The definite article is used

(a) when a personal name in the plural indicates the whole family:

About the Forsytes mingling that day with the crowd of other guests, there was a more than ordinarily groomed look.

(b) when a proper name is modified by a limiting attribute:

The Lucia of seven years ago seemed to bloom out again in that pale face and wrinkled forehead; In the spring of the year 1881 he was visiting his old school-fellow; It was the Saturday before the AugustBank Holiday; Had she not often heard Michael say that farming was more of a man’s job than another in the England of today?

Both the definite article and the indefinite article may be used

(a) with personal names modified by a descriptive attribute (with the exception of such attributes as 'young, old, poor, dear, little').

The indefinite article is used when the name with an attribute is the center of communication in the sentence; otherwise the definite article is used:

In the principal morning paper there were four pictures of MacGregor on the front page. One picture showed an unshaven MacGregor entering the room; The startled Jolyon set down his barley water.

When a personal name is modified by the adjectives ‘old, young, poor, dear, little’, no article is used:

Little John sat down on the bottom step and nodded.

(b) when the name of a painter, sculptor, writer is used to denote his work. The article with such nouns is used in accordance with the general rules for common countable nouns:

He went to his picture gallery and unhooked from the wall a little Watteau. (J. Galsworthy); Once in cleaning the closet she threw out all his books - the Apologie and the Phaedo of Plato and the Thoreau and the Emerson and all the leaflets and correspondence with Rosecrucian Brotherhood. (S. Fitzgerald)

(c) when a personal name is used to mean ‘someone having characteristics of the person named’. Just as in the previous case, the choice of the article is based on the general rules of its usage with common countable nouns:

‘I do not, I trust, disturb an Ophelia’, said Poirot as he took his seat beside her. (A. Christie); Mozart was called the Rafael of music.

 

2.38 Traditional use of the definite article as part of a name

 

Traditionally, the definite article is used with the names of

(a) oceans, seas, rivers, channels, canals and lakes (in the latter case when the proper name is used alone): the Pacific (ocean), the Mediterranian (sea), the Volga, the English Channel, the Suez Canal, the Baikal, etc. But: lake Baikal.

(b) mountain ranges and passes: the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, the Pamirs, the Saint Gotthard Pass, etc.

(c) some countries and territories: the USSR, the CIS, the Usa, the Netherlands, the Transvaal, the Caucasus, the Ruhr, the Riviera, the Tyrol, the Crimea, (the) Lebanon;

(d) some towns and town districts: the Hague, the Bronx, the City, the West End, the East End (of London);

(e) some streets: the Main Street (USA); the High Street, the Mall, the Strand, the Haymarket. But: Broad Street, Chancery Lane, Charing Cross; Fifth Avenue (USA);

(f) historical events and epochs: the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, the Revolution;

(g) organisations and institutions: the UNO, the London county council, the Conservative party, the House of Commons, the British Parliament. But: Parliament (Britain);

(h) some newspapers: the Daily Express, the New York Times, the Observer, the Sunday Times, the Guardian. But: Daily Mail, Chicago Tribune;

(i) some magazines and journals: the Spectator, the New Statesman. But: Newsweek, New Scientist, Punch, National Geographic, Language;

(j) names of ships and boats: the Titanic, the Queen Mary;

(k) names of theatres, cinemas, concert halls: the Old Vic, the Carnegie Hall, the Albert Hall, the Odeon. But: Drury Lane, Covent Garden.

(l) names of monuments: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument;

(m) hotels and restaurants: the Grand (hotel), the Hilton, the Savoy;

(n) museums, picture galleries, libraries: the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Louvre, the Library of Congress;

(o) clubs: the Connoisseurs, the Remove.

 

2.39 Demonstrative pronouns

 

	Singular	Plural
Near refe­rence	THIS	THESE
Far refe­rence	THAT	THOSE

THIS has ‘near reference’, i.e. it refers to something near to the speaker in terms of space or time:

Do you see this newspaper in my hand?; Everyone is so busy these days.

THAT has ‘far reference’, i.e. it refers to something remote from the speaker in terms of space or time:

Do you see that tower?; In those days life was enjoyable.

