THE ARTICLE

 The Article
 The Indefinite Article
 The Definite Article
 The Zero Article

 The articles are a subclass of the determiners.

Determiners are words which specify the range of
reference of a noun, i.e. by making it definite (the
book), indefinite (a book) or by indicating quantity
(many books).
 The most important groups of determiners include
the articles (the, a(n), the demonstratives (this,that
etc) and the possessives (my,your,etc)
THE DEFINITE ARTICLE
The Definite Article stands before a noun or before modifiers and other
determiners if they are placed before the noun: the pupil, the good
pupil.
The functions of the Definite Article:
1. Anaphoric (something mentioned or known): shows that the noun
to which it is attached has already been mentioned previously, or is
known to the reader / interlocutor.
e.g. They have a son and two daughters, but the son is already grown
up.
Several kinds of anaphoric function can be distinguished:
a) The anaphoric demonstrative function: Give me the pencil (= that);
 in set phrases:. at the (= that) time; under the circumstances.
b) The anaphoric situation function:
Ann is in the garden (the garden of the house – a specific garden).
2. The generic definite article: the noun is used in its
most general sense.
 a) With count nouns: The tiger has no mane.
(Here the tiger indicates tigers in general, not one
individual).
 b) With adjectives e.g. the poor, the rich, the
unemployed.
3. Epiphoric function (the forward-pointing use): the
article introduces a new piece of information. This
use can be encountered when identity is
established by a modifier such as a Relative Clause
or an of-phrase that follows the noun, e.g. The wine
of France is the best in the world.
4. The definite article with proper names (non-significant)
is used with names of rivers, oceans, seas, mountains:
the Thames, the Atlantic.
 ● before geographical (/or other) proper names of
seas, rivers, groups of islands, chains of mountains,
deserts, regions, e.g. the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the
Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, the Atlantic Ocean,
the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Danube, the
Mississippi, the Thames, the Nile, the Bermudes, the
Azores, the Bahamas, the Bismark Islands, the
Carpathians, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the
Hymalaya, the Caucasus, the Sahara, the Arabian
Desert, the Gobi Desert, the Kalahari Desert, the Great
Australian Desert, the Riviera, the Suez Canal etc.
 ● before names consisting of adjective + noun (provided
the adjective is not one of the cardinal points), e.g. the
New Forest, the High Street, the Great Britain, the United
Kingdom, the English Channel, the British Museum, the
White House etc.
 ● before names consisting of a noun + OF + noun, e.g.
the Cape of Good Hope, the Gulf of Mexico, the United
States of America, the USA, the Bay of Biscay, the
University of Berlin, the Commonwealth of Australian
States and Territories, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, the Peoples Republic of
China, the Tower of London etc.
 ● before names of newspapers, e.g. the Times, the
Guardian, the Washington Post, the Independent, the
Wall Street Journal etc.
● before simple geographical names of places,
countries etc., e.g. the City, the Mall, the Strand,
the Hague etc.
● names of organisations, usually abbreviations, fall
under two categories: if the name is pronounced
letter for letter, the definite article is obligatory,
e.g. the UN, the BBC, the FBI, the CIA, the MI5, the
EC etc.; if an abbreviation is pronounced as a
word, it takes no article, e.g. OPEC, although the
expanded name does take a definite article, the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries;
NATO, but the North Atlantic Treaty Organization;
UNICEF, but the United Nation Children’s Fund etc.
5. in set phrases: in the morning/ afternoon/
evening; on the one hand, to get the upper hand,
to break the ice, to take the trouble, all the time,
to tell the time, what’s the time?, to paint the
devil blacker than he is, to join the colours, to
have the time of one’s life etc.
 THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE a/an
 The indefinite article has the following functions:
 1. The epiphoric function: it introduces a new element that
has not been mentioned before. The indefinite article is
used to express indefinite meaning of singular count nouns,
e.g. I see a bird; I need a visa
 2. The numeric function, e.g. a / one pound; I’ve bought a
book and three magazines. In certain contexts a and one
are normally interchangeable.
 3. The generic function: The article is used before a singular
count noun which is used as an example of a class of things.
 4. The indefinte article in set phrases: once upon a time,
once in a while, for a time, to have a headache, as a matter
of fact, as a rule.
THE ZERO ARTICLE

 Zero article can have various functions:

1. The generic function: This function is expressed with plural count
nouns and mass nouns: Books are man’s best friend.
 When the nouns have a specific use they are preceded by the
definite article: Where are the books?
2. The indefinite numeric function (meaning ‘a number of’, ‘a quantity
of’): We bought books and magazines. They ate bananas.
3. a non-significant determiner, e.g. with proper nouns, names of
countries, towns, continents; the months of the year, etc.
4. after prepositions: go to bed (to sleep), to church (to pray) (the places
are used for their primary purpose). The visitors went to the church
to see the carvings.( the places are used for other reasons)
5. in set phrases: from time to time, by means of, at random, by sea /
land