Learning English articles. Articles before proper names in English

Hello again! The Article is the main determiner of a word in an English sentence. Before using any noun, you need to decide what object is being talked about: any or specific. In English, an article is almost always placed before a noun, depending on the type of word (specific/generalized) - definite (Definite) or indefinite (Indefinite).

The indefinite article in English In this article we will look at what it is the Indefinite Article

and cases where the indefinite article is used in English. Let me remind you that the indefinite article"a/an" derived from the Old English evolved numeral " one " This auxiliary part of speech singles out one item from many similar ones, which is no different from its analogues and you know a minimum of information about it: I had a

sandwich. I had Word with undefined The article is the name of the object as a whole, and not a pointer to a specific object. For example, saying the word “ book “We present books in general, and not any specific book. In Russian, its meaning can be expressed in the following words: some, one of, any, one, every, some, each, any . May sometimes be replaced by pronouns any (everyone) and some

(some).

• The fact that Indefinite Article comes from a numeral determines the basic rules for its use: I had"a/an" is only used with countable persons or objects that we can count: I had lamp, car, an I had apple cup - I had Have
• drink

Since this is the numeral “one,” “a/an” is used only with words in the singular, and in the plural the article is omitted: lamps, cars — There are bottles

Use of the indefinite article

• Other uses of Indefinite Article: When assigning an object to any classification group: A car, horse is
• animal. — A horse is an animal. When characterizing an object, person or phenomenon: car, Bill is I had idiot! - Bill is an idiot! My mother is
• doctor. - My mom is a doctor. When a person or phenomenon is first mentioned: I had That's
• pretty woman - Beautiful woman In the meaning of a portion with uncountables: I had Buy milk. — Buy ​​milk. Or in the meaning of a certain quantity of a specific whole: I had Pass me
• piece of, and pie. Pass me a piece of the pie Before the name of the position or profession: car, She's—architect She's an architect. He is a
• In a general sense : When assigning an object to any classification group: sheep gives a wool - Sheep (any) gives wool
• Before a countable, denoting time, in the meaning of “one”: Will you arrive in car, hour? — Will you arrive in an hour?
• With some quantity turnover: I had little - a little, I had pair - pair, She's an architect. He is few - several
• Together with singular nouns that can be counted and qualified words most (very), quite, such, rather - He is quite She's an architect. He is young man - He is still quite a young man.
• In exclamatory sentences, after the word “what”: What I had beautiful dream! - What a wonderful dream!

That's all you need to know!

What is the difference between "a" and "an"?

In English there are two types of neodef. article: "a" And " an". What is the difference between them? Take a close look at the presented examples and you will see a certain pattern: “a” is used when the subsequent word begins with a consonant letter or sound ( a h ouse, a c at, a y ard), and “an” - before a vowel sound or letter ( anh our, an o ld woman, an a pple).

See you later!

Watch the video lesson

Proper names are preceded by the zero or definite article “the”. The zero article usually refers to the absence of an article, that is, the case when it is not needed before a noun. A proper name is a noun that is intended to highlight one single, specific object from among many. Examples of this type are names of people, names of companies, cities, and the like. Most proper names do not take an article before them. At the same time, there are too many different names and names with an article in front of them to talk about a strict rule. Let's go through some instances that you may encounter in your speech that pose a dilemma for you.

The definite article "the" with proper nouns

With surnames. It is customary to put the article “the” before surnames if you want to describe all family members in one word.

Example. The Blackthorns had one general feature, they were very kind. (The Blackthorns had one thing in common, they were all kind - ed.).

(Read more about the use of articles with names of people in, - ed.).

With company names. Here the norm has always been dictated by those who came up with these names. Fashion has crystallized into tradition and now the names of some well-known companies need to be preceded by an article, while others, traditionally, are not.

Example. The Boston Consulting Group, The General Insurance, The Hartford, The East India Company, The National Telephone Company.

With newspaper names. Most newspaper names are written with the definite article “the”. Not so with magazines, they are usually preceded by a zero article, with the exception of The National Geographic Magazine.

Example. The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian, The Observer, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Shuttle.

