The wedding looked dismal. The bride was too old and the bridegroom was too young.

I went to the window again to try to smash the glass. (the glass in the window)

He needed a whisky, but the bottle was empty. (the bottle containing the whisky)

5. When the noun denotes the object or group of objects, which is unique or considered to be unique.

17. Comment on the use of the indefinite and definite article with class nouns modified by attributes.

In accordance with their role in the choice of articles attributes may be divided into particularizing (or limiting) and descriptive.

A particularizing attribute is used to single out an object from all the objects of the class, to point out one particular object or group of objects. The use of a particularizing attribute implies the idea of “той, який”; “саме той, той самий”. It makes the noun definite. So the definite article is used with this kind of attribute.

A particularizing attribute can be expressed:

 by prepositional phrase:

The only way to learn the price of something is to pay for it.

The reason for this selection is obvious.

 by an of-phrase (with certain nouns which refer to a part or characteristic of something):

Look at picture 5 at the top of page 43.

We met at the end of 1980.

He knocked at the door of a very neat house.

 by relative clause :

What about the argument that reality isn’t like that?

I want to get back to the hotel where he was staying.

 by clauses with non-finite verbs (Infinitives or participles):

“May be he is the man to ask about work,” she thought.

 by apposition (using a noun group to qualify another):

And he wrote a book with the title”The Summing Up”

 by nouns in the genitive case:

He worked abroad. The two years’ stay in France changed him a lot.

A descriptive attribute is used to describe an object or to give some additional information about it. This kind of attribute does not single out an object (or a group of objects) but only narrows the class to which it belongs:

He wrote a novel.

He wrote a good novel.

He wrote a good historical novel.

In a fortnight I got a long letter, which I considered odd.

Nouns modified by descriptive attributes may be used with either the indefinite or the definite articles, as the choice of articles for countable nouns is not affected by this kind of attribute. As all adjectives taken by themselves are neutral, it is only in the context that they acquire particularizing or descriptive force:

He was going to build a new house.

Shortly after he moved to the new house, he fell ill.

Modification by nouns in the genitive case

The use of articles with nouns in the genitive case is accounted for by the element of the combination to which it refers.

1. The article which refers to the noun in the genitive case is chosen in accordance with the general rules.

The articles here refer to the noun boy’s which together with the article is a determiner to the noun books.

Note. When the noun in the genitive case is a proper name, there is naturally no article.

2. When an attribute is expressed by a noun in the genitive case it refers to the head-noun, as in a women’s college, a children’s hospital, a doctor’s degree, widow’s weeds, a doll’s house, cow’s milk, lady’s clothes, etc. It is important to note that such combinations cannot be substituted for by of-phrase. The article for the head-noun is chosen in accordance with the general rules:

18. Comment on the use of articles with material nouns.

The Use of Articles with Material Nouns

1. With nouns of material (substances) used in a general sense, when a certain material as such is meant, no article is used. The absence of the article has the nominating meaning:

These sleeping pills should be dissolved in water.

She had nothing in the medicine chest but toothpaste and mouthwash and shampoo.

2. Nouns of substances modified by a descriptive attribute are used with the zero article as well. A descriptive attribute only narrows the notion denoted by a noun without specifying it:

There was not a single thing made of real wood in the room: everything was metal and plastic.

3. When a definite part of the substance is meant (when the noun is modified by a particularizing attribute or is made definite by the situation), the definite article is used. The meaning of the definite article is called restricting:

The boss took up a pen and picked a fly out of the ink.

The meat was good and White Fang was hungry.

4. When an indefinite part of the substance is meant, some is used:

We took some bread and cheese with us, and got some goat's milk.

5. Nouns of material denoting different sorts of material are countable and the articles are used according to the general use of articles with class nouns.

Names of materials become countable nouns in the following cases:

 when various sorts of food products are meant:

They are now giving you bad teas in the club.

 when a portion of food or drink is meant:

If you want to please the boy, buy him an ice.

We went into the pub and I ordered two whiskies.

"A salad and two coffees will do," she said smiling.

 sometimes the change of meaning is quite considerable — the noun comes to indicate an object made of a certain material:

A full glass of orange juice stood beside him.

There was a tin of sardines on the table.

6. Some collective nouns denoting a group of objects thought of as a whole, behave like names of substances. Among them are furniture, equipment, machinery, crockery, hardware, silverware, china, luggage, baggage, etc. Such nouns follow the rules of the use of articles for names of substances:

I need furniture.

