Development of english language

Content:

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 2
2. The Definite Article ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
3. The Omission of the Definite Article ……………………………………………………………………………...5
4. The Indefinite Article ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
5. The omission of the Indefinite Article …………………………………………………………………………… 9
6. References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction:

Whenever word frequencies are reported for English, the articles account for almost ten per cent of most texts. It would seem to be hard to make sense of how English works without understanding the role of these common forms. There is distinction between the indefinite article (a or an) and the definite article (the). There is also a high percentage of nouns occurring without any article, or with what is called zero article ( ).

For easier understanding it was “invented” An Article Machine, in which you can insert any noun and, by making a number of choices, create a noun phrase containing the correct article. It looked like this:

 

Insert noun here  Is this a proper noun?  No.  Is there a unique referent?  No.  Is it countable?  Yes.  Is it singular?  Yes.

’       ’       ’       ’

Yes.       Yes.       No.       No.

’       ’       ’       ’   ’

Article selected         the                   a (an)

¹

But, this machine wasn’t so prefect because it wasn’t always easy to answer on every question, for example, on question about “unique referent”. Or, sometimes it can be hard to recognize is it noun countable or non-countable, like in case when we say “bag of apples” and “teaspoon of apples”. In the first case noun is countable, but in second in non-countable.

 

The Definite Article

 

The definite article (the) is pronounced /ði/ in front of vowels and mute /h/, and in front all other sounds is pronounced as /ðə/. It has the same form for singular and plural – the.

The definite article is connected to the demonstrative that. In many cases, the basic meaning of the (x), is “that particular (x).

George Yule says that the definite article the is used to identify objects. For English speakers there are many objects that can be mentioned as already identified, like entities that are treated as only members of their class, or some historical events:

• The moon goes around the earth which goes around the sun.
• The Pope, the President, and the Queen were all there.
• The Civil War was extremely destructive.

 

Other entities are treated as definite because of pre-modifying expressions. These expressions come before the noun and limit the reference in a specific way. Common examples are: first, last, beginning, bottom, end, top, etc., that indicate the end-point of a scale.

 

• At the start, I thought I was the first person in her thoughts.

The definite article the is also used :

1. Before common nouns used in particular sense:
1. The man you met is my friend.
2. I very much like the dress you had on last night.

 

2. In narration when a person or thing is mentioned for the first time, it is used indefinite article, but thereafter the definite article is placed before the noun, because it is now ised in particular sense.

• My brother gave me a book.

The book was quite interesting.

• They asked me a question.

The question was very difficult to answer.

 

 

3. Before common nouns to indicate whole class:

• The rose is the most beautiful flower.
• The cow gives us milk.

 

4. Before superlative:

• She is the prettiest girl in the family.
• It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.

 

1. Before ordinal numbers:

• Tuesday is the second day of the week.
• The twentieth century.

 

2. Before unique things like: the earth, the sun, the moon, the North Pole, the present, the north, the south, the east, the west, the past.

• The sun rises on the east.
• In the past people were great fighters.

 

3. Before surnames in the plural to indicate whole family:

• Where were Smiths on holiday?
• The Browns were in Italy last summer.

 

4. Before the names of the rivers (The Danube, the Tames, the Rhine), seas (the Black Sea, the Adriatic sea, the Mediterranean sea), oceans (the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean), and chains of mountains ( the Alps, The Pyrenees). But when it comes to lakes we can say : the Lake of Ohrid or Lake Ohrid, the Lake of Bled or lake Bled, but we say: the Black Lake.

It is important to say that words sea and ocean can be omitted so it can be sad: the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Adriatic, etc.

The word river should be used in names of places that are in Serbia to avoid ambiguity, because there are mountains and river with the same name, like Tara, so we should always say the River Tara or the Tara River.

 

5. Before the names of countries and islands consisting of an adjective and noun ( The United States, The United Kingdom, The British Isles, The Canary Isles), but there is an exception, Great Britain is always written without article.

 

6. Before the names of nationalities to indicate the whole nation (The Macedonians, The English, The French, the Chinese, etc).

 

7. Before adjectives used as nouns in the plural (the blind, the rich, the intelligent, the usual, the brave).

• The strong should protect the weak.
• The wounded were taken to hospital.

 

8. Before the names of public buildings (the Houses of Parliament, The Federal Executive Council), museums (The British Museum, The National Museum), galleries ( The National Gallery, The Fresco Gallery), theaters ( The Serbian Drama Theatre ) and cinemas ( The Odeon, The Jadran ).

 

9. Before the names of musical instruments used in general sense:

• He has been playing the violin since he was 6 years old.
• Do you play the piano?

 

14. Before the names of hotels and restaurants (The Majestic, The Moscow, The Three Hats, The Two Deer ).

 

15. Before the word same:

• They asked me the same question.
• They were born on the same day.

