The indefinite article is used:
1. When the speaker presents the object as belonging to a certain class in the meaning of «какой-нибудь», «некий». It happened in a small town. He bought a book yesterday.
2. When a person or a thing is mentioned for the first time. After the first reference the definite article is used. I watched a bus as it came up our road. The bus stopped and a man got out. The man had a case in his hand. With the case the man looked like a salesman.
3. When the noun is used in a general sense and has the meaning “every” (mainly in definitions). A seamstress sews clothes. A horse has four legs. A palm pilot is a tiny computer.
4. When it preserves its old original meaning of “one”: a) with price, distance, frequency, measure, weight, time: Apples are 30 rubles a kilo. I’ll be back in a month. Christmas comes but once a year. She bought half a kilo of meat. b) in some set expressions: to be a success, to have a look (a try, a rest, a snack) to give a lift (a chance), to make a date (a will, a mistake, a speech, a start), to play a trick etc.
5. After the attributes such, rather, quite. He is such a rich man. She is quite a clever girl. It was rather an interesting film. Note! With uncountable nouns and nouns in plural no article is used. They were rather strange children.
6. Before a direct object. Sue wants a husband and three kids. All the world loves a lover.
7. Before the subject in constructions It is/was/will be… There is/was/will be… This is/was/will be…. It will be a good chance. There's a black sheep in every flock. This is a friend of mine.
But. It is the novel our teacher mentioned last time.
The definite article is used:
1. When the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be unique: the earth the sea the sky the equator the stars
2. Before a noun which has become definite as a result of being mentioned a second time: His car struck a tree; you can still see the mark on the tree.
3. Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause: the girl in blue the man with the banner the boy that I met the place where I met him
4. Before a noun which by reason of locality can represent only one particular thing: Ann is in the garden, (the garden of this house) Please pass the wine, (the wine on the table) Similarly: the postman (the one who comes to us), the car (our car), the newspaper (the one we read).
5. Before superlatives and first, second etc. used as adjectives or pronouns, and only: the first (week) the best day the only way
When the situation itself makes the object definite (the speaker and the listener know what particular object is meant). The exam was very tense. The lecturer was very strict and the students were nervous. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
6. When the speaker uses an attribute pointing out a particular object – a particularizing attribute. This is the house that Jack built. The pictures in this book are very interesting. Note! A particularizing attribute shouldn’t be confused with a descriptive attribute which gives additional information about the object. I have got an interesting film which was directed by S. Mikhalkov. He went to the forest where a lot of birds were singing.
7. When nouns are used in a generic sense (as a type or genre). The horse was domesticated many centuries ago. The computer microchip was invented in 1958. Note! With the nouns man, mankind, humanity no article is used. What shall we tell mankind? Man is helpless in this case. With the noun woman the definite article or no article is used. Only (the) woman could do it.
8. With nouns modified by: a) some adjectives (same, all, wrong, right, very, next, last, following, only, whole, main, principle, central, present, former, latter, necessary, opposite, previous, lower, upper, usual, so-called): Had Gooch not been injured in the last two games. The only virtue of the latter newspaper techniques is to bring an event to the attention of a reader.
Note! No article is used when nouns day, night, morning, afternoon, week, and year are modified by the adjective next denoting future and last denoting past. I’ll be back next week. b) adjectives in the superlative degree: Dracula is the most popular film character. There are over 160 Dracula films. c) ordinal numerals: My flat is on the fifth floor.
9. With substantivized adjectives and participles (the rich, the old, the wounded etc.) There's one law for the rich and another for the poor.
10. With collective singular nouns denoting social classes, social groups, nationalities (the public, the peasantry, the British etc.) What are the British like?
11. With the words the country, the mountains, the seaside, the weekend, the cinema, the theatre, the police, the army, the post office, the bank, the doctor, the dentist though we don’t mean some particular object or person. He went to the police to claim that he had been robbed.
Geographical use of the
There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns.
Do not use the before:
· names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States
· names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
· names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St.
· names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes
· names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn
· names of continents (Asia, Europe)
· names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands
Do use the before:
· names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific
· points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
· geographical areas: the Middle East, the West
· deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula
