§14. Articles in Phraseology

1) Certain Countable Nouns in Their Phraseological Use.

1) Some nouns are used with the zero article because as set phrases they lose their concrete meaning; they have the following metaphoric meanings

School, college = studies; hospital = treatment

Prison, jail, camp = punishment Church = religious duties

Bed = sleep table = meals

market = trade court = legal proceedings

After lunch Dr Reily went off to the hospital (= to the building).

How long were you in hospital with that wound? (= under treatment)

They had a hospital in the town during the war. (= a building)

! The use of a descriptive/limiting attribute destroys the idiomatic meaning.

He was sent to __school. (= to study)

He was sent to a secondary (good, public) school.

He was sent to the best school in the town.

2) TOWN in prepositional phrases – X when

• it means the centre or business part of a town

• the town one lives in

• the nearest town to a country place

She drove into town and drew up at the shop.

I invited her to lunch in town.

I thought that he would be out of town next week.

3) nouns in adverbial prepositional phrases:

X

By train By plane By boat By coach By bus By tram By taxi

by air by car by sea by land by post by mail by phone

by accident by mistake by hand by chance by letter by radio by sight

at hand off hand in detail in person on board on desk on foot

On examination At sea /at the sea On tiptoe To sea On hand On leave On business On holiday

In the ancient and medieval worlds coins were made by hand.

You cannot be represented. You will have to go in person.

She is on tiptoe with curiosity about the present you've brought her. — Она просто сгорает от любопытства - так ей хочется узнать, что за подарок вы привезли.

4) Preposition + Noun + Preposition = X

in addition to in charge of in contrast with in honor of in recognition of in reply to in favor of in relation to

in comparison with in conformity with in regard to in memory of in return for in connection of in combination with in search of

in defiance of with regard to in support of in pursuit of in place of on account of in answer to by reason of by way of

Exceptions: the

under the influence of by the side of in the center of

on the invitation of on the initiative of

under the pretence of to be out of the question

5) Prep + N + Conj = X

For fear that on condition that

Exceptions: the; on the ground that for the reason that

6) Set phrases – denoting being or going to some places:

The to the forest in (to, across) the fields to (at) the cinema

to (at) the theatre to the pictures to (in) the country

on the spot in the slums in the trenches

We had an early dinner and went to the theatre.

Exceptions: museum, picture gallery, concert, exhibition do not form such set phrases.

!!!!!When these nouns indicate a particular object the article is used according to the general rule:

We found that the film was on at a cinema across the river.

7) Set phrases – names of indoor/ outdoor games.

The play the piano/violin,