- •The noun
- •Nouns of material and abstract nouns
- •The Category of Number The singular and the plural
- •Compound nouns
- •Identical form of the plural and singular
- •Uncountable nouns used only in the singular
- •Uncountable nouns used only in the plural
- •Exercises
- •The Category of Case
- •Exercises
- •The article
- •The indefinite article is used:
- •The definite article is used:
- •No articles:
- •The use of articles with nouns of material and abstract nouns
- •The use of articles with proper nouns
- •1) Geographical names
- •2) Names of persons
- •3) The use of articles in the names of places, some buildings, public organizations
- •Special difficulties in the use of articles
- •1) The use of articles with the names of months and days, seasons, meals, languages
- •2) The use of articles with the nouns school/college, prison/jail, bed, town, church
- •Set phrases With the definite article
- •With the indefinite article
- •Without articles
- •Exercises
- •The adjective
- •Degrees of Comparison.
- •Irregular adjectives.
- •Comparative constructions.
- •Position of Adjectives.
- •Exercises
- •The adverb
- •Kinds of Adverb
- •Any more / any longer / no longer.
- •So, such.
- •Too, enough.
- •Also, too, as well, neither, either.
- •Exercises
- •The pronoun
- •Reflexive pronouns
- •Exercises
- •Indefinite pronouns
- •Exercises
- •Other, another, the other, others
- •Exercises
- •Much, many, few, little
- •Exercises
- •All, whole, either, neither, both, none
- •Exercises
- •The numeral Cardinal numbers
- •Ordinal numbers and dates
- •Exercises
- •Contents
The use of articles with proper nouns
1) Geographical names
Geographical names |
No article |
The definite article |
Notes |
1. Continents, countries, cities/towns, villages |
Africa, Asia, France, London, Latin America, Central Asia, Petrovka But the village of Petrovka |
When having a particularizing attribute – The Philadelphia he was born in... – In his books W. Scott described the England of the Middle Ages. |
the word groups are always used with the: The United States, The Soviet Union, The United Kingdom of Great Britain, the Hague, (the) Ukraine, the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Riviera, the Transvaal, the Lebanon, the Congo, the Vatican (City) |
2. Ocean, rivers, seas, Channels / canals, deserts, valleys |
Hudson Bay, Buffin Bay, Death Valley, Silicon Valley |
the Pacific, the Black Sea, the Neva, the Sahara, the (English) Channel, the Suez Canal, the Nile Valley, the Valley of the Kings |
|
3. Lakes |
Lake Baikal, Lake Ontario |
the Baikal, the Ontario, the Great Lake, the Great Bear Lake, the Great Salt Lake, the Lake District |
In the plural – The Great Lakes |
4. Mountains, volcanoes |
peaks Elbrus, Everest |
mountain chains the Urals, the Alps, the Kilauea Volcano |
|
5. Islands, peninsulas, capes
|
a single island Madagascar, Sicily, Kamchatka, Cape Horn, North Cape, Cape Canaveral, |
island groups the Bermudas, the British Isles, the Bahamas, the Balkan Peninsula, the Cape of Good Hope |
|
6. Regions |
North America, Latin America |
the Middle East, the Far East, the north of England, the south of France, the Virgin Lands, the Yorkshire Forests |
western Canada, southern Spain |
7. Four cardinal points of the compass |
|
the South, the North, the East, the West |
But from East to West, from North to South go to South! |
2) Names of persons
Names of persons |
No article |
The definite article |
The indefinite article |
1. Names of persons |
a) as a rule no article is used – There was a letter from Susan inviting me to a party. b) modified by attributes old, young, little, dear, poor, honest, lazy, simple, lucky – Young Jolyon was standing by the piano. – She is a widow of poor George. |
a) with a name in the plural to indicate the whole family: – He is very different from the rest of the Kents. b) with the name modified by a particularizing attribute: – Is he the Sheldon who is a write? – She was no more the Julia of the first years of their marriage. With a name modified by a descriptive attribute when a) the limitation is clear from the context or situation: – He caught the paralyzed Madeleine in his arms as the door flew open again. b) the attribute indicate s a permanent quality of the person in question: – He slapped him on the shoulder, which startled & slightly annoyed the prim George Augustus. |
a) one member of a family: – I have often wondered if Tim was really a Burton. b) when names of persons indicate typical features of a well-known name: She felt like an Alice in Wonderland. c) when nothing is known about the person except their name, and with names of persons modified by the adjective “certain”: – I heard it from a (certain) Mr. Jagger. |
2. Nouns of relationship |
a) followed by a proper name: Uncle Jolyon, Aunt Polly b) not followed by a proper name and used only by the members of the family: She went into the hall: “Is Mother back?” |
a) if other people’s relations are meant: – The son was as clever as the father. b) the expressions: – Lomonosov was the son of a fisherman. – Becky was the daughter of an artist. |
|
3. Nouns denoting ranks, titles, profession followed by a proper name |
academician Brown, professor Burton, count Brown |
Nouns denoting profession & occupation followed by a proper name: – The painter Warhol left many fine pictures. – The shoemaker Brown is very old. |
A foreign title followed by a proper name The Baron Munchausen, the Emperor Napoleon III, the Tsar Peter the Great |