UNIT 2 ARTICLES 2.

The zero article

1. General things
No article is used when we refer to objects or ideas in general. Nouns in this case can either
be countable plural or uncountable.
Chocolate is useful before exams because it helps to concentrate.
(NOT The chocolate is useful before exams because it helps to concentrate.)
Birds migrate in winter.
(NOT The birds migrate in winter.)

2. Institutions
Nothing is used with certain words when we refer to the activity or institution instead of the
place itself. Such words are bed, church, college, hospital, prison, school, university etc. See
1.4.
Where does she attend college?
(NOT Where does she attend the college?)
He fainted and was taken to hospital.
(Am. English: He fainted and was taken to the hospital.)

3. Fixed expressions with a general meaning

There is no article before some words and fixed expressions: day by day, nature, society,
space etc.
a) With parts of the day (exception: morning, evening), days, months and seasons we do not
usually use an article.
We get up at dawn and go to bed at night.
On Tuesday I’m going to an exhibition.

Note: When describing a day with an adjective, the indefinite article; when describing a
specific day, the definite article might be used.
She arrived on a sunny Sunday. It was the Sunday after my birthday.

b) Seasons can be used with or without an article too.

We never stay at home in summer. OR We never stay at home in the summer.

Note: Last and the last are both used with a difference in meaning. See 7.7.d.

c) Meals are used without an article, except if there is an adjective.

Are you staying for dinner?
(NOT Are you staying for a dinner/the dinner?)
They had a romantic dinner in a restaurant on their wedding anniversary.

d) Illnesses come with no article. Exceptions are (the) flu, (the) measles, (the) mumps (which
can be used with or without the definite article) and some illnesses that are countable: a cold,
a headache.
We first thought Mike had a cold but then it turned out to be (the) flu.
I felt awful yesterday, I had stomach-ache and backache.

e) Vehicles of transport are used with the preposition by and no article. However, when we
refer to one vehicle or a specific one, articles can be used and the preposition must change.
 ‘Are you coming by car at the weekend?’ ‘We can only go by bus because the car has
broken down.’
‘We are going in Jane’s car, why don’t you join us?’ ‘Thanks, but we’ll be travelling
on the 8:30 train/bus.’

f) No article is used in the structures ‘noun + preposition + noun’ and ‘preposition + noun +
noun’. However, if there is only one noun, the article cannot be left out.
They were walking hand in hand when I saw them.
(NOT They were walking a hand in a hand when I saw them.)
Day by day I watched him becoming weaker although he never complained.
I can’t work without fax and computer.
Whenever I travel somewhere, I never leave without a book.
(NOT Whenever I travel somewhere, I never leave without book.)

4. Superlatives with zero article

Superlatives are used without the after verbs when there is no noun following.
He is happiest when he is with you.
University students work hardest in the exam period.
(NOT University students work the hardest in the exam period.)
Schooldays are said to be the happiest days in your life.
(NOT Schooldays are said to be happiest days in your life.)

5. Most with zero article

Most does not have an article before it when it is a quantifier.
Most dogs are motivated by praise and therefore enjoy training sessions.
(NOT The most dogs are motivated by praise and therefore enjoy training sessions.)

Note: Most can also be used in the meaning very, in the formal structures: ‘most + adjective’
or ‘a/an + most + adjective + noun’.
That’s most rude! How could he talk to her mother like that?
(NOT That’s the most rude/the rudest/rudest!)
He has a most snobbish personality and he looks down on everybody else.

6. Geographical names with zero article

Many geographical names take the zero article, such as continents, countries, states, counties,
cities, streets, lakes, and mountain peaks.
Lake Balaton is the biggest lake in Central Europe.
(NOT The lake Balaton is the biggest lake in Central Europe.)
Mount Everest is really hard to climb.

Exercises

1. Write A if only sentence A, B if sentence B, C if both, and D if neither of the sentences are
correct.

1. A) Elvis Presley is still one of most popular singers.

B) Most evenings I just sit at home and read.

2. A) The health should be more important than the money, which people often forget.
B) The health of her family was all that mattered to her.
3. A) A new campaign for the nature is being organised by the government.
B) A new campaign for the protection of the nature is being organised by the government.

4. A) Are we supposed to eat this with knife and fork?

B) We can all get in a car at the airport, if you like.

5. A) Dolphins sleep with one eye open all the time.

B) Dolphin sleeps with an eye open all the time.

6. A) Mrs Patterson has left a message for you, do you want to call her back?
B) A Mrs Patterson has left a message for you, do you want to call her back?

7. A) It is the most important to organise this conference well.

B) She is the most suitable for the post of receptionist, don’t you think?

