ARTICLE USE WITH PROPER NOUNS

Q What are proper nouns? Proper nouns take no article. These are names of various things, such

as persons, places, months, days, holidays etc. They refer to one specific person or thing.

1. Personal names are used without article. Ana looked at Martin.

2. Title+ personal name, normally there is no article in front of it, ex. Queen Elizabeth, President

Bush, Lady Hamilton, Dame Agatha, Archbishop Crammer, but also Uncle John, Grandma Ana etc.

The definite article

- is used in some foreign titles ex. The Emperor Napoleon, the Princess Maria

- is used with adjectives such as REVEREND and HONOURABLE used as titles, in spoken there is

always THE, but in written language can be dfinite article or no article. Ec. (the)Reverend (=Rev),

(the)Honourable (=Hon), (the) Right Honourable (=Rt Hon)

- is used in titles containing an of-phrase ex. The Duke of Wellington, The Duchess of Avon.

3. Adjective + personal name, no article is used, the lack of article strenghten the conneciotn

between the adjective and name ex. Little Mary, Robinson, lucky Jim, honest Sam.

The definite article

-is used when the adjective is describing and characterising the person. Ex. We were introduced to

the mysterious and fascinating Baroness Blixen.

-is used when the adjective is restrictive ex. This should be compared with the language of the mature

Shakespeare.

-is used when the adjective refers to a certain periods in a person’s life ex. The young David’s

reverence for nature was reinforced by his parents.

-is used to distinguish different persons of the same name ex. Do you mean the old Peter Jackson?

-is used when the name is restricted by a postmodifier ex. I was struggling to recognize the Anna that

I knew.

-is used when the postmofifier has the form of a prepositional phrase with OF ex. The room was

furnished with the characteristic of the Hugo OF

ten years ago.

-is used with some historical or literary persons such as the Venerable Bede, the immortal Pickwick.

4. Personal names in the plural, a family name may be put in the plural to show the family as a

whole, the Petersons, it’s the same as the Peterson family.

5. Temporal names refer to calendar days, such as days od the week, months, festivals and holidays

– without an article. Ex. It was Sunday. They asked me for a drink on Christmas Eve.

The definite article:

-is used woth words such as ‘following ‘, ‘previous’

-is used in a pos-modified phrase with ‘of’ ‘of that year’

-next takes no article when it refers to what comes next in time from now. He will be seventy-five next

year. Next takes an article when it means „following”

-last takes an article when refers to the only remaining one. It was the last Sunday before she left.

-last takes no article when the meaning is ‘most recent’. We met last Sunday.

6.Geographical names

Names of continents, countries, states, counties, provinces, cities and towns take no article.

Sometimes I wish I was back in Africa.

The definite article

The Antarctic, the Argentine (or Argentina), the Crimea etc.

Definite article/no article:

The sahara, the Sudan, the Tirol, the Ukraine,

7. Names of islands, mountains, lakes

Lakes, islands and names of single mountain tops take no article. Chains of mountains, groups of

islands, being plural take an article. But if followed by an of-phrase the erticle is the rule ex The Isle

of Man, Te Lake of Geneva, the Mount of Olives

Islands: Jersey, Sicily, Malta, the west Indies, the Bahamas, the British Isles

Mountains: Ben Nevis, Mount Everest, Snowdon, the Alps, the Himalayas,

Lakes: Loch Ness, Lake Superior, Windermere exception: The Great Salt Lake

Countries: the Netherlands, the Midlands, the Highlands, the Lowlands

8. Names of streets, Bridges, parks and other topographical areas

Many of them consist of a proper noun followed by a common noum such as street, road, bridge, park

etc. Most of them are without article.

Hugo lived right up above Holborn Avenue. Regent’s Park was too far away.

The definite article:

- ROAD can be used with or without article, with article when meaning is ‘the road leading to’ They

drove slowly along the Oxford road.

-MOTORWAYs/HIGHWAYS with the definite article the M5, the Santa Monica Freeway.

-is used whene talk about foreign names of streets, churches, Bridges. I walked through the Place

Dauphine.

-is usd with adjectives old, new, real, modern, present Women in the old China didnt’ choose.

9. Names of rivers

Take the definite article. The obvious thing was to swim in the Thames.

When the river nam eis part of another name-no article Stratford-on-Avon, Newcastle-onTyne

10. Names of oceans

The Atlantic extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic Ocean

11. Names of channels and canals

The Panama Canal was opened in 1914

12. Name containing a common noun as part of the name

The US has become a pariah at the conferences

This is where the Far West begins. Other:the UK, the North Cape, the Midwest

13. Names of ships, planes and other means of transport

he definite article is used with the names of well-known ships the Mayflower, the Titanic The way I felt

at that moment I could have walked up the side of the Queen Mary.

Names of cars, airplanes – the article is the rule Only the Citroen can offer this.

14. Names of public institutions and facilities

Museums, libraries, concert halls, theatres, cinemas, hotels, restaurants, pubs etc take the definite

article. We were just passing the Albert Hall

15. Names of newspapers

They are typically preceeded by the definite article , often spelled with a capital T, The Sunday Times

said that the trial had tested the effect of the drug.

Fill in the gap with the definite article where neccesary or leave it empty.

1.

The Atlantic extends from the Arctic to the Antarctic Ocean

2.

They asked me for a drink on Christmas Eve.

3.

We were introduced to the mysterious and fascinating Baroness Blixen.

4.

I was struggling to recognize the Anna that I knew.

5.

They live near Loch Ness

6.

They drove slowly along the Oxford road.

7.

Some may say Lady Hamilton isn’t a nice person.

8.

Regent’s Park is far away from my destination.

9.

Many people are really lazy to visit and admire the Alps.

10.

Only the Citroen can offer this.

Fill in the gap with the definite article where neccesary or leave it empty.

1.

….. Atlantic extends from ….. Arctic to ….. Antarctic Ocean

2.

They asked me for a drink on ….. Christmas Eve.

3.

We were introduced to ….. mysterious and ….. fascinating Baroness Blixen.

4.

I was struggling to recognize ….. Anna that I knew.

5.

They live near ….. Loch Ness

6.

They drove slowly along ….. Oxford road.

7.

Some may say ….. Lady Hamilton isn’t a nice person.

8.

….. Regent’s Park is far away from my destination.

9.

Many people are really lazy to visit and admire ….. Alps.

10.

Only ….. Citroen can offer this.