He was in a state of the greatest excitement.
They were surprised at the curious silence into which he had fallen.
It was very still in the house. Suddenly a faint sound could be heard in the stillness.
3. The definite article is also found with substantivized adjectives denoting abstract notions: the ordinary, the average, the beautiful, the unusual, the supernatural, the extravagant, the unknown, the regrettable, the normal, the grotesque, the unbearable, etc.:
"You shouldn't think you're something out of the ordinary, "she said.
"Do you believe in the supernatural?" he asked.
To this group also belong nouns always used with the definite article as the present, the past, the future, the singular, the plural:
He is certain nothing will happen in the near future.
He told strange stories of the past.
Note. Mark the difference in meaning between the expressions in future (надалі), i.e. from this time on, and in the future (у майбутньому), i.e. after a certain period of time passes. A future is possible when this noun is the focus of communication.
I hope in future you’ll be more careful.
Everybody knew an enviable position awaited him in the future.
It was an uncertain future, but she had nobody else to turn to for help.
4. Abstract nouns can be used with the indefinite article. In this case the abstract noun denotes a certain kind (відтінок) of a quality, feeling, state, etc. The noun nearly always has a descriptive attribute. The meaning of the indefinite article is called aspective:
A dull anger rose in his chest.
There seemed to be a wonderful excitement everywhere in the world.
There was a tenderness in his voice that moved her.
After a time a loneliness fell upon the two men.
There was a bitterness in her voice.
"A loneliness" means “a certain loneliness” and "a bitterness" means “a certain bitterness” here.
5. Sometimes an uncountable abstract noun is used with an attribute and yet has no article. In some cases the attribute does not bring out a special aspect of the notion expressed by the noun. The attribute may express:
degree or extent (great, perfect, sufficient, huge, tremendous, immense, sheer, utter, complete, infinite, endless, major and some others ): immense joy, sheer foolishness
time and historical periods (modern, ancient, impending, eternal, daily, contemporary, further, final, original): modern art, further discussion, ancient history
nationality (English, French, etc.): Italian music, French poetry
position or locality (London, world ,outside, inner, local, internal, etc.): inner vision, inside information
authenticity or reliability (real, genuine, authentic, symbolic, true, solid, false and some others): real freedom, true friendship
social characteristic (Soviet, bourgeois, capitalist, racial, religious, etc.): racial segregation, feudal law
genres or trends in art (dramatic, theatrical, classical, romantic, detective, etc.): romantic prose, detective literature
man’s social and spiritual life (social, public, political, intellectual, spiritual, moral, mental, reasonable, personal, etc.): public recognition, human philosophy
man’s manner or behaviour (polite, formal, nervous, serious, etc.): nervous attitude, formal behaviour
recurrent or going on without stopping phenomena (continual, continuous, constant, incessant, etc.): incessant talk, constant displeasure
there are also some other adjectives of different meaning (good, bad, free, critical, ordinary, plain, human, etc.): ordinary honesty, human psychology
As these attributes do not express a special aspect, the nouns modified by them are used without any article:
I have perfect confidence in him.
She has great experience in her work.
I'm sure your work will give you complete satisfaction.
They talked about modern poetry.
It's three o'clock by Kyiv time.
Ron was particularly interested in ancient sculpture.
Note. The definite article is used with the combinations French poetry, modern art, American literature, German philosophy if there is a descriptive attribute, as in the French poetry of the 19-th century.
6. Some nouns are never used with the indefinite article. They are nouns of verbal character denoting actions, activity, and process, such as advice, assistance, admiration, guidance, permission, progress, recognition, research, torture, work, information, approval, concern, trade (торгівля) and some others.
This rule applies also to the following nouns: weather, money, news, luck, fun, nature, health, nonsense, evidence, bliss, breeding, cunning and some others.
I am not sure whether it is good news or bad.
He was anxiously waiting for permission to begin his experiment.
As I knew, Mr March always expressed gloomy concern if one of his children had a sore throat.
He felt honest admiration for his colleague.
She was making great progress.
They promised Jackson further assistance.
Note. Although the above mentioned nouns are never used with the indefinite article, they can be used with the definite article:
He told me of the progress he was making.
The news was so upsetting that she said she would not see anyone that night.
What is the weather like today?
7. The nouns pity, shame, disgrace, pleasure, relief, comfort, disappointment are always used with the indefinite article in the following constructions:
in sentences with the formal it as subject when they are used as predicative of the main clause: It’s a pity. It’s a shame.
in exclamatory sentences after what: What a disgrace!
Generally no article is used with names of persons:
There was a letter from Susan inviting me to a party.
I did not see Charles Strickland for several weeks
if names of persons are modified by such descriptive attributes as little, old, young, dear, poor, honest:
Young Jameson, standing by the little piano, listened with his dim smile.
When dear old Emily went back to town after staying with them for a fortnight, she sent the children a doll's house.
with the names of members of a family, such as Mother, Father, Aunt, Uncle, Grandmother, Grandfather, Baby, Nurse, Cook when they are treated as proper names by the members of that family. In this case such nouns are usually written with a capital letter:
"How nice that you've come!" she said. "Mother is still resting, but she will be down soon."
