Grammatika_sovremennogo_angliyskogo_y

and nouns in apposition (see "Articles", § 23).

e.g. a) They appointed him a member of the delegation. We elected him an honorary member of the Committee.

He fancied her the most wonderful woman in the world. They chose him chairman of the Society.

They appointed him secretary of the new Committee. b) He was appointed a member of the delegation.

He was elected an honorary member of the Committee. She was thought the most impudent little flirt in London. He was chosen chairman of the Society.

He was appointed secretary of the new Committee.

Note. In the sentences They took him prisoner and He was taken prisoner, They called him names and He was called names we are dealing with set phrases.

§ 25. The rules given for the use of articles with predicative nouns and nouns in apposition also hold good for nouns introduced by as.

e.g. I regarded my uncle as a terrible tyrant. He meant it as a joke but forgot to smile.

He went to the conference as the head of the delegation. He acted as interpreter for Mr March.

They nominated him as Lord Treasurer of the Council.

Although the use of articles with nouns introduced by as is, on the whole, similar to that with predicative nouns and nouns in apposition, there is a deviation from the general rule — the indefinite article need not always be used after as.

e.g. Rebecca was now engaged as (a) governess. The man had agreed to serve as (a) witness.

Mr Stapleton had persuaded a leather merchant to take my fa-

ther on as traveller (' ').

"I can't see him doing much good as a traveller," said my aunt.

Note. The above rules do not concern nouns introduced by as used for comparison. In this case the articles are used in accordance with the general rules for countable nouns.

e.g. The city looked to him as brilliant as a precious stone. You were as white as the sheet in your hands.

§ 26. When nouns denoting titles, military ranks, or social standing are followed by a proper name they are used without any article, as in: Colonel Holmes, Doctor Smith, Professor Jones, Academician Fedorou, Lieutenant-General Rawdon, President Wilson, Prime Minister Forbes, Queen Elisabeth, King George, Lord Byron, Lady Windermere, Sir William, etc. In such combinations only the proper name is stressed.

Note 1. But we say: The doctor has come. The Prime Minister made an announcement yesterday.

Note 2. The definite article is used in such cases as the late Professor Smith, the celebrated playwright Osborne.

Note 3. A foreign title followed by a proper name is used with the definite article: the Baron Munchausen, the Emperor Napoleon III, the Tsar Peter the Great.

The article is not used with some nouns denoting close relationship when they are followed by names of persons, as in Aunt

Polly, Uncle Timothy, Cousin John.

Other common nouns, when, followed by proper names, are

With plural nouns there is no article, in accordance with the general rules.

e.g. What marvellous books you've got!

It is noteworthy that no article is used after the interrogative what modifying a noun.

e.g. What question did you want to ask me?

§ 31. The definite article is found within an of-phrase preceded by one, some, any, each, many, most, none, all, several, the first, the last, the rest, the majority.

e.g. "One of the letters is from Tom," she said. Most of the lecturers had other jobs in the town.

Several of the boys knew that my father had "failed in busiCompare the above given combinations with: one letter, most

Lecturers, several boys, etc.

§ 32. There is a fluctuation in the use of articles in the following type of combinations: a sort of (a) man, the sort of (a) man, what sort of (a) man, this sort of (a) man, that sort of (a) man, some sort of (a) man; a (the, some, what, this, that) kind of (a) man, a (the, some, what, this, that) type of (a) man.

e.g. He showed us a new type of bulb.

"What sort of a day have you had?" I asked him.

I said: "It's not the sort of situation one laughs at." It was too dark to see what kind of a house it was. "What kind of car was it?" Ramsden asked.

The more commonly found variant is the one without any article.

THE USE OF ARTICLES WITH UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

The Use of Articles with Uncountable Abstract Nouns

§ 33. Abstract nouns, like concrete nouns, fall into two classes: countables and uncountables. 1

Among abstract countable nouns we find, e.g. answer, belief, conclusion, doubt, effort, fact, government, holiday, idea, job, lie, mistake, opinion, plan, principle, promise, question, reply, sentence, visit, word and many others.

Countable abstract nouns may be used in the singular and in

The class of uncountable abstract nouns includes such nouns as: anger, beauty, curiosity, excitement, freedom, grace, happiness,

1 The division of nouns into these two classes is a matter of tradition and can hardly be accounted for either semantically or grammatically.

impatience, jealousy, love, modesty, nervousness, pride, respect,

definite article; in the plural they are used without any article or with the definite article.

e.g. He told the child a story. He told the child stories.

The child knew the story he told. The child knew the stories he told.

§ 35. As a general rule, uncountable abstract nouns are used without any article.

e.g. Indifference and pride look very much alike, and he probably thought I was proud.

I knew that generosity would have been wasted on him. There was sharpness in her bones, sharpness in her voice,

sharpness in her eyes.

She had attached herself to youth and hope and seriousness and now they failed her more than age and despair.

The absence of the article (the zero article) serves the same purpose as the indefinite article with countable nouns, i.e. it per forms the nominating function.

Cf, When in distress people look for a friend. When in distress people look for friendship. His desire was simply for a companion.

His desire was simply for companionship.

§ 36. The definite article is used with uncountable nouns when they are modified by a limiting attribute, which may be expressed in different ways.

e.g. He was in a state of the greatest excitement.

They were surprised at the curious silence into which he had fallen.

He jumped at the abruptness of the question.

Sometimes the limitation is clear from the context.

