English Аrticles in Use. Артикли: объяснение, употребление, тренинг

Ю.М. Сергеева

ENGLISH ARTICLES IN USE

АРТИКЛИ
Объяснение, употребление, тренинг

Учебное пособие

2-е издание, стереотипное

Москва
Издательство «ФЛИНТА» 

2017

УДК 811.111’36(075.8)
ББК 81.432.1-2я73
С32

Ре це нзе нты:
проф., д-р филол. наук Г.Н. Гумовская;
проф., д-р филол. наук Е.А. Никулина

Отве т с тве нны й  ред а кто р:
проф., д-р филол. наук М.Я. Блох

Сергеева Ю.М.
С32 
English Articles in Use. Артикли: объяснение, употребление,

тренинг [Электронный ресурс]: учеб. пособие  / Ю.М. Сергеева ; 
отв. ред. М.Я. Блох. — 2-е изд., стер. — М. : ФЛИНТА, 2017. — 
246 с.

ISBN 978-5-9765-2794-2 

Настоящее пособие представляет собой свод основных правил 
употребления артиклей с различными типами имен существительных, в зависимости от выполняемой ими синтаксической функции 
в предложении. Функционально-прагматический подход позволяет объяснить, почему тот или иной артикль требуется в конкретной 
коммуникативной ситуации. Пособие совмещает в себе сборник 
упражнений и удобный справочник.
Для студентов и преподавателей лингвистических вузов, а также 
для широкого круга читателей, изучающих английский язык.
УДК 811.111’36(075.8)
ББК 81.432.1-2я73

ISBN 978-5-9765-2794-2                          © Сергеева Ю.М., 2017

 
© Издательство «ФЛИНТА», 2017

От автора

Студенты, изучающие английский язык, часто испытывают 
затруднения, решая, где и какой артикль употребить, поскольку в русском языке данное грамматическое явление отсутствует 
как таковое. Пытаясь избежать этой проблемы, они либо вообще 
не употребляют никакие артикли с именами существительными, 
либо заменяют их притяжательными и неопределенными местоимениями. В ряде случаев это помогает, но далеко не всегда. 
Употребление артикля вызывает у студентов трудности, потому 
что правила употребления не кажутся им логичными, и в некоторых ситуациях возможен любой из трех вариантов: неопределенный, определенный или нулевой артикль.
Да, варианты возможны. Да, коммуникативных ситуаций великое множество. Да, некоторые правила требуют неоднократного повторения и, не побоимся этого слова, зазубривания. Да, 
правильное употребление артиклей в английском языке достигается не за один год. Но разве человека, желающего овладеть 
грамотной литературной и разговорной речью на иностранном 
языке, могут остановить незначительные трудности на пути к 
поставленной цели? Конечно, нет!
Настоящее пособие предлагает студентам-лингвистам и всем 
изучающим английский язык реальную помощь в усвоении 
основных правил употребления артиклей с различными типами имен существительных, в зависимости от выполняемой ими 
синтаксической функции в предложении. При таком подходе артикль воспринимается не как чужеродная грамматическая единица в структуре высказывания, а как его органическая часть. 
Два раздела грамматики — морфология и синтаксис демонстрируют в данном случае свое логическое взаимодействие и помогают учащимся сделать правильный выбор.
Поскольку наличие определения при имени существительном играет огромную роль в выборе артикля, первая глава пособия представляет подробное описание всех возможных вариантов атрибутивных сочетаний и устанавливает связь между 

типом определения и постановкой артикля. Функциональнопрагматический подход позволяет объяснить, почему тот или 
иной артикль требуется в конкретной коммуникативной ситуации.
В пособии предлагаются основные модели употребления артиклей с именами собственными, включая имена людей, географические названия, названия государственных организаций и 
коммерческих структур, вокзалов и аэропортов, учебных заведений разных типов, театров и музеев, газет и журналов и т.д. При 
этом все названия, приведенные в иллюстративных примерах, 
реальные, существующие в современном английском языке.
Большое внимание уделяется употреблению артикля с отдельными семантическими группами имен существительных, 
традиционно вызывающими значительные трудности у изучающих английский язык. Времена года, части дня, названия приемов пищи, вещества, абстрактные понятия и другие подклассы существительных подробно рассмотрены на страницах этой 
книги.
Упражнения, предлагаемые в настоящем пособии, по своей 
цели разбиты на три группы: упражнения на первичное закрепление материала (подстановочные и переводные), упражнения 
на развитие коммуникативных навыков и контрольные упражнения, позволяющие систематизировать пройденный материал. 
Лексико-грамматическое наполнение упражнений позволит студентам существенно расширить свой словарный запас.
В заключение отметим, что артикль — это способ соотносить предметное понятие с речевой ситуацией, и избирается он 
каждый раз согласно конкретной ситуации общения. При этом 
существует свод правил, определяющих желательность употребления того или иного артикля в определённых случаях, и 
настоящее пособие призвано помочь студентам сделать правильный выбор в соответствии с логикой развития дискурса.
Автор