(You can learn more about the rules of use and cases of using the definite article the in, - ed.).

With the names of hotels, hostels, pubs, restaurants. The article is almost always used. The exception is a few establishments whose brand was formed with the participation of the possessive case - “Martin’s”.

(Some additional examples of names of pubs and restaurants with and without articles in , - ed.).

It is not difficult to remember this, because according to the logic of English grammar, the article is needed to “define” the noun, the possessive case literally nails the noun with a hammer and nails to the other members of the sentence, and from this bell tower the article already seems redundant - the subject of speech is clearly defined. By the way, even if there is no possessive case, but the name of the brand contains the name of the creator, then the article is often also not needed. Just remember the famous McDonald's.

Example. The Trafalgar Hotel, The Mandeville Hotel, The Marylebone Hotel, The Cube, The Gay Hussar, The Jazz Café, The Mayflower Pub.

With the names of railways and highways. There are proper names in these categories in which the article is not used, especially many such bridges, however, it is often required.

Example. The Northern Pacific Railroad, The Trans-Siberian Railroads, The Liverpool and Manchester Railroad.

(You can learn more about the rules of use and cases of using the indefinite article a/an in English in, – ed.).

With the names of ships and car brands. With some names of ships and with some brands of cars it is customary to use the definite article “the”.

Example. The Golden Hind (Francis Drake's ship - ed.), The Argo, The Nissan Qashqai, The Titanic.

With city attractions. In this matter, everything is quite specific; there are objects that, by tradition, take the article “the” as themselves.

Example. The Winter Palace (Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, - ed.), The Tower of London, The Hermitage (Hermitage in St. Petersburg, - ed.), The Statue of Liberty (Statue of Liberty in New York, - ed.), The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Tomb of the unknown malt - ed.).

With the names of cinemas and theaters. Sometimes, but rarely, the article "the" is necessary.

Example. The Phoenix Cinema, The Carnegie Hall, The Globe Theatre, The Bolshoi Opera House (Bolshoi Theater in Moscow - ed.).

Political parties and libraries. In English, it is necessary to write some names of parties and libraries with an article.

Example. The Democratic party, The Communist party, The Conservative party, The London Library.

The article “the” with the names of countries and regions. Historically, in English, the names of some countries and regions must be preceded by a definite article.

Example. The Congo, The Hague (The Hague, - ed.), the Brazil, the Argentina, the Philippines, The Transvaal (South Africa region, - ed.), the Crimea (Crimea, - ed.), the Caucasus (Caucasus, - ed. .), the Ukraine (Ukraine, – ed.).

With the official full names of many states. The United Kingdom, The Russian Federation, The United States of America, The Republic of Ireland, The United Arab Emirates, The Roman Empire, The Byzantine Empire.

With the names of rivers, oceans and seas.“the” is also used very often with these geographic features. But please be careful not to get confused, for example, the names of lakes almost always lack an article.

Example. The Volga, The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, The Danube (Danube - ed.).

You can learn more about the use of articles with names of geographical objects in, - ed.).

With common names for groups of islands - archipelagos. But not individual islands, we’ll talk about that later.

Example. The British Isles, The Hawaii, The West Indies.

With peninsulas (peninsula, – ed.). Sometimes with an article, and sometimes without an article. Some guidance may be the presence of the word "peninsula". If there is one, then “the” is often present, since we are probably talking about the official full name. As with states.

Translation. The Cola peninsula (Kola Peninsula - ed.).

With the names of capes. Everything is quite colorful, there are many capes whose names are usually preceded by an article.

Example. The Cape of Good Hope.

With the names of the bays. The situation is similar to the previous paragraph. Tradition can sometimes be very capricious and in similar cases may prescribe adding an article or using a zero. And there are no rules, you need to remember.

Example. The Gulf of California, The Gulf of Mexico.

The article “the” is usually placed before the names of straits and canals. Although there are exceptions, more often such objects are spoken of with the definite article.

Example. The Magellan Strait, The Panama Channel (Panama Canal - ed.).

With names of deserts. There are few deserts, each of them is unique, it is not surprising that in English they all have the article “the” added to their names.

