| The nouns | As a rule no article | When modified by a particularizing attribute: The | When modified by a descriptive attribute: A | In set expressions |
| 1. The names of months and days (May, Monday) | – Mayis a spring month. – I met her on Tuesday. | – We’ll always remember the May of 1945. – She came on the Friday when David was born. | – A cold May is a usual thing in St. Petersburg. | |
| 2. The names of seasons (summer, winter) | – I like winter. – It was summer when we first came here. | – It happened in the spring of 1990. | It was a beautiful spring. But: no article early/late spring, winter | |
| 3. Nouns: day, night, evening, morning, afternoon | – Day is meant for work, night for sleep. – It was evening. | – He’ll never forget the day when he met her. – The night was warm and beautiful. | – I spent a sleepless night. But: no article early/late afternoon, night, broad day, high noon | by day/night; at night/ dawn/ daybreak/ sunrise/ sunset/ noon; frommorning till night; in themorning/ night |
| 4. The names of languages (French, English) | – She knows French well. | – The English of America differs from the English of Great Britain. – the English language | What is the English for...? | |
| 5. The names of meals (lunch, dinner, tea) | – Did you have dinner? – Lunch is ready. | – The dinner we had today was very good. – The lunch was a success. | – After a heavy breakfast we started for... But: no article early/late dinner, supper | to have lunch (tea, breakfast) But: to have a gooddinner |
2) the use of articles with the nouns school/college, prison/jail, bed, town, church
| The nouns | When the noun lose the concrete meaning and express the purpose for which they serve: no article | When the nouns denote concrete objects the articles are used in accordance to the general rules |
| School/ college/ university | to be at school/college/university to go to school/college/university to leave school/college – After I left school I went to university (as a student) – Why aren’t the children at school today? (as pupils) | to go to the/a school (the building is meant) to leave the school (to leave the building) – Mr. Kelly went to the school to meet his daughter’s teacher. – Is there a school near here? |
| Church | in church / to church – Mrs. Kelly goes to church on Sundays (for a religious service). | – The church was built in the 17th century. – There is a church in the village. |
| Prison/jail | to be in prison to be sent to prison/jail to be put in prison – Ken’s brother is in prison for robbery. – Fred robbed a bank but he was caught and sent to prison. | – Ken went to the prison to visit his brother. – They lived near a prison. |
| Bed | to go to bed to be in bed to stay in bed – It’s time to go to bed. – Is Tom still in bed? | – Her portrait was on the wall beside the bed. – There is a table, 6 chairs, a bed and a cupboard in the room. |
| Work | to go to work to be at work to start work – Why isn’t Ann at work today? | – I like the work I’m doing now. – A new work of modern art. – The works of Shakespeare. |
| Home | to go home to come / arrive home to be at home / to stay at home to feel at home – Let’s go home. | Institution or place: an orphans home, anursing home, amaternity home. Place where an animal or a plant is native: thehome of the tiger |
| Town | to / in town – You can’t go to town tomorrow. – What are you going to do in town. – He spent 20 years in town, he is not used to country life. | – I want to go to the town I was born in. – Would you rather live in a town or in the country? – The whole town was talking about it. |
| Hospital | to go to hospital to be in hospital – Jack had an accident. He had to go to hospital. He is still in hospital now. | – when Ann was ill we went to the hospital to visit her. – Is there a hospital near here? |
Of- phrases:
Quality – a book of interest a feeling of relief
a sense of humor a question of importance
quantity or measure – a temperature of 20
a distance of three miles
a box of two tons
composition – a group of children a party of 12 people
a flock of birds a team of hockey-players
age – a boy of 5 a man of middle age
material – a wall of glass a ring of gold
a scarf of thick wool
content – a cup of tea a bottle of milk
a box of cigarettes
size – a sailor of middle height a building of enormous size
When the noun man is used in a generic sense, no article is found with it:
Surely he had suffered everything that man can endure.
The noun woman in a generic sense may be used with the definite article or without any article:
He had always been interested in that mysterious being- the woman.
Woman is man’s helpmate.
There is often no article with homogeneous parts of a sentence:
Horse & rider stood as if posing for a statue.
Are husband & wife so much one flesh that if one hates the wife one has to hate the husband too?
She keeps her diary under lock & key.
Boy or man, I have never loved any other woman.
