Грамматика английского языка Морфология. Синтаксис (стр. 35 из 71)

My brother goes to school (college) means He learns there. However, if we mean the building or the institution, we use an article according to the general rules, as in: We shall meet at the school. The school isn't far from our home. Ours is a very good school. Parents are regularly invited to the school.

The noun town without an article means the nearest big centre of population as contrasted to the country or a smaller town, it may also denote the central part of a big town, as opposed to its suburbs.

To be at sea may mean "far away from the land" or (figuratively) "to feel puzzled"; to go to sea is "to become a sailor". But we say: The swimmer jumped into the sea. We lived near the sea, etc.

No article is used as a rule when two notions, very closely related, are mentioned, as in:

They looked like mother and daughter.

We are no longer boy and girl.

It’s no use interfering into a quarrel between husband and wife.

§ 203. Notes on the use of nouns denoting time and meals.

Nouns denoting time are treated as abstract nouns bordering on proper names. No article is used with reference to parts of the day or of the year, light or darkness, as in:

Evening came. Night fell. Day broke. We’ll wait till night. Twilight is the faint light just before sunset and

just after sunrise. Winter set in. “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

It was early morning (late afternoon, Friday morning, Saturday night, etc.).

It was early spring (late autumn, etc.).

They met at noon (at sunset, at midnight).

However articles may occur with such words according to the common usage of the articles in their (a) specifying, (b) generic, (c) classifying or (d) numerical functions.

a) The evening was calm. The winter is severe this year.

The twilight was sad and cloudy.

We stayed at my aunt’s for the night. (той ночью, в ту ночь)

We watched the sunrise from the balcony.

The winter of 1978 was severe.

It happened on the morning of April 12th.

b) Evening is the latest part of the day.

Tell me the four seasons of the year!

c) It was a wonderful day (a hot summer, a warm morning, a gloomy afternoon, a glorious sunrise, etc.).

That was a restless night.

d) I’ll ring you up in a day or two.

When names of meals denote simply an occasion or process of taking food, they are used without an article in phrases and patterns, such as:

to have (take, serve, cook) dinner, breakfast, lunch, supper;

to go to (to be at) dinner, lunch, etc.;

Lunch is at two p.m.

Dinner is ready (served, laid).

What have you bought for lunch (dinner, supper)

What shall we have for supper (dinner)?

An article is used mainly when a formal meal is meant or when the notion referred to is specified or classified.

They gave a dinner (luncheon, supper) in honour of the ambassador (a kind of reception)

The dinner you cooked was beyond all expectations! It was a marvellous dinner.

Note on the use of next and last as noun premodifiers

§ 204. Nouns with these premodifiers are not preceded by any articles when counting from the moment of speaking, as in;

We’ll speak about it next time (next Friday, next month, next spring, next year):

We spoke about it last time (last Friday, last month, etc.).

The definite article occurs when the situation is viewed from some moment in the past or in the future and when the noun is modified by a specifying attribute or attributive clause.

We spent (or: we’ll spend) a week in the Crimea, and the next two weeks in the Caucasus.

The last time I saw Mary she looked a picture of health.

We shall resume our talk the next time I see you.

Omission of the articles

§ 205. The omission of an article differs from the absence of an article in that it is stylistically or traditionally determined. It occurs in cases where economy of expression is required and is often accompanied by other ellipses, such as omission of prepositions, auxiliaries, etc.

1. In newspaper headlines:

‘Girl saw Flame’, ‘CTV is winning Fireside Battle’.

(Cp. the text of the newspaper report that follows the headline: Commercial television is winning the

battle of the fireside.)

2. In telegrams:

Attending cytological congress Rome will stop few days on way love John.

3. In newspaper announcements:

Anna Linden, daughter of a Manchester engineer, made her debut...

4. In stage directions:

At rise of curtain... goes to telephone; stands at door.

5. In reference entries or notes:

See table Taxonomic Classification on following page.

Hellman, Lilian, American dramatist, author of a succession of dramas ...

Use of the articles with nouns in some syntactical functions

§ 206. 1. A noun in the subject position is usually preceded by the definite article in its specifying function, or by either of the articles in their generic function. In these cases the noun denotes some notion forming the starting point of the utterance and therefore is presented as known to both the speaker and the addressee.

The way was long. The wind was cold.

The minstrel was infirm and old.

The indefinite article in its classifying function occurs to express the idea of novelty or unexpectedness, no matter what the position of the subject is:

On the opposite side of the landing a girl was standing.

A girl was standing on the opposite side of the landing.

Such sentences are translated into Russian with inverted word order:

На другой стороне площадки стояла девушка.

A similar use of the indefinite article occurs in sentences with the existential construction There is (comes, appears, etc.), as in:

There is an exception to the rule.

2. When used as a predicative the noun is usually preceded by the indefinite article in its classifying function. The position of the predicative is most suitable for the manifestation of the classifying function and for giving some new information:

This is a house.

George is a telephone engineer.

The definite article before a noun in this position suggests the identity of the object expressed by the predicative noun with that expressed by the subject:

This is the house that Jack built.

He is the telephone engineer (the one we have sent for).

The absence of the article before predicative count nouns indicates:

a) that the noun has lost its original meaning and suggests some social position, post or title:

Mrs Mantoffle was president of all sorts of societies and committees.

With this knowledge he can be king.

He was on the programme as assistant stage Manager.

J. F. Kennedy was elected President in I960.

b) that the idea of quality or state predominates over the idea of thingness (usually when the noun is

preceded by ‘more’ or followed by ‘enough’).

Fool, fool that she was to get into such a state.

But you’ll be man enough to tell me the truth.

Randal was in the end more artist than scientist.

3. With the noun functioning as objects any article can be used depending on how the speaker formulates his thought; the indefinite article is preferable after verbs of possession and obligatory in verb-object phrases denoting a single action such as to have a smoke, to give a look, etc.

4. The use of the articles with nouns in the function of an adverbial modifier depends partly on the type of adverbial modifier.

In adverbial modifiers of place the definite article is used in its specifying function to identify the exact place:

Jane is in the garden.

The indefinite article in its classifying function is preferable when the attention is focused on a description of the place rather than on its identification, as in: Crystal lived alone in a small shabby house.

In adverbial modifiers of comparison the indefinite article is preferably used in its classifying function with the generic tinge since comparison is drawn with a representative of the class: e.g. I can read you like a book. It is used also in phraseological combinations as strong as a lion, as hard as a nail, as meek as a mouse, etc.

5. In attributes the indefinite article is used to emphasize the importance and novelty of the notion mentioned. Therefore we find the indefinite article in such phrases as the son of a teacher, the daughter of a doctor, or
a doctor's daughter, it may be paraphrased as Her father is a doctor. She is the daughter of the doctor uggests reference to a definite person known from the situation equal to our doctor, the doctor here.

6. In apposition either of the articles can be used, depending on whether the noun in apposition serves to classify or to identify the notion expressed by the noun:

I've got acquainted with Mr Smith, an architect.

We've got acquainted with Mr Smith, the architect.

There is a substantial difference in the communicative value of the apposition depending on the use of the articles. The indefinite article implies that the listener (reader) does not know anything about the person or thing denoted by the head-noun and requires some new knowledge about it. Here the indefinite article has a classifying function:

Have you ever heard of 'Caesar's Wife', a play by Maugham?