18 Study these sentences and explain the use of a /an article.

Zero Article (No Article)

There is no article:

• in front of plural countable nouns when making general statements

e.g. Apples are good for you.

• in front of an uncountable noun when making general statements

e.g. Coffee keeps me awake.

• in front of abstract nouns

e.g. Honesty is the best policy.

• in front of meal times

e.g. We have lunch at one.

• In front of certain places like hospital, school, college, university, church, prison, home, work, bed when talking about the activity which normally takes place in that place or building

e.g. He had an accident and was taken to hospital.

• with the names of most towns, cities, countries, islands

e.g. Berlin, France, Jamaica

• with lakes and individual mountains

e.g. Lake Baikal, Mount Everest

• with names of streets, squares, bridges, parks, stations, airports

e.g. Oxford Street (but: the High Street, the Strand, the Mall, the A11, the M4 motorway), Times Square, Tower Bridge (but: the Bridge of Sighs, the Fourth Bridge, the Severn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge), Central Park, King’s Cross Station, Gatwick Airport

• with named buildings, airports and institutions

e.g. Padua University, John F Kennedy Airport, Coventry Cathedral

• with pubs, restaurants, shops, banks and hotels which have the name of their founder and end in –s or –s’s

e.g. Tom’s Cafe, Harrods, Baring’s Bank

• with churches and cathedrals

e.g. St Martin’s Church, St Paul’s Cathedral

• with most names of companies, airlines etc.

e.g. Fiat, Sony, Kodak, British Airways, IBM

• with the words father/mother when we talk about our own parents

e.g. Mum is home now.

• with means of transport: by bus/by car/by train/by plane, etc but: in the car, on the bus/train

• with names of sports, games, activities, days, months, holidays, colours, drinks, languages (not followed by the word ‘language’)

e.g. I love polo.

• with a disease or illness

e.g. He’s got pneumonia.

Note: We say flu/the flu, measles/the measles, mumps/the mumps