Mr March.
They nominated him as Lord Treasurer of the Council.

Although the use of articles with nouns introduced by as is, on
the whole, similar to that with predicative nouns and nouns in ap-
position, there is a deviation from the general rule — the indefi-
nite article need not always be used after as.

e.g. Rebecca was now engaged as (a) governess.

The man had agreed to serve as (a) witness.

Mr Stapleton had persuaded a leather merchant to take my fa-
ther on as traveller ('коммивояжер').

"I can't see him doing much good as a traveller," said my
aunt.

Note. The above rules do not concern nouns introduced by as used for compar-
ison. In this case the articles are used in accordance with the general rules for
countable nouns.

e.g. The city looked to him as brilliant as a precious stone.
You were as white as the sheet in your hands.

§ 26. When nouns denoting titles, military ranks, or social
standing are followed by a proper name they are used without any
article, as in: Colonel Holmes, Doctor Smith, Professor Jones, Aca-
demician Fedorou, Lieutenant-General Rawdon, President Wilson,
Prime Minister Forbes, Queen Elisabeth, King George, Lord By-
ron, Lady Windermere, Sir William, etc. In such combinations
only the proper name is stressed.

Note 1. But we say: The doctor has come. The Prime Minister made an an-
nouncement yesterday.

Note 2. The definite article is used in such cases as the late Professor Smith,
the celebrated playwright Osborne.

Note 3. A foreign title followed by a proper name is used with the definite arti-
cle: the Baron Munchausen, the Emperor Napoleon III, the Tsar Peter the Great.

The article is not used with some nouns denoting close rela-
tionship when they are followed by names of persons, as in Aunt
Polly, Uncle Timothy, Cousin John.

Other common nouns, when, followed by proper names, are
used with the definite article, as in: the boy Dick, the student
Smith, the painter Turner, the composer Britten, the widow Dou-
glas, the witness Manning, the geologist Foster, the dog Bal
thasar, etc. In this case both the common noun and the proper

name are stressed.

Combinations as above are found not only with names of per-
sons but also with lifeless things and abstract notions, as in: the
planet Mars, the preposition on, the verb to be, the figure 2, etc.

Note, With names of persons in newspaper style there is a tendency to omit the
article in this case too. Thus we find:
e.g. World middleweight champion Dick Tiger said yesterday that he will retain his

title against American Gene Fullmer.

However, such combinations on the whole are not very com-
mon. More often we find a proper name followed by an appositive
common noun.

e.g. Britten, the modern English composer...
Turner, the celebrated English painter...
Manson, a promising young actor...

§ 27. The article is not used with nouns in appositive of-phras-
es when the head-noun denotes a title or a post,
e.g. They nominated candidates for the post of President and

Vice-President.

He got the degree of Master of Arts.

When I was a young man, the position of schoolmaster car-
ried with it a sense of responsibility.

§ 28. The article is not used in the adverbial pattern from -
to, in which the same noun is repeated after the prepositions, as
in: from tree to tree, from street to street, from town to town,
from day to day, etc. Such combinations are to be regarded аs
free combinations (not set phrases) as the number of nouns thus
used is practically unlimited. Care should be taken not to confuse

such free combinations with set phrases, which are somewhat sim-
ilar to the above mentioned pattern but limited in number:

a) from head to foot, from top to toe, from top to bottom, from
beginning to end, from South to North. (Here after the prepo-
sitions from... to we find two different nouns, not the same noun.
The number of such units is limited.)

b) hand in hand, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, face to
face, day by day. (The same noun connected by different preposi-
tions is repeated here. The number of such units is also limited.)
§ 29. There is no article with nouns in direct address.
e.g. "How is my wife, doctor?"
"Well, young man," said Eden with a smile, "what can I do
for you?"
§ 30. After the exclamatory what we find the indefinite article
with singular nouns.
e.g. "What a car!" she exclaimed.
I thought what an unhappy man he must be!
What a narrow-minded, suspicious woman Maria was!
With plural nouns there is no article, in accordance with the
general rules.

e.g. What marvellous books you've got!

It is noteworthy that no article is used after the interrogative
what modifying a noun.

e.g. What question did you want to ask me?

§ 31. The definite article is found within an of-phrase preceded
by one, some, any, each, many, most, none, all, several, the first,
the last, the rest, the majority.

e.g. "One of the letters is from Tom," she said.

Most of the lecturers had other jobs in the town.

Several of the boys knew that my father had "failed in busi-

Compare the above given combinations with: one letter, most
Lecturers, several boys, etc.

