The definite article is used

1. when a personal name in the plural indicates the whole family:

About the Forsytes mingling that day with the crowd of other guests, there was a more than ordinarily groomed look.

2. when a proper name is modified by a limiting attribute:

The Lucia of seven years ago seemed to bloom out again in that pale face and wrinkled forehead; In the spring of the year 1881 he was visiting his old school-fellow; It was the Saturday before the August Bank Holiday; Had she not often heard Michael say that farming was more of a man’s job than another in the England of today?

Both the definite article and the indefinite article may be used

1. with personal names modified by a descriptive attribute (with the exception of such attributes as 'young, old, poor, dear, little').

The indefinite article is used when the name with an attribute is the center of communication in the sentence; otherwise the definite article is used:

In the principal morning paper there were four pictures of MacGregor on the front page. One picture showed an unshaven MacGregor entering the room; The startled Jolyon set down his barley water.

When a personal name is modified by the adjectives ‘old, young, poor, dear, little’, no article is used:

Little John sat down on the bottom step and nodded.

2. when the name of a painter, sculptor, writer is used to denote his work. The article with such nouns is used in accordance with the general rules for common countable nouns:

He went to his picture gallery and unhooked from the wall a little Watteau. (J. Galsworthy); Once in cleaning the closet she threw out all his books - the Apologie and the Phaedo of Plato and the Thoreau and the Emerson and all the leaflets and correspondence with Rosecrucian Brotherhood. (S. Fitzgerald)

3. when a personal name is used to mean ‘someone having characteristics of the person named’. Just as in the previous case, the choice of the article is based on the general rules of its usage with common countable nouns:

‘I do not, I trust, disturb an Ophelia’, said Poirot as he took his seat beside her. (A. Christie); Mozart was called the Rafael of music.

2.38 Traditional use of the definite article as part of a name

Traditionally, the definite article is used with the names of

1. oceans, seas, rivers, channels, canals and lakes (in the latter case when the proper name is used alone): the Pacific (ocean), the Mediterranian (sea), the Volga, the English Channel, the Suez Canal, the Baikal, etc. But: lake Baikal.

2. mountain ranges and passes: the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, the Pamirs, the Saint Gotthard Pass, etc.

3. some countries and territories: the USSR, the CIS, the Usa, the Netherlands, the Transvaal, the Caucasus, the Ruhr, the Riviera, the Tyrol, the Crimea, (the) Lebanon;

4. some towns and town districts: the Hague, the Bronx, the City, the West End, the East End (of London);

5. some streets: the Main Street (USA); the High Street, the Mall, the Strand, the Haymarket. But: Broad Street, Chancery Lane, Charing Cross; Fifth Avenue (USA);

6. historical events and epochs: the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, the Revolution;

7. organisations and institutions: the UNO, the London county council, the Conservative party, the House of Commons, the British Parliament. But: Parliament (Britain);

8. some newspapers: the Daily Express, the New York Times, the Observer, the Sunday Times, the Guardian. But: Daily Mail, Chicago Tribune;

9. some magazines and journals: the Spectator, the New Statesman. But: Newsweek, New Scientist, Punch, National Geographic, Language;

10. names of ships and boats: the Titanic, the Queen Mary;

11. names of theatres, cinemas, concert halls: the Old Vic, the Carnegie Hall, the Albert Hall, the Odeon. But: Drury Lane, Covent Garden.

12. names of monuments: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument;

13. hotels and restaurants: the Grand (hotel), the Hilton, the Savoy;

14. museums, picture galleries, libraries: the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Louvre, the Library of Congress;

15. clubs: the Connoisseurs, the Remove.

2.39 Demonstrative pronouns

	Singular	Plural
Near refe­rence	THIS	THESE
Far refe­rence	THAT	THOSE

THIS has ‘near reference’, i.e. it refers to something near to the speaker in terms of space or time:

Do you see this newspaper in my hand?; Everyone is so busy these days.

THAT has ‘far reference’, i.e. it refers to something remote from the speaker in terms of space or time:

Do you see that tower?; In those days life was enjoyable.

Sometimes demonstratives express emotional colouring (affection, contempt, disgust). THIS/THESE are often used to connote interest and familiarity in informal conversation:

Then I saw in the distance this lovely girl, and ... .

THAT/THOSE can be used to imply contempt, disgust and other types of emotional rejection:

He is one of those so called modern artists.

2.40 Possessive pronouns (conjoint forms)

There are two series of forms of possessive pronouns: conjoint and absolute. The conjoint forms (my, your, etc) are followed by a noun, the absolute forms (mine, yours, etc) can not be followed by a noun. Conjoint forms are used as determiners whereas absolute forms are used as substitutes (see 2.46 f).

Possessive pronouns have person, number and gender distinctions (gender applies only to the third person singular).

		Singular	Plural
1st pers		MY	OUR
2nd pers		YOUR (thy)	YOUR
3rd pers	(m)	HIS	THEIR THEIR THEIR
	(f)	HER
	(n)	ITS

As seen from the table the form of the second person singular is homonymous to the plural form. The bracketed form thy [Dai] is now felt as archaic and is used mainly in poetry and historical prose.

Unlike many other languages, including Russian, English uses possessives with nouns denoting parts of the body and personal belongings of the doer of the action:

He came in with his hair all ruffled and his face hot, and his hands in his trouser pockets, in the way he was repeatedly told not to. (H.Weils)

The definite article is, however, usual when the ‘owner’ is not the doer of the action expressed by the predicate. There are two main possibilities:

1. In active constructions the definite article is used in prepositional phrases preceded by a non-prepositional object which denotes the ‘owner’.

The author took the actress by the hand and led her across the stage to the footlights.

In this example the is used in the prepositional phrase ‘by the hand’, whereas the ‘owner’ is expressed by the non-prepositional object ‘the actress’.

2. In passive constructions the ‘owner’ is denoted by the grammatical subject. Just as in the previous case the definite article is used with a name making part of a prepositional phrase.

He was wounded in the knee.

In the second example the subject ‘he’ indicates the owner of the part of the body denoted by the noun ‘knee’.

2.41 Indefinite pronouns used as determiners

Indefinite pronouns used as determiners include some, any, every, each, either, neither, much, no.