Example. The Nevada desert, The desert of Kara-Kum, The Sahara Desert.

With names of mountain ranges. The situation is the same as with archipelagos and islands. If it’s an archipelago, then most likely the article is “the,” if it’s a separate island, then the zero article. One mountain is zero, a mountain range is an article.

Example. The Alps, The Pamirs.

The names of cardinal directions, underwater currents, glaciers and waterfalls are also used with the definite article.

It is worth noting that the general meaning of the article the, regardless of the rules, is to give the object exclusivity or individuality. If you've forgotten the rule, you might want to base your decision on whether "the" is appropriate as an "emphasizer." On the other hand, there is a tendency to omit the article if something is called not by its full name, but by its short equivalent: “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, but “Britain” or “England” is the zero article (Read our separate article about the stylistic subtleties of using articles in English, – ed.).

Zero article with proper names - absence of article

We have gone through many cases where the article “the” may be necessary before proper names. Now the same must be done for the zero article.

With the names of holidays and memorable days. In most cases the article is not needed.

Example. Easter (Easter, – ed.), Halloween, New Year’s Day.

With highways, bridges and railroads. We already wrote above that many names of bridges require a zero article before them. The same applies to the names of railways and highways.

Example. Laxford Bridge, Perth Bridge, Skye Bridge, Fiddle Road.

With the names of spaceships. Thunderchild, Geronimo, Rabin (Names of spaceships from the Star Trek series - ed.), Apollo-11.

With many names of sea vessels and with many brands of cars. Yes, if at the beginning of the article we wrote about ships and cars that need the article “the” in front of them, then there are many objects of these types that don’t need any article in front of them.

Example. Albatross, Rodney (names of ships of the British fleet - ed.) Volkswagen Tuareg.

With magazines and some newspapers. Most British newspaper titles require the article "the" before their names, but there are a couple of exceptions to this rule - Daily Express, Morning Star. It is also worth saying that the zero article is “included” with most domestic newspapers when they are spoken of in English: “Izvestia”, not “The Izvestia”. Most magazines are preceded by the zero article, with the exception of the already mentioned National Geographic.

(You can get additional examples illustrating the use of articles with some names of hotels and newspapers, - ed.)

With the names of airports and train stations. The zero article is most often used before airports and train stations.

Example. Victoria Station (Victoria station in London - ed.), Sheremetyevo.

With company names. Many names of commercial organizations are preceded by the article “the”, we saw this in the previous section of the article, but a significant part of such nouns come with a zero article.

Example. Bell Labs, General Motors, General Electric.

With the names of universities, institutes, colleges. This type of proper name usually involves the absence of an article, but there are a couple of exceptions: The London School of Economics, The School of Media at the London Institute, as well as a number of others.

Example. New York University, Moscow University, Oxford University.

With the names of zoos and stadiums. With this type of proper nouns the article is not required.

Example. London Zoo, Wembley Stadium (Wembley Stadium - ed.).

With the names of churches, cathedrals and other religious institutions. It is not customary to put “the” before such nouns.

Example. St. Paul's Cathedral.

Before the names of streets, squares, parks and city areas. At this point, we have combined in one fell swoop most of the objects that can be found in the city and it is easy to remember that all such nouns are usually written and spoken without an article.

Example. Wall Street, Central Park (in New York - ed.), Trafalgar Square.

With names of cities, countries, continents. Let's leave the city into a wide open space. All these nouns also do not have an article in front of them. In the section on the article “the” with proper names, we said that it is used with countries. The watershed here follows the official name. The full and official form will have an article, and the simple and commonly used form will have a zero article. So, if the Russian Federation is -The Russian Federation, then Russia is simply, Russia, without an article.

Names of individual islands. Unlike the names of archipelagos, no article is needed.

Example. Madagascar.

With names of lakes. The names of seas, oceans and rivers require an article, but lakes have a special destiny. Most often they are preceded by a zero article.

Example. Loch Ness, Lake Baikal.

Note that some capes and bays are also written with a zero article, but there is no pattern here, tradition comes into its own and you will have to remember that there is “The Cape of Good Hope”, and there is “Cape Cod”.