§ 32. There is a fluctuation in the use of articles in the follow-
ing type of combinations: a sort of (a) man, the sort of (a) man,
what sort of (a) man, this sort of (a) man, that sort of (a) man,
some sort of (a) man; a (the, some, what, this, that) kind of (a)
man, a (the, some, what, this, that) type of (a) man.

e.g. He showed us a new type of bulb.

"What sort of a day have you had?" I asked him.
I said: "It's not the sort of situation one laughs at."
It was too dark to see what kind of a house it was.
"What kind of car was it?" Ramsden asked.

The more commonly found variant is the one without any article.

THE USE OF ARTICLES WITH UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

The Use of Articles with Uncountable Abstract Nouns

§ 33. Abstract nouns, like concrete nouns, fall into two class-
es: countables and uncountables. ¹

Among abstract countable nouns we find, e.g. answer, belief,
conclusion, doubt, effort, fact, government, holiday, idea, job, lie,
mistake, opinion, plan, principle, promise, question, reply, sen-
tence, visit, word and many others.

Countable abstract nouns may be used in the singular and in
the plural.

e.g. He had a brilliant idea. I like their method of work.

He always had brilliant ideas. I like their methods of work.

The class of uncountable abstract nouns includes such nouns
as: anger, beauty, curiosity, excitement, freedom, grace, happiness,

¹ The division of nouns into these two classes is a matter of tradition and can
hardly be accounted for either semantically or grammatically.

impatience, jealousy, love, modesty, nervousness, pride, respect,
strength, time, violence, work and many others.

Uncountable abstract nouns are used only in the singular.

It is sometimes difficult to draw a line of division between
countable and uncountable nouns. Some abstract nouns are used
as countables in one meaning and as uncountables in another:

Uncountable Countable

work — работа a work — произведение

silence — тишина, молчание a silence — пауза

decision — решительность, a decision — решение

решимость
kindness — доброта a kindness — доброе дело

experience — опыт an experience — случай

из жизни
favour — милость, располо- a favour — одолжение

жение
failure — неудача, провал a failure — неудачное дело;

неудачник
society — общество a society — организация,

кружок

nature — природа a nature — натура, характер

grammar — грамматика a grammar — учебник

(наука) по грамматике

observation — наблюдение an observation — замечание

e.g. They walked in silence along the path.
After a long silence he began his story.
She spoke with decision.
You must carefully think before you take a decision.

He is a wicked person who is insensible to kindness.
If you write him you will be doing him a kindness.

He has been doing this kind of work for many years, so he

has a good deal of experience.
It was an unpleasant experience and he didn't speak of it.

There are also a number of abstract nouns which appear both
as uncountables and countables without any noticeable change of
meaning, e.g. chance, change, difficulty, language, profit, reason,
temptation, torture, trouble, war and some others.

Some of the nouns that generally tend to be uncountable are
in certain constructions regularly used with the indefinite article.
Here belong comfort, disgrace, disappointment, pity, pleasure, re-
lief, shame and some others. They are found with the indefinite
article when they are used as predicatives after a formal it as
subject (a) or after the exclamatory what (b):

e.g. a) It is a pleasure to see you.

But we say: I'll do it with pleasure.
She gave a sigh of relief.
He now knew what disappointment was.
She felt pity for the poor child.

§ 34. The use of articles with countable abstract nouns does
not differ from their use with countable concrete nouns: in the
singular countable abstract nouns are used with the indefinite or
definite article; in the plural they are used without any article or
with the definite article.

e.g. He told the child a story.
He told the child stories.

The child knew the story he told.
The child knew the stories he told.

§ 35. As a general rule, uncountable abstract nouns are used
without any article.

e.g. Indifference and pride look very much alike, and he probably

thought I was proud.

I knew that generosity would have been wasted on him.
There was sharpness in her bones, sharpness in her voice,

sharpness in her eyes.
She had attached herself to youth and hope and seriousness

and now they failed her more than age and despair.
The absence of the article (the zero article) serves the same
purpose as the indefinite article with countable nouns, i.e. it per
forms the nominating function.

Cf, When in distress people look for a friend.
When in distress people look for friendship.
His desire was simply for a companion.
His desire was simply for companionship.

§ 36. The definite article is used with uncountable nouns when
they are modified by a limiting attribute, which may be expressed
in different ways.

e.g. He was in a state of the greatest excitement.

They were surprised at the curious silence into which he had
fallen.

He jumped at the abruptness of the question.
Sometimes the limitation is clear from the context.

