The Use of Articles with Names of Persons

1. Names of persons are used without articles.

e.g. «Do you know Turner?». said Burton as I nodded a greeting.

2.Names denoting the whole family are used with the definite article.
e.g. The Elliots were intelligent people.

3.Names of persons modified by a limiting attribute are used with the definite article.

e.g. Now she was more like the Julia of their first years of marriage.

4. When names of persons are used to denote a representative of a family the indefinite article is used.

e.g. "The boy is a Benbow!" he replied hotly.

5.Names of persons used as common nouns (i.e. when they denote things associated with names of certain persons) take the article according to the general rule on the use of articles.
e.g. He wanted to know how much a Buick cost.

She felt like an Alice in Wonderland.

6.When nouns denoting titles, military ranks or posts are followed by a proper name they are used without any article as in: Colonel Holmes, Doctor Smith, Professor Jones. Academician Fedorov, Queen Elizabeth. King George, Lord Byron etc.

Other common nouns when followed by proper names are used with the definite article as in: the student Smith, the painter Turner, the pianist Carter, the critic Hudson.

NOTE. In Am E the definite article is often omitted: critic Hudson.
Republican leader Foster, etc.

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

7. Nouns denoting close relationship followed by names of persons are used
without any article.

e.g. Aunt Polly, Cousin John, Uncle Timothy.

NOTE. Nouns denoting relationship not followed by a proper noun and the
nouns nurse, baby, cook are used without any article when used by members
of that family or by close friends (i.e. when they mean our father, our nurse, etc.).

e.g. "What have you done to Baby?" Mother asked.

8. No article is used with names of persons modified by the adjectives: old,
young, poor, dear, little, honest, lazy.

e.g. Old Anthony met us at the station.

When modified by other adjectives and participles names of persons are used
with the definite article.

e.g. This was the famous Frank A Cowperwood.

9. If a noun is modified by a proper name in the genetive case no article is used.

e.g. 1 met Robert's father.

A noun modified by a proper name in the common case is used with the definite article.

e.g. Last summer I visited the Tretvkov Gallery.

The Use of Articles in Some Syntactic Relations.
Articles with Predicative Nouns.

1. Singular nouns in the function of a predicative are mostly used with the indefinite article and plural nouns with the zero articles.
e.g. "I am an orphan. My father was a sea captain - he died when I was eight", said Freda.

"They are nice people ". Robert said, "but they have never been intimate friends of ours ".

2. If a predicative noun is modified by a limiting attribute the definite article is used.

e.g. "My brother George is the only relation I have", said sir Henry.

3. When a predicative noun denotes a unique post (rank, occupation, state) it is used either with the definite article or without any article.

e.g. He was the head of a great publishing firm.

Mike Slattery was chairman of the Republican county committee.

4. When a predicative noun denotes a relationship it is mostly used without any article.

e.g. Mrs. Nelson was wife of the manager of the firm.

Occasionally the definite article is used especially with the nouns son and daughter.

e.g. He is the son of a University professor.
She was the daughter of a bank clerk.

5. Predicative nouns after the link-verbs to turn, to go, take no article.
The verb to turn indicates a change of occupation. The verb to go denote change of political allegiance.
e.g. He turned sailor.

Nobody expected lum to turn traitor.

He went Democrat, though his brother remained a Republican.

6. The rules of the use of articles with predicative nouns are true for noun
used as objective and subjective predicatives after the verbs to appoint, u
elect, to choose, to call, to think, to make, to consider, to name, etc.

e.g. Everybody considered her a well-brought up irirl.

All those present unanimously elected him chairman of the club
He was made (the) captain of the team.

Absence of Articles in Parallel Structures.

There is no article in so-called parallel structures such as from tree to
tree, from street to street, from sentence to sentence, etc. These are free
combinations as they are freely built up by the speaker with the help of the
pattern from+N to i N, in which the same noun is repeated.
e.g. There was no fireplace, but a long radiator ran almost from end to end of
the room under the window.

There are also set expressions among parallel structures, the most common of
which are: arm in arm, hand in hand, man to man, face to face, from
beginning to end, from North to South, from day to day, from head to foot,
day by day, from right to left, from morning till night,
e.g. She was dressed in red from head to foot. It was a lie from begnning to end.

Absence of Articles in Direct Address.

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?"

Articles after the Exclamatory What

After the exclamatory what the indefinite article is used with singular
countable nouns.

e.g. "What a car!" she exclaimed.

I thought what an unhappy man he must be.

Care should be taken not to use the indefinite article before abstract uncountable nouns
e.g. What extraordinary advice!

What useful information he has given!

What good work v ou have done!

No article is used with homogeneous members of the sentence closely
connected with each other and joined by the conjunction and.
e.g. They have been husband and wife for twenty years.

The Use of Articles with Some Semantic Groups of Nouns.
1..Names of Months and Days.

As a rule names of months and days are used without articles.

e.g. School is open five days a week. On Saturdays and Sundays there are no lessons.

When the noun is modified by a limiting attribute the definite article, is
used.

eg The May of 1945 will always rest in our memories.

When there is a descriptive attribute the indefinite article is used.
e.g. Last summer we had a very hot July,

Дата добавления: 2017-01-14