§8. The Use of Articles with Nouns Denoting Unique Objects
These nouns are neither countable nor uncountable; they express the idea of oneness, as well as the idea of more-than-oneness.
1. Names of unique objects
the sun, the world, the earth, the globe,
the moon, the universe, the cosmos, the atmosphere,
the ground. the Milky Way,
The sun was falling flat across the field and the grass was pale with it.
But! What on __earth can excite him!
Even when these nouns have descriptive attributes:
Only the yellow light of the low autumn moon ruffled the water.
The stars were quivering in the frosty sky.
A – aspective function.
The noun becomes a center of communication, marked by a stress (after the construction there is/are).
There was a splendid tropical moon and a soft breeze last night.
It was a glorious night, with a great full moon gleaming in a purple sky
NB!!! The use of such nouns with attributes is typical of literary style
2. Names of unique notions.
The present the past the future the singular/plural
The South/North/West/East the equator the horizon
the telephone the radio the television
The post/press/telegraph
But! By phone/ radio
We say TV but the television
The film star had a particular smile for the press.
Pleasantly the sun rose over the horizon.
A – when they indicate concrete objects:
Somewhere a radio softly played.
The – descriptive attribute:
Even the distant future looked quite gloomy to him.
Everyone believed that he had a brilliant future before him.
Set phrases: At present in the past in the future in future
The Use of Articles with Proper Names
§9.The Use of Articles with Names of Persons
X – generally
1. generally no article is used with names of persons:
There was a letter from __Susan inviting me to a party.
2. when names of persons are modified by the attributes:
little dear/poor old/young honest
__Young Jolyon standing by the little piano, listened with his dim smile.
When dear __old Emily went back to town…….
3. with names of members of a family or close relations:
Mother Father Baby Aunt Uncle
Nurse Grandmother Grandfather Cook
When they're treated as proper names by the members of the family:
She went into the hall: "Is __Nurse back?"
"How nice that you've come!" she said. "__Mother is still resting"
X
4. Nouns denoting title, military rank, social standing + Proper Name
Colonel Holmes Doctor Smith Professor James |
Academician Fedorov Prime-Minister Forbes Lieutenant-General R. |
President Wilson Lord Byron Sir William |
Lady Di Queen Ann King George |
BUT! 1) The doctor has come
2) the late professor Smith
the celebrated playwright Osborne
3) A foreign title + proper name = THE
the Baron Munchausen
the Emperor Napoleon III
the Tsar Peter the Great
4) Common Noun + Proper Name persons, planets = THE
the boy Dick the student Smith the painter Turner
|
the composer Britten the widow Douglas the witness Manning
|
the dog Baltasar the planet Mars the figure 2
|
the preposition on the geologist Foster |
5) Names of separate titles: the Queen, the Prime Minister
THE
1. with a name in the plural to indicate the whole family:
The Elliots were intelligent people.
H e's very different from the rest of the Jacksons.
2. with a name modified by a limiting attribute:
Is he the Jones who is a writer?
Now she was more like the Julia of their first years of marriage.
3. with a name modified by a descriptive attribute:
a) when the limitation is clear from the context/ situation:
A remarkable number of guests went without coffee because it was not the right sort, a detail that had been overlooked by the embarrassed Otto.
b) when the attribute indicates a permanent quality of the person in question:
He slapped him on the shoulder which started and slightly annoyed the prim George Augustus (постоянная черта).
A
is used to indicate that one member of a family is meant:
I have often wondered if Arthur was really a Burton.
2. with a name modified by a descriptive attribute when it is the center of communication in the sentence (непостоянное качество):
He was met at the door by an angry Isabel, who demanded to know what he meant by coming home at that hour.
3) if a name is preceded by Mr, Mrs, Miss + a = a certain
He was a lawyer, a Mr. Reid from Melbourne.
My landlady knocked at the door: "A Mr. Parkis wants to see you."
4) owing to a change of meaning names of persons become countable
a) to indicate concrete objects named after their designer/ creator.
Janny has sold them an especially fine Goya.
He wanted to know how much a Buick cost.
T here was a rack of books and among them he saw a Hemingway.
b) to indicate typical features associated with a well-known name.
She felt like an Alice in Wonderland.
Mozart was called the Raphael of music.
Why, you are quite a Monte Christo!
He has the humour of a Chekhov.
******
A smart Aleck, clever Dick, doubting Thomas are phraseological units.
‘Now, who would do it but that little Finchley snip, the little smart aleck?’ snapped Gilbert. (Th. Dreiser, ‘An American Tragedy’, book II, ch. XXX) — - Конечно, это маленькая зазнайка Финчли. Кто же еще мог так поступить, - фыркнул Гилберт.
‘Clever Dick,’ she said. ‘Think you know everything.’ — - Вот умник нашелся, - сказала она. - Небось думаете, что вам все на свете известно.
I
n
newspaper style there is often omission of the article.
Word middleweight champion dick Tiger said yesterday THAT HE WILL RETAIN HIS TITLE AGAINST American Gene Fullmer..
More often there is the pattern Proper name+ N apposition
Britten, the modern English composer.
Turner, the celebrated English painter.
Manson, a promising young actor.