"School, college, bed, prison, jail; sea; town, wind, weather, life"

The nouns "School, college, bed, prison, jail, hospital, church, court" are used without an article when they lose their concrete meanings and express the purpose for which the objects denoted by these nouns serve (To leave school; to be at college; to go to bed; to be sent to prison; to be put in jail). When these nouns denote concrete objects the articles are used according to the general rule (She worked at a school in Borisov).

The noun "town" is used without any article when the speaker means the nearest town or the town where the speaker is at the moment and when the noun is opposed to the noun "country" (Let's go to town to buy all we need). Otherwise the noun "town" is used with the definite or the indefinite article (Now I'm back in the town where I was born).

Names of diseases and names of languages

No article is generally used with names of diseases (He fell ill with flu). The Definite article is used when the noun is modified by a particularizing attribute or the situation makes it definite (He felt very weak after the diphtheria). The Indefinite article is used with some names of not serious diseases (I've got a headache).

No article is used with names of languages when they are not followed by the noun "language" (He knows Spanish well). The Definite article is used if the noun is modified by a particularizing attribute (Americans speak the English of the USA), when the word "language" is mentioned (He intends to master the Russian language on his own) and in set phrases "translation from the English (French, etc.)" and "what is the Russian (Hebrew, etc.) for…".

Certain adjectives, pronouns and numerals

Most. The Definite article is used when "most" serves to form a superlative degree of an adjective (This is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen). The Indefinite article shows that a high quality of degree is meant (the same meaning as "very") (It's a most exciting movie). The Definite article is used and "most" is followed by the preposition "of" when the speaker means definite people or things (Most of the people I know are talented guys). When indefinite objects are meant only "most" is used and the noun is used in a general sense (Most families celebrate New Year).

Few means мало and has a negative meaning (There are very few men like him), a few – немного, the meaning is positive (I've got a few records that may interest you), the few – те немногие, кто (The few men who survived were taken to hospital); little – мало (negative) (I've got so little time to prepare for everything), a little – немного (positive) (A little more patience, my friends), the little – небольшое количество, которое (I won't waste the little time that's left).

Two means два (Two persons entered the building), the two – те двое, оба (The two men I've told you about are waiting for you downstairs); the second – an ordinal numeral meaning второй (It's the second time I've been to St.Petersburg), a second implies the same meaning as "one more, another" (I'd like a second helping of the cake). Another has two meanings – "какой-то другой" and "еще один" (Give me another disc, I don't like it), the other means "определенный другой" (The two brother get along quite well one with the other). Nouns modified by the adjective "last" are always used with the definite article except in the expressions "last year, last month, last week, last night, etc." (It's the last time she's been fooled; Last summer was absolutely marvelous). Next means "будущий" when referring to the time (except the phrase "next time") (Next month I'll go to the country), the next means "следующий" (The next exam will be much easier hopefully). A number means "many, ряд" (A number of cars were parked outside), the number – количество, число (The number of my mistakes is decreasing).