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The Definite article






Most uses of the show that I (the writer/speaker) can assume that you (the listener/ the reader) know who /what I am referring to.

 

Once a topic has been introduced, a speaker/writer can use the to refer to people/things that are normally present in that situation. For example, if someone is telling a story about a flight they were on, they can refer to the pilot, the plane, the airport, the food, etc., without having to be more explicit.

 

The is used:

 

1. To make a general statement about all things of that class (generic reference): The dolphin is an intelligent animal (a certain class of sea animals as distinct from other classes, such as the whale or the seal).

NOTE 1: The noun man is used without the when referring

generically to all human beings(not only all male human beings): This will lead to a disaster if man doesn't face reality.

NOTE 2: Referring to a class is also done with:

a) a/an + singular noun: A dolphin lives in the sea (a dolphin as an example of a class of sea animals known as " dolphin");

b) no article + plural noun: Dolphins live in the sea (all creatures with the characteristics of sea animals called " dolphins").

Using the here is more formal than using a or a plural.

 

2. When it is clear from the context/ situation what person or thing is meant: Jill didn't turn round and the boy coughed quietly (the reader is supposed to know what boy). Pass me the salt, please (the one on the table).

3. When the noun is mentioned for a second time (" back reference"): They had a son and a daughter. The son was in the Army.

 

4. To specify the thing or person:

1) by means of clauses and phrases: The book I recommended now costs $5. The attempt to persuade her left him exhausted. He is the student you wanted to speak to.

2) by an " of" phrase: The independence of my country is of primary importance for me. The life of great people can teach us a lot.

3) with the meals when they are specified: The dinner at the Trenchers' was enjoyable.

 

4) with names of languages when they are specified: The English of America differs from the English of England.

NOTE special uses: It is a translation from the French. What is the English for " сосна"?

5. With nouns in certain syntactical positions:

1) with nouns in apposition or nouns forming part of an apposition modified by a particularising attribute: Jenkins, the student you have mentioned, has come. Pushkin, the great Russian poet, died in 1837.

NOTE: But if the person or the work of art is not widely known the indefinite article is used: ‘Pericles’, a comedy by Shakespeare, is hardly ever staged.

2) with nouns which follow the attribute expressed by the pronouns both, all: Both the stories were interesting. All the girls looked charming.

6. With adjectives:

1) with adjectives without a noun to refer to all the people with that characteristic, e.g. the sick means " people who are sick": It seems that the unemployed can be kept out of sight. Many adjectives can be used this way. Here are some common ones: aged, dead, disabled, elderly, handicapped, homeless, old, poor, rich, sick, unemployed, young.

2) with adjectives meaning general abstract notions: No one can achieve the impossible (things which are impossible). The following adjectives are often used this way: impossible, incredible, inevitable, new, obvious, old, possible, supernatural, unexpected, unknown, unreal, unthinkable.

3) with comparative adjectives: The larger the biscuit, the longer the baking time.

4) with nouns modified by adjectives in the superlative degree: Clair is the prettiest girl I have ever met.

7. With ordinal numerals: Our seats were in the third row.

NOTE: In dates the is spoken, but not written: He came on March, 12th (spoken as March the 12th); (on a letter) 12(th) March (spoken as the 12th of March).

8. With the words meaning time sequences: the beginning, the middle, the end; the first/last; the next; the following day; the present/ past/ future; in the past he used to be an army officer.

NOTE: next and last are used without the in time expressions (next week, last year, etc.)

9. In measuring expressions with by: by the pound/ kilo/dozen, etc.

 

10. With parts of the day in the morning/afternoon/ evening: The night was warm and beautifully still (specified by the particularising attributes).

11. With musical instruments: Chris plays the violin.

NOTE: No article is used to talk about roles in a musical group or in a piece of music: I don't know of any duets for piano and trumpet.

12. To refer to the systems of media: I don't like using the telephone (phone).

Other words of this type are: the newspapers (papers), the press, the post, the mail, the news.

NOTE: by phone (telephone), by post (mail).

13. With unique items (only one example or one set of them exists): the devil, the Earth/earth, the equator, the sun, the moon, the North/north Pole, the South/ south Pole, the Pope, the sky, the solar system, the stars, the universe, the world.

But: A/an is used when there is an attribute before the sun, the moon, the sky, etc.: A pearl-white moon smiles through the green trees.

NOTE: Some of them are like proper names and there is a tendency to use a capital letter with them.

14. With the names of the seasons the is optional: (the) spring/ summer/ autumn/ winter.

NOTE: the + weather/ climate/ temperature is used in a general sense: I believe that the weather can influence people's mood.

 






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