8. The use of articles with material nouns.

Most material nouns do not have plural forms and are never used with the indefinite article.

I. When names of material have generic reference they are lined without any article. This is the case with material nouns irferring to the whole class, i.e. when a certain material as mli is meant, or an indefinite, unidentified amount:

This is lead, not silver.

with a college education'.

Names of material take no article when they are modified by descriptive attributes:

He sat there for a long time, drinking cup after cup of

strong black tea.

Names of material can change their meaning and become mint nouns when they denote:

• various sorts of materials and food products:

They are now giving you bad teas at the club.

• a portion of food or drink:

If you want to please the boy, buy him an ice.

There are different accepted units and containers for different drinks and substances: e.g. for whisky the usual container is a glass but the quantity varies. So if you hear someone say Give me a whisky, it means a small glass, not a bottle.

A beer can mean a glass, can, or bottle of beer. The nouns most frequently used in this way are:

beer coke rum vodka

brandy gin sherry whisky

coffee lager tea yoghurt

Note that this use is restricted to cafes and restaurants.

• an object made of some sort of material:

He survived by eating a small tin of fruit every day.

Tin is a soft silvery-white metal, here it means a container made of this metal..

2. In specific use, i.e. when a definite part of the substance is meant, material nouns take the definite article. Identification is based on (1) the linguistic context or (2) situation of utterance.

(1) Like with abstract uncount nouns linguistic context] involves either backward or forward reference.

• Reference backwards: identification is made by somethingl

already said (by prior mention):

Here's a glass, some water and three coins. Watch! I pour the water into the glass, then drop the coins one by one into

the water.

• Reference forwards: identification is made by something

about to be said when names of material are modified by a

particularizing attribute which usually limits the scope of

reference by reason of location or quantity. The particularizing

attribute is mainly presented by: ,

=> a limiting prepositional phrase

The water in this glass has now turned pink.

=*> a particularizing attributive clause

'This Montrachet,' he said, as he poured the fragrant golden

wine that accompanied the lobster, 'beats any other wine in

the world'

(2) Identification can result from the whole situation of' utterance:

Pass me the salt, please. Let's start our breakfast. The coffee will be cold.

9. The use of articles with names of persons.

1. Normally, a personal name, being the name of someone imagined as unique, needs no determiner:

Anthony shrugged his shoulders. Philip Lombard grinned.

Family relations with unique reference (Mother, Mummy, Mom, Father, Daddy, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, Grandmother, Grandfather, baby, nurse, cook) behave like proper nouns. They are treated as such by the members of the family and are usually written with the capital letter:

'I'd like to see Mother,' said Emily. Cf: The father was the tallest in the family. Personal names preceded by nouns denoting titles, ranks or family relations take no article: Lord Byron, Professor Higgins, Dr. Watson, President Lincoln, Colonel Brown, Aunt Polly.

If the premodifying noun denotes a job, nationality or be¬lief, it may be used with the definite article or no article (espe¬cially in American English): •

The artist Stubbs painted mostly horses. Most of Elton John's early hits were written by songwriter

Bernie Taupin. 2. The definite articles is used:

• With a family name in the plural denoting the whole family:

The Forsytes were resentful of something, not individually,

but as a family.

when names of persons are modified by a particularizing

attribute :

This Pat wasn't at all like the Pat of his memories..

• When names of persons are modified by descriptive attributes indicating a permanent quality of the person in question:

At that moment they were interrupted by the gentle Mrs.

Shobbe.

Note that no article is used when names of persons are modified by the following adjectives: little, old, young, dear, poor, honest:

When the speaker wishes to emphasize that the person named is the very one that everybody knows:

You say Shakespeare lived here. Do you mean the Shakespeare or somebody else? (the definite article here is

strongly stressed and pronounced f6i:J)

. The indefinite article is used:

• To indicate that one member of the family is meant:

His mother was a Devereux: Lady Margaret Devereux.

• To indicate a certain person, normally unknown to the hearer:

At a table in a corner the Colonel was introduced to a Mrs.

• With a proper name modified by an adjective denoting the mood of the person described and when this noun is ike focus of communication:

I saw an infuriated Jenifer, who started shouting at me the moment I opened the door.

Proper names can be converted into common nouns indicating:

4. Proper names can be converted into common nouns improper dicating

a) concrete objects

b) someone having characteristics of the person named.In this case they take the article according to the generalЛЧrule of the use of articles with common nouns.