English Definite and Zero Articles, Explanations

ENGLISH DEFINITE ARTICLE

1. Deserts: the Sahara, the Gobi
2. Capes : the Cape of Good Hope
3. Rivers: the Danube, the Nile, the Mississippi
4. Seas: the Black Sea
5. Oceans: the Atlantic Ocean
6. Countries [ few]: the USA, the  Netherlands, theRepublic of Korea, the U.K., the Republic of China [ or, simply, China, with no article ]
7. Cities [ few] : the Hague
8. Ships: the Titanic, the Queen Victoria, the Mayflower
9. Newspapers: the Guardian, the Times, the New York Times
10. Institutions, organizations: libraries, theaters, cinemas, town halls: the Town Hall, the University of Virginia, the United Nations[ the U.N.], the F.B.I
11. Groups of Islands: the Hebrides, the Philippines
12. Mountain ranges : the Alps, the Carpathians, the Andes
13. Canals : The Suez
14. Gulfs : the San Francisco Gulf
15. Hotels: the Marriott
16. Restaurants: the Lido
17. Museums: the Madame Tussauds
18. Groups of lakes : the Great Lakes
19. Plurals: the Kennedys
20. Number ranges: the Sixties
21. Zoos: the Brookfield Zoo
22. Some buildings: the Empire State Building
23. Languages [with “language”] : the Korean language
24. Titles [no name] : the President, the Sun King
25. Regions :the Midwest
26. German mountains: the Matterhorn

                                ZERO ARTICLE

 1. The generic function: this function is specific to the zero article; it goes with mass nouns:

Dogs are friendly animals

Water is heavier than oil.

Blood is thicker than water.

Love is a noble feeling.

Music is the finest of arts.

Exceptions:

Man is mortal.

Spring begins in March.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day.

  2. Before the vocatives:

         Listen, John! Good bye, Sir! Of course, boy!

    3.  Zero article can be a non – significant determiner in a variety of cases:

-        with proper nouns, names of countries, towns, continents,  people, months of the year, days of the week, languages, titles and ranks.

E.g. Europe, Romania, Africa, Rome, John, January, Monday,

-        With titles and ranks + surname or when we address a person by his / her title or rank, articles of any kind are dropped.

e.g.

Professor Johnson is away.

Dr. Cook has not been here for ten years.

Captain Brown has come recently.

Can I talk to you, Doctor?

Colonel, someone is looking for you!

     4. Zero article is used before meals:

We are having dinner at eight.

   5.  Zero article after prepositions:

--the definite article is not used before the nouns listed below:

We go to /bed / sleep / church / hospital / school / college /university

--exceptions to the rule are: cathedral, cinema, theatre, office

E.g. 

John and Mary are at the cinema.

We go to the theater every week.

6. Zero article with nouns associated with numerals:

E.g.

We say: Ex. 10, Lesson 5, Chapter 11, Volume 9, Book 1, Section 3

 7.  Zero article in set phrases:

E.g.

From time to time

At dawn / night / midday / noon / midnight

From dawn to dusk

By sea / land / train

On sale

Last night

In front of

8. Sometimes the article is omitted in stage directions, titles, telegrams, poetry.

e.g. 

Mutilated body found in Yellow Lake![newspaper title] 

Boys coming Monday night! [telegram]

   9. Zero article is used with:

People: Queen Victoria

Large lakes: Lake Ontario

Single mountains : Mt. Fuji [ exceptions to the rule: the Matterhorn, the Jungfrau ]

“Name” – number : Chapter 6, Flight 167

Individual people: Maggie, G. Bush

Continents, countries, states, cities: Australia, Canada,Illinois, Chicago

Months, days : October, Monday

Languages: Korean

Streets, Avenues: Lincoln Ave.

Small lakes: Homer Lake

Single islands: Staten Island

Colleges / Universities : Harvard [University], but : theUniversity of Harvard

Parks : Hessel Park, Hyde Park

Magazines: Life

Some buildings: Davenport Hall

Miscellaneous, Test 2

TEST 

·  He ___ smoke a lot, but after he got ill, he decided to quit smoking.
a. used to
b. was used to

·  My life was rather dull ___ I decided to move to the city.
a. unless
b. until

·  His watch ___
a. has been stolen.
b. has stolen

·  Little ___ that their plan has been discovered.
a. do they suspect
b. they suspect

·  ___ the rain, we went to the club.
a. Despite
b. Despite of

·  He didn't go to the party. Now he regrets ___ so.
a. not having done
b. not have done

·  If I had known I'd hurt him so much, I ___ that.
a. couldn't have said
b. wouldn't have said

·  Personally I ___ go to Greece.
a. would rather
b. would prefer

·  She hasn't read the article, nor ___ the essay.
a. has written
b. has she written

·  Margaret ___ her mother the prize she had gotten in the competition.
a. proudly showed
b. showed proudly

·  Have you picked up my ___ by mistake?
a. car's key
b. car key

·  I wonder how much ___
a. that car is.
b. is that car

·  Our customer's money ___ if they're not satisfied with the product.
a. will be refunded
b. will have been refunded

·  It's clearly stated that you ___ copy the site without written permission from the webmaster.
a. should not
b. ought not

·  This ticket ___ a free meal in our new cafeteria.
a. entitles you to
b. entitles you for

·  The price of oil ___ several times in the last two years.
a. has gone up
b. went up

·  ___ for the TOEFL exam in June, we took a sham exam in April.
a. Prepare
b. To prepare

·  I'm sure that by the end of this week, I ___ the books I have already ordered.
a. will have been getting
b. will have got

·  Everything depends on ___ we get a raise in our salary.
a. if
b. whether

·  The policeman is demanding that the thief ___ the crime.
a. confess
b. confesses

Prepositions, Exercise 1

Put IN, AT or ON in the blanks :

It gets very cold ___ winter.

Betty doesn't have a job ___ the moment.

The telephone and the doorbell rang ___ the same time.

He flew from Japan. He's probably ___ Perth now.

Would you like to go out to dinner ___ Friday night?

She was tired. She's ___ bed now.

Goodbye! I'll see you ___ the morning.

Were you ___ Tom's party last night?

I'll see you ___ two weeks time.

She was born ___ 1961.

The doctor will see you ___ 10:00.

___ the age of ten I wanted to be a firefighter.

My wife gave me a wonderful present ___ my birthday.

The coffee is ___ the shelf.

My pen is ___ my pencil case.

He's gone to work. He's probably ___ work now.

He lives ___ Australia.

___ my opinion you should buy the blue shirt.

___ second thought, the green shirt is nicer.

I'll see you ___ Monday.

I'll be taking my holiday ___ Christmas this year.

Buy some bread and milk ___ your way home.