The furniture which I bought a few days ago was very expensive.

19. Comment on the use of articles with abstract nouns. The Use of Articles with Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns fall into two classes: countables and uncountables.

The use of articles with countable abstract nouns does not differ from their use with countable concrete nouns — in the singular countable abstract nouns are used with the indefinite or definite article; in the plural they are used without any article or with the definite article:

He told the child a story.

He told the child stories.

The child knew the story he told.

The child knew the stories he told.

The use of articles with uncountable abstract nouns

1. As a general rule, uncountable abstract nouns are used without any article. The absence of the article has the nominating meaning:

Indifference and pride look very much alike, and he probably thought I was proud.

I knew that generosity would have been wasted on him.

2. The definite article is used with uncountable nouns when they are modified by a particularizing attribute or when the situation makes the idea definite. The definite article is used here to denote a particular instance of the notion expressed by the noun. In this case the meaning of the article is restricting:

Modification by prepositional phrases

The use of articles modified by prepositional phrases depends on the context or the situation. It consists of a preposition followed by a noun (at the window, for his children). A prepositional phrase may be used as a limiting or a descriptive attribute:

She seated herself so that I could see the man at the screen very well.

From one of the bookshelves Julia took a bundle of her latest photographs.

I made plans to put up two or three hotels and bungalows for occasional residents.

A prepositional phrase may contain various prepositions, but special consideration should be given to the so-called of-phrase. The main meanings of structures with descriptive of-phrases are as follows:

 a container with its contents: a box of matches, a cup of tea; a pot of coffee

(Compare with a matchbox, a tea-cup, a coffee-pot, a soup bowl, etc., which are used for empty containers.)

 a certain quantity: a lump of sugar, a slice of lemon, a pinch of salt

 measure: a temperature of 20° C, a height of two hundred metres, a weight of two pounds, a distance of three miles, a pound of butter

 origin: a native of Wales, a man of Kent, a descendant of a good family

 characteristics of an object: a woman of great charm, a man of courage, a question of importance, a matter of urgency

 age: a man of middle age, a boy of five

 material a thing is made of: a box of cedar wood, a coat of mail, a heart of gold (metaphorical use)

Note. In modern English the of-phrase is rarely used to denote material. As a rule we find an attributive noun in preposition to the head-noun in this meaning: older English, modern English; a ring of gold - a gold ring; a wall of glass - a glass wall.

 composition: a herd of deer, a crowd of people, a flock of birds

 two objects of the same kind or an object consisting of two parts of the same kind: a pair of gloves, a couple of apples, a pair of trousers

 indication of implied analogy: a beast of a man (i.e. a man behaving like a beast), a peach of a girl (i.e. a girl as beautiful and fresh as a peach), a gem of a housekeeper, a fool of a woman

The of-phrase is a descriptive attribute in a construction called "the double genitive" as it contains the of-genitive and the s-genitive: a friend of my brother's, a daughter of Mr. Parker's, an opera of Verdi's, a sonata of Britten's

Nouns modified by a descriptive of-phrase usually take the indefinite article, but the definite article may be also used.

The of-phrase may have a limiting force as well. In this case the head-noun is used with the definite article. Mark the most typical kinds of structures with limiting of-phrases: the city of Chicago, the sound of the bell, the figure of a man, the position of a teacher, the foot of the hill, the bank of the river, the wife of the local doctor, the number (i.e. the total quantity) of people, the shadow of a tree, the shot of a gun, the face of a woman, the manager of a hotel, the edge of the table, the story of his life 35

But if there are many objects of the same description, the indefinite article is used: a member of the club, a student of the group, a leg of the table.

Is there a girls’ school in this area?

“I’m looking for the girls’ school”, she said, “that used to be here when I was a child”.

Girls’ schools are not popular nowadays.

As the article in the examples above refers to the head noun, the noun in the genitive case may have the plural form and yet be preceded by the indefinite article, as in a soldiers’ canteen, a three miles’ walk, a fifteen minutes’ break.

A noun in the genitive case used as a descriptive attribute is not a determiner; it may be preceded by other attributes also referring to the head- noun:

They gave the girl a beautiful doll’s house as a birthday present.

The expensive widow’s weeds only emphasized her prettiness.