Used before singular and plural nouns when talking about something definite, specific.

The criminals robbed the bank . – Criminals robbed a bank (of some specific kind).

Please close the door. – Please close the door (not any door in the house, but this door).

In other words, if you can add “some” before a noun, then there will be an indefinite article, and if “that same \ those same ones” fits, then there will be a definite article.

The definite article is also used with nouns that mean:

1. Something unique, existing in a single copy

the Sun - the sun,

the Columbia river - the Columbia River.

(about the article before proper names, see below)

2. Periods (segments) of time

in the morning - in the morning,

in the past - in the past.

3. Before adjectives in the superlative degree

the biggest mall in Moscow is the largest shopping center in Moscow.

The article can quite significantly change the meaning of the entire sentence. For example:

I met a girl yesterday. – I met a girl on the street (I was just walking and saw some girl).

I met the girl yesterday. – I met a girl yesterday (I saw THAT SAME girl, for example, the love of my life).

Zero articles in English

In some cases, the article is not used at all before the noun, for example:

1. It means something very general

Crime and punishment. – Crime (in general) and punishment (in general).

Life is strange. – Life is strange (life in general).

2. Before the names of days of the week, months, seasons

See you on Monday. - See you on Monday.

August is the last month in summer. – August is the last month of summer.

3. Before words denoting food intake

Let's have breakfast. - Let's have breakfast.

Lunch is ready. - Lunch is ready.

Article before proper names

Difficulties with articles arise when we are faced with the issue of using articles before proper names. You probably noticed that, for example, there is no article before some geographical names, while others are preceded by the. Let us first consider when articles before proper names are not needed.

When the article is NOT placed before a proper noun

In most cases, articles are not used before proper names. A proper name denotes a specific person or thing, this is understandable even without an article, so usually the article is not needed.

Here are examples of such cases:

1. Before names.

Jonh, Misha Sidorov, Lewis.

2. Before names with a form of address or title, degree, etc.

General Pupkin, Professor Pavlov, Mr. White.

3. Before common nouns that serve as addresses.

Essentially, they are treated as a proper noun:

How are you doing, sergeant? - How are you, Sergeant?

How can I help you, professor? - How can I help you, professor?

4. Before the names of family members, if they are used by members of the same family.

In such cases, the words father, mother, sister, etc. are used practically as proper names.

Let's see what mom says - Let's see what mom says.

I’ve got to ask father about it - I have to ask my father about this.

Note: the word “mother” is written in the USA mom, and in Great Britain - mum.

When an article is needed before a proper name

There are cases when the article the is placed before proper names. There is not always a pattern in them, here are some typical cases:

1. Before plural surnames in the meaning “such and such family”:

The Whites live in Albuquerque – The Whites (the White family) live in Albuquerque.

Have you invited the Petrovs? – Did you invite the Petrovs (Petrov family)?

2. Before some geographical names.

This is a rather confusing point, since in the use of the article before toponyms, in some places there are patterns, in others there are not, and in others it is possible both ways. For example, on maps, articles are never written before names to save space. Some general patterns and exceptions are well described in this video from Puzzle English:

My personal note: I never tried to remember all the nuances of using articles before geographical names. And that's why. I use them very rarely in speech, and if I do use them, they are the same ones (I’m from Russia). Even if I memorize everything that Anton talks about in the video, I will still happily forget most of it, because this knowledge is rarely useful. I don’t see anything wrong with looking in a reference book or Googling in a difficult situation. When I write in Russian, I often have to turn to reference literature (anyone who writes something by line of work will say the same thing), let alone talk about foreign languages.

English articles in set expressions

There are a number of set expressions in which the definite or indefinite article is used.