C H A P T E R  1

THE ARTICLE AND THE CATEGORY
OF DETERMINATION. TYPES OF ATTRIBUTES

1.1. THE ARTICLE AS A NOMINAL DETERMINER

Among grammatical categories of the English noun an important 
place is occupied by the category of determination which requires 
a compulsory correlation of the noun with a certain determiner — 
a word that somehow specifi es its contextual meaning. Determiners 
are placed before a noun to clarify its nominal referent. The word 
“people” by itself is a general reference to some group of human 
beings. If someone says “these people”, we know which group they 
are talking about, and if they say “a lot of people” we know how big 
the group is. Determiners of the noun are represented by articles and 
some classes of pronouns — indefi nite, demonstrative, possessive, 
interrogative.
In certain contextual situations determiners are interchangeable. 
Thus to indicate a particular object the defi nite article or the pronoun 
this / that may be applied. To simply name an object (to single it 
out of the class of similar objects) we use the indefi nite article, the 
indefi nite pronouns some / any or the numeral one.
The article is the most universal and multifunctional means 
of determination. The system of English articles includes three 
grammatical forms.
The indefi nite article serves to refer an object to the class of 
similar objects regardless of its individual features. The indefi nite 
article has developed from the numeral one and that is why it mostly 
occurs before countable nouns in the singular.

The defi nite article is used to specify and identify an object. 
Originating from the Old English demonstrative pronoun se it occurs 
before countable and uncountable nouns in the singular or in the 
plural.
The zero article is the meaningful absence of the article which 
expresses absolute generalization.

1.2. DESCRIPTIVE AND LIMITING ATTRIBUTES

1.2.1. Types of attributes

Since the choice of the article depends in most cases on the 
context we should take into consideration the types of attributes 
modifying the noun because they constitute an important part of the 
contextual situation. There are two classes of attributes: limiting and 
descriptive.
A limiting attribute points out such a quality of an object 
(a number of objects) which makes it distinct from all other objects 
of the same class or kind. Nouns modifi ed by limiting attributes are 
used with the defi nite article in its specifying function.
Is this the tin you were looking for?
It was in the very place where you put it, in the shed.
He locked the door leading to the hall.
A descriptive attribute expresses a characteristic feature of an 
object or gives some additional information about it. This attribute 
does not single out an object and does not affect the use of articles; 
therefore nouns with descriptive attributes may be used with both the 
indefi nite and the defi nite article.
Compare the following:
Bart tossed an empty cigarette packet over the rail.
On the evening of Labour Day, the empty fi eld near the mills was 
no longer empty.
He had met a young woman at the party, a moving-picture actress.
He knew pretty well how to get rid of the young woman 
clamoring to be his wife.

The above-given examples prove the fact that taken by 
themselves most attributes are neutral and only in certain contextual 
conditions they acquire the descriptive or the limiting force.
Attributes are expressed by separate words belonging to different 
parts of speech, by word combinations or subordinate clauses. 
Attributes may stand in preposition or in postposition to the noun 
they modify.
The most typical attributes expressed by single words are adjectives, nouns in the common case, nouns in the possessive case, 
car dinal and ordinal numerals, certain classes of pronouns, and 
verbals — the infi nitive, the gerund and the participle.

1.2.2. Attributes expressed by adjectives

Attributes expressed by adjectives may be either limiting or 
descriptive which depends solely on the context.
Most adjectives are descriptive attributes and thus do not affect 
the choice of the article which is accounted for by the situation 
but not by the attribute. The noun modifi ed by one and the same 
adjective can be used with the indefi nite and the defi nite article.
It was a hot summer and the lodging houses were full in Epsom.
It was the hot summer of their last meeting.
Adjectives in the superlative degree, however, are always 
limiting attributes.
That’s the most diffi cult task I’ve ever fulfi lled.
He’s the best-educated man in our company.