• e.g. It was very still in the house. Suddenly a faint sound could be heard in the stillness.

A moment afterwards the lights round the garden suddenly went out. In the darkness we felt lost.

For a long time they walked without saying a word. Jim was the first to break the silence.

The definite article is used here in its restricting function, to denote a particular instance of the notion, expressed by the noun.

§ 37. The definite article is also found with substantivized adjectives denoting abstract notions, e.g. the ordinary, the average, the beautiful, the unusual, the supernatural, the extravagant, the unknown, the regrettable, the normal, the grotesque, the unbearable, etc.

e.g. "You shouldn't think you're something out of the ordinary," she said.

"Do you believe in the supernatural?" he asked.

§ 38. The indefinite article is used with uncountable abstract nouns when they are modified by a descriptive attribute which

This rule applies also to the following nouns: change (' '), fun, health, luck, money, nature, news, {outer) space, weather and some others.

e.g". I am not sure whether it is good news or bad.

He was anxiously waiting for permission to begin his experiment.

As I knew, Mr March always expressed gloomy concern if one of his children had a sore throat.

He wondered whether her silence was tacit approval. He felt honest admiration for his colleague.

Note 1. It should be noted that in a considerable number of cases both factors, i.e. the character of the attribute and the character of the noun, are found together, e.g. She was making great progress.

They promised Jackson further assistance.

Note 2. Although the above mentioned nouns are never used with the indefinite article, they can be used with the definite article,

e.g. He told me of the progress he was making.

The news was so upsetting that she said she would not see anyone that night, Note 3. Notice the sentence patterns with the noun weather:

e.g. The weather is fine (cold, etc). What is the weather like today?

If the weather changes...

We are having fine weather. What cold weather we are having!

I wouldn't like to go out in such (bad) weather.

A spell of warm weather set in. (We had a spell of bad weather.)

They were discussing (talking about) the weather.

The flight was cancelled because of (the) bad weather. Note 4. The noun wind is uncountable.

e.g. There isn't much wind today.

Yet it is regularly used with the definite article.

e.g. The wind was blowing and it was cold. The wind is rising (falling).

He ran like the wind.

But if the noun wind is modified by a descriptive attribute it is used with the aspective indefinite article,

e.g. A cold wind was blowing from the north.

For stylistic purposes it may be used in the plural, e.g. The cold winds blew the leaves off the trees.

Note 5. Notice the sentence patterns with the noun life: e.g. Life goes on, ever changeless and changing.

Life is worth living. They began a new life.

They were leading a happy life.

The life he is leading now causes everyone distress.

§ 40. Sometimes the use of articles with an uncountable abstract noun is affected by the syntactic function of the noun.

1) Nouns in attributive and adverbial prepositional phrases of manner have no article even if they have descriptive attributes.

Attributive prepositional phrases are usually introduced by the preposition of (other prepositions may also be found, but not often).

e.g. His flush of anger died as he began to listen more attentively. An odd feeling of curiosity made him look through the keyhole. He awoke with a feeling of sharp anticipation.

His face bore a look of cold disapproval.

He had an unsatisfied hunger for knowledge.

e.g. The result of the experiment had been dismal failure. "It was righteous punishment," he exclaimed.

When they were together, it was pure happiness.

I suspected that this was not just ordinary anxiety.

Prepositional phrases in the function of a predicative are usually set phrases. Care should be taken to learn the use of the article in each case, e.g. to be in despair, to be in service, to be in pow er, to be of (the) opinion, to be of importance, to be out of control, to be in danger, to be out of danger, to be in a rage, to be in a good (bad) humour, to be at a loss, to be in a hurry, etc.

The Use of Articles with Uncountable Concrete Nouns (Names of Materials)

§41. Uncountable concrete nouns (names of materials) are generally used without any article. The absence of the article has nominating force.

e.g. These sleeping pills should be dissolved in water.

She had nothing in the medicine chest but toothpaste and mouth-wash and shampoo.

Unlike uncountable abstract nouns, names of materials are used without any article even if they are modified by a descriptive attribute.

e.g. She said: "I knitted the socks myself of thick grey wool." I ticked off the names written in violet ink.

He took out of his pocket an object wrapped in tissue paper.

§ 42. The definite article in its restricting function is used with names of materials if they are restricted in their quantity or by reason of locality.

e.g. The boss took up a pen and picked a fly out of the ink. Together they walked through the slush and mud.

He observed everybody who came in, as they shook the thin watery snow from their hats and coats.

Note 1. However, there is no restriction implied in such phrases and sentences as: a bottle of milk, a cup of tea or The ground was covered with snow. The pond was covered with ice.

Note 2. As is seen from the examples above, most uncountable concrete nouns are names of materials. However, there are a few other uncountable concrete nouns which are not names of materials (e.g. machinery, equipment, furniture and some others). The same rules are applied to them.

e.g. She hoped she would save enough money to buy new furniture. The furniture they had was enough for a much bigger house.

§ 43. Sometimes, owing to a change in meaning, names of materials become countable J and as such they are used with articles in accordance with the rules for countable nouns. That means

that they may then be used with the indefinite article.

Names of materials become countable nouns in the following cases:

a) when various sorts of food products and materials are meant, e.g. They are now giving you bad teas in the club.

There is a beautiful display of cottons in the shop window. b) when a portion of food or drink is meant,

e.g. If you want to please the boy, buy him an ice. We went into the pub and I ordered two whiskies.