Set expressions with the indefinite article A/AN
a few	some
a little	A little
a lot of	a lot of
a great deal of	a lot of
a good deal	a lot of
as a rule	usually
as a result	as a result
as a matter of fact	as a matter of fact
at a speed of	with speed
at a time when	during the time when
for a while	for a while
for a long (short) time	for a long (short) time
in a low (loud) voice	in a quiet (loud) voice
to be in a hurry	hurry
to go for a walk	to go for a walk
to have a cold	have a cold
to have a good time	have a good time
to have a mind	mean
to have a look	take a look
to have a smoke	light a cigarette
to have a rest	relax
to take a seat	sit down
to tell a lie	lie
It is a pity	it's a pity
It is a pleasure.	With pleasure.
What a shame!	What a disgrace!
Set expressions with the definite article THE
by the way	by the way
in the morning	in the morning
in the afternoon	during the day
in the evening	In the evening
in the country	outside the city, in the village
in the past	in past
in the present	present
in the future	in future
in the distance	in the distance
in the plural	in plural
in the singular	singular
in the street	on the street
just the same	the same
on the one hand… on the other hand	on the one hand on the other hand
on the right (left)	right left)
in the whole	in general, in general
out of the question	impossible, out of the question
on the other day	the other day (in relation to the past)
the day after tomorrow	day after tomorrow
the day before yesterday	day before yesterday
to go to the theater (the cinema)	go to the theater (cinema)
to go to the country	to go out of town
to pass the time	spend time
to play the piano (guitar, violin, etc)	play the piano (guitar, violin, etc.)
to tell the truth	tell the truth (but speaking about lies – to tell a lie)
to tell the time	tell what time it is
to the right (left)	right left)
What is the time?	What time is it now?
Set expressions WITHOUT articles
to ask permission	ask permission
to be in bed	lie in bed, get sick
to be at home	be at home
to be at school	be at school
to be at table	be at the table (at the meal)
to be in town	be in town
to be on holiday	to be on vacation
to declare war	to declare a war
to go by water (air, sea, land)	travel by water (air, sea, land)
to go home	Go home
to go to bed	go to sleep
to go to school	go to school (study)
to go to sea	become a sailor
to go to town	go to town
to keep house	run a household
to leave school	to graduate school
to leave town	leave the city
to make haste	hurry
to make use of	use
to play chess (cards, hockey, etc.)	play chess (cards, hockey, etc.)
to take care	take care
to take part	participate
to take place	take place
to go by bus (car, train)	go by bus (car, train)
at breakfast (dinner, supper)	at breakfast (lunch, dinner)
at hand	at hand
at home	Houses
at night	at night
at peace	in the world
at present	currently
at school	at school (in class)
at sunrise	at dawn
at sunset	On the Sunset
at table	at the table
at war	at war
at work	At work
by air	by air
by chance	accidentally
by day	during the day
by hand	by hand
by heart	by heart
by land	by land
by sea	by sea
by mail	by mail
by means of	through
by mistake	wrong
by name	by name
by night	at night
by phone	by phone
by post	by mail
by train (bus, taxi, etc.)	by train (bus, taxi, etc.)
in conclusion	Finally
in debt	in debt
in detail	in detail
in fact	really
in mind	mentally
in time	during
in trouble	in trouble
on board	on board
on business	on business
on credit	on credit
on deck	on deck
on foot	on foot
on holiday	on holiday
on sale	on sale

Many foreign languages ​​have such a part of speech as the article (The Article). This is a auxiliary part of speech and acts as a noun determiner. There is no such part of speech in the Russian language, so it is difficult for Russian-speaking people starting to learn English to get used to using articles in speech.

How and why are articles used in English?

But if we do not use them, difficulties may arise in communicating with an Englishman, because it will not be clear to him what kind of subject we are talking about, whether he knows anything about it or not. To avoid problems in communication and to simply learn how to express yourself correctly, it is important and necessary to study articles in English and cases of their use.

Today we will talk about such an important topic as the use of articles in English, and we will also look at cases when it is necessary to use articles.

• There are two types of articles in English:
• Definite Article

Indefinite Article (indefinite article) THE ðǝ - definite article or Definite Article, and it is pronounced [ ðɪ ] when a noun begins with a consonant and [ ] when the noun begins with a vowel. For example: ðǝ the [ ðɪ ] school, the [
When assigning an object to any classification group:] apple. or AN I had— indefinite (Indefinite Article). When a noun begins with a consonant, we say " car, banana", but if with a vowel, then "

To better understand what the difference is between the definite and indefinite article in English, we will give an example in Russian: When articles are used in English

Cases of using articles in English

Here it is important to remember what rules exist for using articles in English:

• The article is used before every common noun.
• We do not use the article when the noun is preceded by a demonstrative or possessive pronoun, another noun in the possessive case, a cardinal number or the negation no (not not!).