NOTE 1. When the word most is an adverb of degree (’крайне’, 
’чрезвычайно’, ’очень’) and is used to intensify the meaning of 
the adjective the whole combination is a descriptive attribute and, 
consequently, requires the indefi nite article.
She is a most lovely girl.
It was a most unpleasant talk for all of them.

NOTE 2. When most precedes the countable noun in the plural or the 
uncountable noun in the singular and it means “the greatest number 

of” (’большинство’), the word combination is used with the zero 
article.
Most legendary fi gures are remembered long after their time.
Most good wine improves with keeping.

NOTE 3. Memorize set phrases a best suit (’выходной костюм’) and a 
best seller (’ходкая, популярная книга’).

There are adjectives in English which almost always serve as 
limiting attributes due to their semantics: right (’тот, который нужен’, ’правильный’), wrong, same, only, very, main, principal, 
left, right (’правый’), central, following, coming, present, former, 
latter, last, next.
You are the very man I need in such a situation.
You might have dialed the wrong number.
Are you anxious about the coming events?
The only difference in their habits was that he used his fork with 
the left hand.

NOTE 4. Adjectives last and next before nouns denoting periods of 
time (day, night, morning, week, year, etc.) are used with the zero 
article.
I went to the Alps last winter, and I am going there next year too.
If the situation refers to the past the adjective next can be used 
with the defi nite article which is, however, optional.
He decided to re-read the play the next day after he had thought 
about it for twenty-four hours.
If the adjectives last and next are followed by the cardinal 
numeral the article should be defi nite.
Find out what happened to my daughter in the last six months.

NOTE 5. The adjective only is a descriptive attribute and is used with 
the indefi nite article before nouns child, son, daughter.
Are you an only child?
He was an only son of wealthy parents and so heir to everything.

NOTE 6. Adjective pronouns all and whole are considered descriptive 
attributes. Consequently, the choice of the article depends fully on 
the context. Thus whole in the meaning of ’один’ is combined with 
the indefi nite article but in the meaning of ’весь целиком’ with the 
defi nite article.
The wedding feast lasted a whole week (’одну неделю’).
We spent the whole evening playing chess (’целый вечер’).

Adjectives proper, previous, usual, opposite, necessary, lower, 
upper, so-called, adjacent, alleged etc. may be both limiting and 
descriptive attributes, though the latter is less frequent.
But all the previous criticism of her conduct was as nothing 
compared with the buzz of gossip that now went through the town.
These are just the usual papers.
Sometimes the adjective is postpositional to the noun and in this 
case serves a limiting attribute to it. Postposition is typical of such 
adjectives as absent, present, proper, and also of some participles: 
involved, concerned, etc.

NOTE 7. Memorize the following set phrases with postpositional 
adjectives. Consider the use of the zero article with the noun:
president elect, heir apparent, postmaster general, attorney general, 
envoy extraordinary, notary public, princess royal, etc.

1.2.3. Attributes expressed by the pronoun other

The noun in the singular or in the plural form can be modifi ed by 
the pronoun other. The defi nite article is used in the following cases:
1) when two similar objects are juxtaposed:
My house is on the other side of the street.
Have you seen the other glove of mine?
2) when two groups of similar objects are juxtaposed. In this case 
the combination “other + the noun” has the meaning “the rest, the 
remaining” (’все остальные’). If the speaker, however, is not sure 
whether all the remaining objects are meant the zero article is used:

When I came home only two of my friends were there. The other 
guests had already left.
Some people like plain chocolate, other people prefer bonbons.

The indefi nite article is spelt as one word with the pronoun other 
and has the following meanings:
1) different from the one meant (’другой’):
The dress is too tight on you, try another one.
You are too good a specialist for this job. You should fi nd 
another one.
2) one more of the same kind, additional (’еще один’):
Would you have another drink?
I waited for another moment and then clapped the door open.

NOTE 1. The same rule works when other is used as a noun pronoun.
She has two sons: one goes to school and the other is still a baby.
If this pen won’t write, try another.
That may be your opinion but the others think differently. You should 
consider their point of view.
Some people were sure he had died, others thought that he had left 
the country.

1.2.4. Attributes expressed by numerals

Cardinal numerals are always descriptive attributes and thus the 
noun is used with the zero article.
Two boys came running along the street.
She put three spoonfuls of sugar into a second cup of tea.
The use of the defi nite article in such word combinations 
depends solely on the context, namely on the fact whether the object 
is already mentioned or it has a limiting attribute.
Everything they had done in the three weeks since they had come 
back brought him disappointment only.
She lay awake watching the two girls chatting to each other in 
lowered voices.