Sometimes demonstratives express emotional colouring (affection, contempt, disgust). THIS/THESE are often used to connote interest and familiarity in informal conversation:

Then I saw in the distance this lovely girl, and....

THAT/THOSE can be used to imply contempt, disgust and other types of emotional rejection:

He is one of those so called modern artists.

 

2.40 Possessive pronouns (conjoint forms)

There are two series of forms of possessive pronouns: conjointand absolute. The conjoint forms (my, your, etc) are followed by a noun, the absolute forms (mine, yours, etc) can not be followed by a noun. Conjoint forms are used as determiners whereas absolute forms are used as substitutes (see 2.46 f).

Possessive pronouns have person, number and gender distinctions (gender applies only to the third person singular).

	Singular	Plural
1st pers	MY	OUR
2nd pers	YOUR (thy)	YOUR
3rd pers	(m)	HIS	THEIR THEIR THEIR
(f)	HER
(n)	ITS

As seen from the table the form of the second person singular is homonymous to the plural form. The bracketed form thy [Dai] is now felt as archaic and is used mainly in poetry and historical prose.

Unlike many other languages, including Russian, English uses possessives with nouns denoting parts of the body and personal belongings of the doer of the action:

He came in with his hair all ruffled and his face hot, and his hands in his trouser pockets, in the way he was repeatedly told not to. (H.Weils)

The definite article is, however, usual when the ‘owner’ is not the doer of the action expressed by the predicate. There are two main possibilities:

(a) In active constructions the definite article is used in prepositional phrases preceded by a non-prepositional object which denotes the ‘owner’.

The author took the actress by the hand and led her across the stage to the footlights.

In this example the is used in the prepositional phrase ‘by the hand’, whereas the ‘owner’ is expressed by the non-prepositional object ‘the actress’.

(b) In passive constructions the ‘owner’ is denoted by the grammatical subject. Just as in the previous case the definite article is used with a name making part of a prepositional phrase.

He was wounded in the knee.

In the second example the subject ‘he’ indicates the owner of the part of the body denoted by the noun ‘knee’.

 

2.41 Indefinite pronouns used as determiners

 

Indefinite pronouns used as determiners include some, any, every, each, either, neither, much, no.

SOME and ANY

Some and any mean either ‘a certain quantity’ or ‘a certain quality’. Used in the first meaning they combine with uncountable nouns and plural forms of countable nouns:

He gave you some money, didn't he?; Have you any sugar?; Are there any stamps in that drawer?; Please, buy me some stamps.

In the second meaning they may also be used with countable nouns in the singular:

Some man wants to speak to you; Take any book you like.

Some is mainly used in affirmative sentences. When used before numerals and the postdeterminer few it means ‘about’ or ‘approximately’:

It happened some twenty years ago; I waited some few minutes.

Sometimes, modifying predicatives, the stressed some acquires the meaning of ‘very good’ or ‘extraordinary’:

It’s 'some cake!; He’s 'some doctor!

Some can be used in interrogative sentences when the question is in fact an invitation or request:

Would you like some tea?

Some is also used in interrogative constructions when the answer 'Yes' is expected:

Didn’t he give you some money?

When any means ‘a certain quantity’ it is mainly used in interrogative and negative sentences:

Have we got any tea?; He didn't ask me any questions.

Any is regularly used in affirmative sentences in adverbial clauses of condition:

If you have any letters, post them now.

Any is also used with such words having negative meaning as ‘without, hardly, scarcely, seldom, fail, prevent’, etc:

They understood each other without any words.

There is hardly any place in this house where we can talk alone.

In most cases any, like some, is unstressed, however when any has the meaning ‘no matter which’ it bears the stress:

You will find me at my desk at 'any hour of the day.

NO

No combines with countable and uncountable nouns. It is used with verbs in the affirmative form to express negation. It is often an alternative to the negative form of the verb + any construction:

I have no apples. (= I haven’t any apples)

When no modifies predicatives it sometimes acquires the meaning ‘no good as... ‘:

He is no pianist. (= He is no good as a pianist)

EVERY, EACH

They both mean ‘all’; but unlike all they imply a number of persons or things considered individually and not as a group. The main differences between every and each are as follows:

(a) every has a generalizing meaning while each has an individualizing meaning:

Every boy in the class passed the examination. (= All the boys); Each boy may have three tries.