• e.g. It was very still in the house. Suddenly a faint sound could

be heard in the stillness.
A moment afterwards the lights round the garden suddenly

went out. In the darkness we felt lost.
For a long time they walked without saying a word. Jim was

the first to break the silence.

The definite article is used here in its restricting function, to
denote a particular instance of the notion, expressed by the noun.

§ 37. The definite article is also found with substantivized ad-
jectives denoting abstract notions, e.g. the ordinary, the average,
the beautiful, the unusual, the supernatural, the extravagant, the
unknown, the regrettable, the normal, the grotesque, the unbear-
able, etc.

e.g. "You shouldn't think you're something out of the ordinary,"

she said.
"Do you believe in the supernatural?" he asked.

§ 38. The indefinite article is used with uncountable abstract
nouns when they are modified by a descriptive attribute which
brings out a special aspect of the notion expressed by the noun.
The attribute may be expressed in different ways.

e.g. A dull anger rose in his chest.

There seemed to be a wonderful excitement everywhere in

the world.

There was a tenderness in his voice that moved her.
She recognized a pleasant irony in his voice.
"Didn't you feel a certain impatience?" they asked.
His face had a calmness that was new to her.
She had a natural grace that was very attractive.
He had a patience which amazed his friends.

His new experience filled him with a singular enthusiasm.
•

The indefinite article is used here in its aspective function.
By way of exception the aspective indefinite article is some-
times used even when the noun has no attribute.

e.g. After a time a loneliness fell upon the two men.
There was a bitterness in her voice.

A loneliness means 'a certain loneliness' and a bitterness
means 'a certain bitterness' here.

It should be stressed that the use of the indefinite article with
uncountable abstract nouns is typical of literary style (see the ex-
amples above).

§ 39. Sometimes an uncountable abstract noun is used with an
attribute and yet has no article. This seems to contradict the gen-
eral rule, but it can actually be explained by the nature of the at-
tribute (a) or the nature of the noun (b).

a) In some cases the attribute does not bring out a special as-
pect of the notion expressed by the noun. The attribute may ex-
press degree (e.g. great, perfect, sufficient, huge, tremendous, im-
mense, sheer, utter, complete, infinite, endless, major and some
others), or qualify the noun from the point of view of time (e.g.
modern, ancient, impending, eternal, daily, contemporary, fur-
ther, final, original), nationality (e.g. English, French, etc.), ge-
ography (e.g. Moscow, London, world, etc.), authenticity (e.g-
real, genuine, authentic, symbolic, etc.) or give it social charac-
teristic (e.g. bourgeois, capitalist, racial, religious, etc.).

e.g. I have perfect confidence in him.

She has great experience in her work.

I'm sure your work will give you complete satisfaction.

He had sufficient ability to carry out any complicated task.
The reward had only symbolic value.
I didn't think it had real importance.
They talked about modern poetry.
He was conscious of impending danger.
It's three o'clock by Moscow time.
Ron was particularly interested in ancient sculpture.
Mrs Peters, feeling instinctively that Greek architecture
would leave her cold, excused herself from the excursion.

Note. But the definite article is used with the combinations French poetry,
modern art, American literature, German philosophy, etc. if there is a limiting at-
tribute, as in: the Russian literature of that period, the French poetry of the 19th
century, etc.

b) Some nouns are never used with the indefinite article. They
are nouns of verbal character denoting actions, activity, process,
such as admiration, advice, applause, approval, assistance, concern,
encirclement, guidance, information, permission, progress, recogni-
tion, research, torture, trade ('торговля'), work and some others.

This rule applies also to the following nouns: change ('сдача'),
fun, health, luck, money, nature, news, {outer) space, weather and
some others.

e.g". I am not sure whether it is good news or bad.

He was anxiously waiting for permission to begin his experi-
ment.

As I knew, Mr March always expressed gloomy concern if
one of his children had a sore throat.
He wondered whether her silence was tacit approval.
He felt honest admiration for his colleague.

Note 1. It should be noted that in a considerable number of cases both factors,
i.e. the character of the attribute and the character of the noun, are found together,
e.g. She was making great progress.

They promised Jackson further assistance.

Note 2. Although the above mentioned nouns are never used with the indefinite
article, they can be used with the definite article,
e.g. He told me of the progress he was making.

The news was so upsetting that she said she would not see anyone that night,

Note 3. Notice the sentence patterns with the noun weather:
e. g. The weather is fine (cold, etc).

What is the weather like today?

If the weather changes...

We are having fine weather.

What cold weather we are having!

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