This is I had girl. - It's a girl.
My sister is car, engineer — My sister is an engineer.
I see the girls jumping the rope. — I see girls jumping rope.

As a rule, the indefinite article in English is used when the subject is spoken about for the first time, as well as if nothing is known about the subject. The definite article (Definite Article) is present where something is already known about the subject or it is mentioned again in conversation. Let's see this with a few examples. Note:

He has got I had computer.- He has a computer (what kind of computer, what’s wrong with it, what brand, etc. - we don’t know.
The computer is new. - The computer is new (Now some information about the computer has appeared - it is new).
This is I had tree. — This is a tree (it is not clear what kind of tree, nothing is known about it).
The tree is green. — The tree is green (something is already known, the tree is covered with green leaves).
What articles are used and when in English?

• Indefinite Article a, an can be used in exclamatory sentences beginning with the word what: What a surprise! - What a surprise! What a beautiful day! - What a beautiful day!
• Indefinite article a, an in English it is used only with countable nouns: This is a book. - This is a book. I see a boy. - I see a boy.
• Definite Article is used with both countable and uncountable nouns: The book I read is very interesting. — The book I am reading is very interesting. The meat you've bought is fresh. — The meat you bought is fresh.
• Indefinite Article is used before an adjective if it is followed by a noun: We have a large family. - We have a big family. I read an interesting book. — I’m reading an interesting book.
• The indefinite article can be used in a sentence to mean “one, one, one”: My father has three children, two sons and a daughter. — My father has three children - two sons and one daughter. Today I bought a copy-book and two pens. — Today I bought one notebook and two pens.
• Definite Article is used in the superlative degree of adjectives: Pink Street is the largest street in that town. — Pink Street is the largest in this city.
• The definite article is used with geographical names, that is, before the names of rivers, canals, seas, mountains, oceans, bays, straits, archipelagos. But it is not used with the names of lakes, countries, continents. Exceptions: the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, the Ukraine, the Congo, the Crimea.

And now, friends, pay attention to which stable phrases in English always contain a definite article:

• In the south
• In the north
• In the east
• In the west
• To the south
• To the north
• To the east
• To the west
• What's the use?
• To the cinema
• To the theater
• To the shop
• To the market
• At the cinema
• At the theater
• At the shop
• At the market.

There are still many individual cases of using articles in English. We will look at them in more detail in articles, which are separately devoted to the definite article and separately to the indefinite article.

In general, the situation with articles in English is very serious. They need and should be used in speech, without them there is simply no way, otherwise we ourselves can get confused and confuse our interlocutor in the information presented. And in order not to get confused about which articles exactly and when to use them, just memorize these cases. And you will see how this small but very necessary service part of speech will bring clarity to your conversation, and your speech will be beautiful and complete! So let the kids the, a and an become your assistants in your English speech!

» Articles in English. 4 cases when they are definitely not needed

Before we start listing the different cases in which we should use the definite or indefinite article, let’s make our life easier and understand the situations where we definitely do NOT need to use the article.

1. This and that

If right before the noun there is This or that - this or that (as well as these and those - these or those)

The logic is simple - if you say this chair or that window, then it is already clear that we are talking about a specific object. Therefore, the article is not needed here.

Can you give me this apple, that carrot and these lemons. – This shop is not a fruit shop, madam. Can you give me this apple, this carrot and these lemons? Madam, this is not a grocery store.

But be careful. This or that must refer to a noun, only then does this rule apply. For example, if between that and a noun there is a verb to be, this is a completely different grammatical construction, and an article may be needed in it.

This is a grammar structure where you do need an article. This grammatical construction requires an article.

Another case: if that is a conjunction connecting two parts of a sentence (the conjunction “that”), then this is also a completely different situation and an article may be required.

I know that a love like this won’t last forever. I know that such love can last forever.

2. My, your, John's