(b) each refers to two or more persons whereas every is usually used with reference to more than two:

Two boys entered. Each boy was carrying a suitcase; There were five boys and every boy was carrying a suitcase.

(c) every can function only as determiner whereas each can function as determiner and substitute.

 

EITHER, NEITHER, MUCH

Either means ‘any one of two persons or things’:

Which of the two books will you take? –I’ll take either, it does not matter which.

Either may also mean ‘each of two’:

There was an armchair at either end of the long table.

Neither means ‘not either’, i.e. we can use neither with an affirmative verb form or either with a negative verb form:

I can agree in neither case. (= I cannot agree in either case)

Neither is preferred at the beginning of a sentence:

Neither statement is true.

Much means ‘a large quantity of’ and is used only with uncountable nouns. Much changes for degrees of comparison. They are more and most:

There isn’t much food in the house; Some more coffee, please; I don’t have much news of him; Did you have much difficulty in finding the house?; Most work was done in his father’s office.

Much in the positive form is mainly used in negative and interrogative sentences. In purely affirmative sentences much in the positive form is usually replaced by a lot of, a great deal of, plenty of and the like:

I have a lot of bread, but I haven’t much butter.

In affirmative sentences much is often used with such adverbs as very, too, so:

You’ve given me too much sugar.

 

2.42 Predeterminers

 

These include the indefinite pronouns all, both and the noun half. All, both and half can occur before articles, possessives and demonstratives. The demonstrative such can also be used as a predeterminer before the indefinite article.

 

ALL, BOTH, HALF

All and half can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns:

All my friends were happy to hear the news; You’ve had all the fun; Half of the plums are bad; He spoke for about half an hour.

Both occurs only with countables in the plural:

Both his younger brothers are in the army.

All, both and half have ‘of’-constructions which are optional with nouns and obligatory with personal pronouns:

ALL my friends = ALL of my friends. But: ALL of them;

HALF his salary = HALF of his salary. But: HALF of it;

BOTH (the) students = BOTH of the students. But: BOTH of them.

All and b oth can also occur immediately after a noun or pronoun functioning as subject and after a pronoun functioning as object:

The students all like their new professor/They all like their new professor; The students both passed their exams; We both want to go; Take it all; Take them both.

When the predicate is compound or the verb form is analytical all and both can be placed within the predicate group:

The students were all working hard; They were all working hard; You must both work harder; They were all broken.

Half may be used in two different positions. It occurs both before the article and after it: half an hour/a half hour. However the pre-article position is much more common than its postposition to the article.

 

SUCH

Such means ‘of the same kind or degree as’ it occurs before the indefinite article with singular countable nouns, and without the article with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns:

There was just such a case last year; All such possibilities must be considered; We had such awful weather.

Note:

In addition to the predeterminers mentioned above many may be used as predeterminer in the construction ‘many Art_ind N’: e.g. I’ve been here many a time.

 

2.43 Postdeterminers

 

Postdeterminers are words which follow determiners but precede adjectives in noun phrases. They fall into two groups: the indefinite pronouns many, several, (a) few, (a) little and numerals (cardinals and ordinals).

 

 

2.44 Indefinite pronouns used as postdeterminers

 

Many, several, few and a few co-occur with countable nouns in the plural while little and a little combine only with uncountable nouns:

His many old friends came to support him; We are all busy at our several tasks; A few Icelandic poppies were blooming; It has caused me not a little anxiety.

 

MANY

Many is mainly used in interrogative and negative sentences:

I haven’t made many mistakes; Were there many students at the meeting?

In informal English many is usually replaced by a lot of, lots of, plenty of, etc, when the sentence is affirmative:

There were such a lot of people in the shops.

However, when modified by too, so, a great many is quite common in affirmative constructions:

I’ve got a great many things to do today.

Many is seldom preceded by determiners.

 

SEVERAL

When several means ‘three or more’ it is seldom preceded by a determiner:

I’ve read it several times.

When it has the meaning ‘separate’, ‘individual’, it is normally preceded by a possessive pronoun:

They went their several ways.

 

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