Articles and Nouns – Units 73 – 76 (Murphy R.: English Grammar in Use.2001)

THE

1. there is only one of something:

e.g. The earth goes round the sun. (the sun in our solar
system)                                                                              The government
is unpopular. (one government in the context)

2. the sky, the country, the environment, the sea …:

e.g. We must protect the environment. (the natural world around us)

3. (go to) the cinema, the theatre; (listen to) the radio; (read) the newspaper:

e.g.: I often go to the cinema/the theatre. (neznamená nutně jedno konkrétní kino nebo
divadlo)              I read about the accident in the paper.

4. when we are thinking of a particular place: the school, the prison, the church (pokud mluvíme o
těchto místech jako o budovách, do kterých jdeme jako návštěvník nebo za jiným účelem)

e.g. Alison´s mother is going to the school. (one particular)

5. when we mean particular things or people (a specific meaning): pokud si my i ti se kterými
mluvíme představíme ty konkrétní lidi nebo věci, víme přesně o čem mluvíme)

e.g. The computers crashed at work today. (the specific computers at my workplace)

!! a phrase or a clause after the noun often shows that it is specific!! (fráze za podstatným
jménem nám ho může specifikovat – stává se tak velmi konkrétním)

e.g. The apples you gave me were nice.

6. THE + a sg. countable noun: to talk about a type of animal, machine, musical instrument

e.g. The fly is a common insect.                              Who invented the camera?

7. THE + adjective: to talk about groups of people (sloveso je vždy v množném čísle)

e.g. the poor (poor people)       the rich (rich people)                   the homeless (homeless
people)

8. THE + nationality: the people of that country

e.g. The French (the people of France) are famous for their food.

the British                          the Irish                              the Welsh  (opět množné
ve významu)

an Englishman/an Englishwoman (jednotné číslo)


Plural                                                                  Singular

THE + nationality ending –ese: the Chinese, the Japanese
             a Chinese, a Japanese

Other nationalities:                      (the) Italians, (the) Turks
           an Italian, a Turk


9.  the history of Ireland

ZERO ARTICLE


1. to watch television:

e.g. I often watch television.                    !!! Can you turn off the television, please? (the
television set)

2.  breakfast, lunch, dinner:

e.g. I am going out after lunch.

        We have supper at about eight.                      !!!! The supper David cooked was
excellent.

3. before noun + number: Room 112, Page 54

e.g. Have you got these shoes in size 43?

4. when we are thinking of the general idea of these places and what they are used for: hospital,
prison, church, school (myslíme na ně jako na instituci a na to k čemu je určena)

e.g. Alison is at school now.

5. when we are talking about things or people in general:  (pokud si nepředstavíme nic nebo nikoho
konkrétního)

e.g. I don´t understand computers. (all computers)

6. bed, work, home, sea:

go to bed            be in bed                                                           !!! I sat
down on the bed. (jedna konkrétní)

go to work          be at work          start/finish work

go home             come home       arrive home      be at home

go to sea             be at sea (být na moři, plavit se na moři)                           !!! to
swim in the sea!!!


7. sports: Shall we play
tennis?


A/AN

1. what kind of thing sth. is or to classify sth.:

e.g. The play was a comedy.      The man´s disappearance was a mystery.           The sun is a
star.

2. There isn´t a theatre in this town.  (žádné divadlo)

3. adjective + breakfast, lunch, dinner: We had a very nice lunch.

4. I would like to have a guitar. (jeden nástroj)