She went into the hall: "Is Nurse back?”
with nouns denoting military ranks and titles such as academician, professor, doctor (both a profession and a title), count, lord, etc. followed by names of persons do not take the article. In such cases only the proper noun is stressed: Colonel' Brown, Doctor' Strong.
However, both the definite and the indefinite articles may be occasionally found with names of persons.
with a name in the plural to indicate the whole family:
The Elliots were intelligent people.
He didn't even know the Browns had a daughter.
with a name modified by a particularizing attribute:
Is he the Jones who is a writer?
Now she was more like the Julia of their first years of marriage.
with a name modified by a descriptive attribute or appositive noun to describe a person and it’s job or to indicate a permanent quality of the person:
the artist William Turner, the wonderful actor Harrison Ford, the late (=dead) Buddy Holly;
The astonished Tom could not say a word.
in certain titles: the Reverend John Collins, the Prince of Wales (but Prince Charles), the Duke of Westminster, the Countess of Harewood.
with names of people to mean someone famous. In this case the definite article should be stressed and pronounced //:
”I met Paul McCartney the other day.” “You mean the Paul McCartney?”
in the descriptive names of some monarchs, in special names, titles, and epithets: William the Conqueror, Ivan the Terrible, Alfred the Great.
to indicate that one member of a family is meant:
I have often wondered if Arthur was really a Burton.
with a name modified by a descriptive attribute when it is the centre of communication in the sentence:
He was met at the door by an angry Isabel, who demanded to know what he meant by coming home at that hour.
when a name is preceded by Mr, Mrs or Mis’s it may be used to denote “a certain”, or “someone called…”or when you don’t know the person yourself:
He was a lawyer, a Mr Reid from Melbourne.
I heard it from a certain Mr. Brown.
There’s a Dr Kenneth Perch on the phone. (= I haven’t heard of him before)
Note. Sometimes, owing to a change of meaning, names of persons become count-able nouns indicating concrete objects. The articles with such nouns are used in accordance with the general rules for countable nouns. Such nouns usually indicate:
a) a product or a work by someone:
Lanny has sold them an especially fine Goya.
He wanted to know how much a Binick cost.
There was a rack of books and among them he saw a Hemingway.
b) typical features associated with a well-known name:
She felt like an Alice in Wonderland.
Mozart was called the Raphael of music.
You are quite a Monte Cristo.
Jane plays tennis well, but she’ll never be a Steffi Graf.
if a noun is modified by a proper noun in the genitive case no article is used:
I met Robert's father.
a noun modified by a proper noun in the common case is used with the definite article:
Last summer I visited the Tretyakov Gallery.
In the use of articles with geographic names there are two prevailing tendencies: some of them are traditionally used without any article, others require the definite article.
Names of oceans (a), seas (b), straits (c), channels (d), canals (e), rivers (f), and lakes (g):
a) the Pacific (ocean), the Atlantic (ocean);
b) the Baltic (sea), the Mediterranean (sea);
c) the Magellan Strait, the Bering Straits;
d) the English Channel;
e) the Kiel Canal, the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal;
f) the Thames, the Nile, the Amazon, the Mississippi;
g) the Leman, the Baikal, the Ontario.
Note. When names of lakes are preceded by the noun lake (which is often the case), no article is used: Lake Baikal, Lake Ohio, Lake Superior, Lake Ladoga.
Names of deserts: the Sahara, the Gobi, the Kara-Kum,
Mountain ranges and groups of hills: the Rocky Mountains, the Andes, the Alps, the Himalayas.
I have never climbed in the Alps in winter.
Groups of islands: the Philippines, the Azores, the Bahamas, the Canaries, the Hebrides, the Bermudas.
It was his custom to spend his holidays in the Scilly Isles.
Cardinal points: the North, the South, the West, the East.
Note. In the expressions from East to West, from North to South no article is used.
Names for special points on the globe: the North Pole, the Southern Hemisphere.
Geographical regions: the Midlands, the Middle East, the Crimea, the South of England, the Caucasus, the Ruhr, the Transvaal, the Riviera.
The home-ownership rate in the South East of England is higher than in the North.
Names of territories consisting of a word combination in which the last word is a common noun: the Lake District, the Yorkshire forests, the Virgin Lands.
Names of continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, North America.
No article is used either when names of continents are modified by such attributes as northern, southern, western, eastern, central, minor, south-west, south-east, Latin, e.g. Northern Europe, North America, Central Africa, Asia Minor, South-East Asia, Latin America, etc.
But we say the African continent, the Arctic and the Antarctic (regions) meaning the sea and the land round the North and South poles.
Names of countries: France, Great Britain, China, Brazil.
No article is used either, when these nouns have such attributes as north(ern), south(ern), east(ern), west(ern), ancient, old, new, central, Soviet: West Germany, Old England, Ancient Greece, Southern France.
But names of countries that contain common nouns have the definite article: the USSR, the USA, the UK (the United Kingdom).
Plurals also have the definite article: the Netherlands, the Philippines.