 

16. It is also used with following phrases: all the time, by the way,  at the end, at the beginning, half the time, half the way, in the beginning, etc.

• In the beginning the hated each other.
• All the time she was talking about her plants.

 

Omission of the Definite Article

 

The definite article can be omitted in following cases:

 

1. Before abstract nouns used in general sense, but if abstract nouns are used in particular sense, the definite article is used:

• Time is money.
• Time waits for nobody.

But:

• The life of many people during the war was hard.
• The music of Chopin is beautiful.

 

2. Before material nouns used in a general sense. The definite article is used if they are used in particular sense:

• I’ll take the bread and butter.

But:

• The bread is on the table.
• Give me a glass of water, will you.

But:

• The water felt very cold when we swam in the pool.

 

3. Before names of the meals used in a general sense. If they are used in a particular sense the definite article is used:

• At what time we have lunch?

But:

• The lunch we had at the majestic was excellent.
• We can talk it over dinner.

But:

• He was at the dinner given in the honour of the British Ambassador.

 

4. Before the nouns school, college, hospital, home, prison, church, table, bed indicating the use of the building or object. The definite article is used when we refer to the building or object as such:

• The thief was in prison for a few months.

But:

• The prison is outside the town.
• They were at table when we came into the dinning-room.

But:

• The table was covered with a lovely table-cloth.

 

5. Before the names of bridges (London Bridge, Pancevo Bridge, Tower bridge), squares (Trafalgar Square, Republic Square), parks (Kalemegdan, Hyde Park), railway stations (Zemun Station, Victoria Station, Paddington) and airports (Belgrade Airport, Hearthrow).

 

6. The definite article is not used with nouns denoting the parts of the day if they are preceded by the prepositions at or by: (by day, by night, at down, at noon, at daybreak, etc.)

But, the definite article must be used with the nouns denoting the parts of the day if they are preceded by the prepositions in or during (in the morning, in the afternoon, during the day, in the evening, during the night…).

 

7. You do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas or contain the words (state(s), kindom, republic, union). Kingdom, state, republic and union are nouns, so they need an article:  the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Irish Republic, the Dominican Republic. Also we use article with:

the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles.²

• Spanning over 588 kilometers across Serbia, the Danube river is the largest source of fresh water.
• The Netherlands was one of the first parliamentary democracies.

 

8. Before the names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like: the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn.

• Teruo Matsuura is the first man who reached the top of Mount Everest.
• The Rockies stretch more than 3000 miles.

9. Before the names of islands: Easter Island, Maui, Key West, etc. but the definite article is used with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands.

• Easter Island is a Polynesian island.
• The Canary Islands consist of five main holiday islands.

 

10. Before the names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie but when we are talking about a group of lakes like, the Great Lakes, we use the definite article.

• Lake Erie is the eleventh largest lake in the world.
• The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in North America.

 

The Indefinite Article

 

The indefinite article has two forms: a and an. A is used before words beginning with consonant, and an is used before words beginning with a vowel or mute h.

Indefinite article is closely connected to the number one. In many cases the basic meaning of a(an) (x) is “single instance of the (x) type of thing”.³ That means that the indefinite article has no plural. The noun in the plural is used either without any article, or preceded by some in affirmative sentences. In interrogative and negative sentences the plural must be preceded by any or some:

• A saw a boy running up the street.
• I saw some boys running up the street.
• I didn’t see any boys running up the street.

 

Common uses of the indefinite article can all been as following form its basic classifying function. Because it rules out a specific thing, the process of classifying will often imply any member of a class of objects.

• She is a doctor and her husband is a lawyer.

These ways of classifying are also form of labeling and could be paraphrased as “one member of the class of objects with the label, for example, a doctor.”⁴ This can help to explain the use of articles with proper nouns. For example, when we say: “It’s a Calvin Klein.”, we know that we think on one member of the class of objects with the label Calvin Klein.

 

The indefinite article is also used:

1. Before hundred, thousand, million, dozen instead of one:

• I’ve read a hundred pages.
• A million and a half.

 

2. Before names of nationality to indicate one person (a Serbian, a Croat, a German, an

Italian, a Chinese).

• I’m proud to be a Serbian.
• I saw an Italian breaking the window.

 

3. In phrases like have a drink or have a look. In these phrases noun after indefinite article is formed from a verb.

 

4. Also it is used in following phrases: It’s a pity. To be at loss. To be in a hurry. All of a sudden. In a short time. For a change. One at a time.

• I’m in a hurry, can we talk later.
• In a short time she passed all her exames.

 

5. Before the name of peoples jobs (a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer…)

• Her father is an engineer.
• Mary went to see a friend who works as a doctor.

 

6. After the word once in following expressions: once a day, once a week, once a month, once a year.

• He is jogging once a day.
• Some people go to church once a week.