I.

The Definite Article

1. institutions: the United Nations (but NATO, Congress)
2. historical references: the French Revolution, the Victorian age
3. ships: the Titanic
4. documents: the Great Charter
5. political parties: the Labour Party
6. public bodies: the Army, the police, the government
7. the press: (“the” may be a part of the title) the Times, the New Yorker (but Time, Newsweek, Punch)
8. titles: (“the” may be a part of the title) the Odyssey, but Jaws
9. species: the dinosaurs, the human race, the reptiles (but Man developed earlier than people think)
10. climate: the climate, the weather, the temperature
11. time expressions:
a) time sequences: (at) the beginning, (in) the middle, (at) the end, the present, the past, the future (but at present,
in future (=from now on))
b) parts of the day: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, in the night (but at night)
c) seasons (optional use): (the) summer/autumn/winter/spring
d) dates: March 30th (spoken as March the thirtieth; in AmE the may be omitted), 30(th) March (spoken as the
thirtieth of March)
e) fixed time expressions: all the while, at the moment, for the time being, in the end (= eventually)
12. with degrees of comparison:
a) superlative: the worst film
b) comparative: the sooner the better
II. The Indefinite Article
1. measurements: 80 kilometres per/an hour
2. exclamations: What a …!
3. after such (with countable singular nouns): such an idiot
4. pairs of nouns: if they are considered to accompany each other naturally, the indefinite article is used only before the
first noun: a hat and coat, a cup and saucer, a knife and fork; if they are not a natural pair, the indefinite article is used
before each one: Take an umbrella and a camera.
5. illnesses:
a) compulsory use: a cold, a headache, a sore throat, a weak heart, a broken leg
b) optional use: catch (a) cold, have (a) backache/stomach-ache/toothache, (an) earache
c) no article with plural illnesses: mumps, measles
d) no article with ‘uncountable’ illnesses: flu, hepatitis
III. Zero Article
1. time references: at dawn/daybreak, at sunrise/sunset/noon/midnight/dusk/night, by day/night (=during the day or the
night)
2. meals: breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, supper: Dinner is served. Michael’s at lunch. Let’s have breakfast. No article
should be used after have, but if a meal is specified, the definite article is used: The breakfast I ordered still hasn’t
arrived; and when classifying, the indefinite article should be used: That was a very nice dinner. When the meaning is of
a formal dinner or lunch for a special occasion, the indefinite article should be used: We’re having a dinner to welcome
the new manager.
3. school, hospital, prison, church etc: see Murphy U 75
4. transport: by air, by bicycle, by boat, by bike, by bus, by car, by coach, by land, by plane, by sea, by ship, by train, by
tube, on foot. By + noun is used in fixed expressions of this kind, but not when the means of transport is specified: I came
here on the local bus. You won’t go far on that old bike.
5. fixed phrases: from top to bottom, face to face, keep in mind, make friends, make fun of etc.
6. pairs of nouns: day and night, father and son, husband and wife, light and dark, young and old, sun and moon.
7. in exclamations with “what…!” and after such with plural or uncountable nouns
8. The definite and the indefinite article may be omitted deliberately, especially 1) in newspaper headlines, 2) with
proper nouns in apposition (film star Johnny Depp), 3) in small adds (room to let), 4) in instructions (cut along dotted
line), 5) on notices (Lift out of order, Wet paint) etc.
The use of article with nouns in apposition:
When two nouns or noun phrases are used in apposition, the use of the definite, indefinite and zero articles before the
second noun or noun phrase sometimes affects the meaning:
1) D.H. Lawrence, an author from Nottingham, wrote a book called “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”. (this implies that
the reader may not have heard of D.H. Lawrence)
2) D.H. Lawrence, the author of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, died in 1930. (this implies that many people have
heard of D.H. Lawrence, or, if not, of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”)
3) D.H. Lawrence, author of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, died in 1930. (this implies that everyone has heard of
D.H. Lawrence)
1. “town”
When the speaker means the nearest town or the town where he lives:
e.g. They have a small apartment in town.
When the noun ‘town’ is opposed to the noun ‘country’ the definite article is usually used, but may be omitted:
e.g. Pollution is just one of the disadvantages of living in the town.
With other meanings the article should be used according to the general rule:
e.g. The town is about 40 miles north of London.
2. languages and school subjects
School subjects should be used without articles:
e.g. His favourite subjects at school were Biology and History.
The definite article is used with languages only when the word “language” is used: the English language, but English:
e.g. More than 1 billion people speak Chinese as their native language.
But: “What’s the English for …?”
3. “most”
When most serves to form the superlative degree of adjectives the definite article is used:
e.g. This is the most boring film I’ve ever seen.
When most is used to mean a high degree of a quality (=very, extremely), the indefinite article should be used:
e.g. Thank you for a most interesting evening.
If followed by of + plural or uncountable noun, the definite article should be used before the noun:
e.g. It was Sunday, and most of the shops were shut.
e.g. Most of the time it’s very quiet here.
If immediately followed by a noun (without of), no article is used:
e.g. Most research in this field has been carried out by their company.
4. “few”, “a few”, “the few”; “little”, “a little”, “the little”
few = not many, hardly any; a few = several, a small number; the few = those few.
e.g. Many people expressed concern, but few (people) were willing to help.
e.g. I need to buy a few things at the supermarket.
e.g. The U.K. is one of the few countries, where people drive on the left.
little = not much; a little = some; the little (also what little) = that little
e.g. He paid little attention to what they were saying.
e.g. She speaks a little English.
e.g. I gave her what little money I had (the little money that I had).
5. “two”, “the two”, “three”, “the three” etc.
“the two” means “those two”, “both”.
e.g. Ten people voted in favour, five against and two abstained.
e.g. The two sides signed the peace accord in June.
6. “the second”, “a second”
“the second” is used as an ordinal numeral, “a second” means “another”, “one more”:
e.g. the second half of the year. e.g. We advertised for a second guitarist.
e.g. He made an experiment which proved his theory. He made a second, a third, a fourth experiment with the same
results.
7. “another”, “the other”
“another” is used to mean “one more”, “some other”, “the other” means “the definite other”, “that other”, i.e. when there
are only two things discussed:
e.g. Buy two CDs and get another free. e.g. He closed one eye, and then the other.
8. “a number”, “the number”
“a number” is used to mean “many”, “the number” means “the definite quantity”:
e.g. A number of people were waiting at the bus-stop.
e.g. The number of people waiting at the bus-stop was 15.
9. “last”, “the last”, “next”, “the next”
When used in time references without prepositions of time (at, on, in, since, before, after), they should be used without
articles: last night, last month, next week, last year, next summer, next time etc., with other meanings the definite article
should be used:
e.g. Shall we meet next week?
e.g. He got into trouble on the last day of his vacation.
e.g. He always wants to have the last word on everything.
In reference to time viewed from the past, the definite article should be used, but it may be omitted:
e.g. After they arrived they stayed at the hotel the whole week. The next week was mostly spent at the beach.
10. “cinema”, “opera”, “theatre”
When they are used in a general meaning of a place of entertainment, the definite article is used, when the meaning is that
of a form of art, no article is used:
e.g. I try to go to the cinema at least once a week. e.g. Not many children enjoy opera.