8. A) Asia’s highest point can be found on Mount Everest.

B) Asia’s highest point is part of the Himalayas.

9. A) When they come to Budapest, they always stay at the Hotel Forum.
B) It must be expensive to live in the Váci Street.

10. A) The place was so crowded that I almost lost the bag that I was holding in my hand.
B) The place was so crowded that I almost lost my bag that I was holding in the hand.

2. Please indicate the suitable article (a/an/the/-) in the following little letter. Sometimes there
is more than one solution.

Dear Sam,
I’ve been meaning to write ___(1) letter for one and ___(2) half weeks but I had to stay in
___(3) bed for a couple of days due to a minor illness. ___(4) cousin of Henrietta’s, he is
___(5) doctor by the way, came to examine me. He looked me in ___(6) eye and said: ’
___(7) sportswoman can’t be ill!’ What ___(8) lot of encouragement, I say.

Imagine, I spoke to Simon Green, ___(9) announcer on ___(10) TV you know, and he said he
had just come back from Venezuela. He spent ___(11) fantastic two months there. He not
only studied ___(12) customs of ___(13) Venezuelans but he says he also fell in love with
___(14) nature (luckily, he didn’t catch ___(15) malaria). You know he is ___(16) happiest
when he is abroad. He is ___(17) most peculiar man, I think.

I have to go now. Please send me your pictures of the summer. You know as well that ___(18)
postcard of ___(19) city doesn’t really grasp the atmosphere so well. It would be ___(20)
most kind of you.
Love, Alice

3. Please fill in the gaps by choosing the suitable article (a/an/the/-). In some cases there is
more than one correct answer.

Stress-Busters: What works

___(1) stress can be deadly and none of us escapes it. But it doesn’t mean we are all doomed.
Living ___(2) stress free life is not ___(3) reasonable goal. ___(4) goal is to deal with it
actively and effectively. Though it’s easier for some people than for ___(5) others, ___(6)
studies suggest that anyone can learn to cope better.
One approach is to emulate people who are naturally resistant to ___(7) stress. These
people weather ___(8) devastating experiences – captivity, torture, illness, loss – with
uncanny serenity. By studying them, ___(9) researchers have found that they share ___(10)
distinctive habits of mind. They tend to focus on immediate issues (___(11) dying child’s
comfort) rather than global ones (___(12) prospect of death). As ___(13) stress researcher,
Sapolsky, observes in his book “Why ___(14) Zebras Don’t Get ___(15) Ulcers”, if you are
able to view ___(16) terrible happenings in ___(17) context of ___(18) loving plan, that must
constitute ___(19) greatest source of support imaginable.
___(20) stress-resistant people also tend to share what ___(21) experts call ___(22)
“optimistic explanatory style”. They assume their troubles are temporary (“I’m tired today”)
rather than permanent (“I’m washed up”); and specific (“I have ___(23) bad habit”) rather
than universal (“I’m ___(24) bad person”). In addition, they credit themselves when ___(25)
things go right, while externalizing their failures (“That was a tough audience,” not “I gave a
wretched speech”). Once you start monitoring your explanatory style, you can catch yourself
leaping to awful conclusions – and consider the alternatives.

4. Translate these sentences into English using the words given.

1. Ő volt az első nő, aki kenuval kelt át az Atlanti-óceánon. IN
2. Egy könyv címe nem feltétlenül árul el sokat a tartalmáról. CONTENT
3. A Hilton-ban szállok meg, úgyhogy hagyhatsz nekem üzenetet. STAYING
4. Három fontot keresek óránként pénztárosként szombatonként. AS
5. A legtöbb ember nem gondol bele, hogy mi fog vele történni másnap. NEXT
6. Még két hétre van szüksége, hogy az arcába mondja mit gondol. ANOTHER
7. Nem tudom neked elmondani azt a verset amit mára meg kellett tanulni. HAD
8. Minél többet telefonálok, annál hálásabb vagyok Bell-nek. GRATEFUL
9. Ő tényleg a rokonod? Furcsa, hogy egyáltalán nem hasonlítotok. ALIKE
10. A gyerekek legtöbbször őszinték. MOST

5. Translate this little text into English.

Már félórája vártam rá amikor végre megérkezett. Azt mondta, hogy két ismerősével is
összefutott és mindkettővel olyan hosszan elbeszélgetett, hogy nem vette észre az idő
múlását. Úgy éreztem szeretném arcul ütni, de ez nagyon udvariatlan lett volna. Az
egyetlen dolog amit tehettem az volt, hogy hallgattam. Minél többet beszélt ő, én annál
csendesebb lettem. A legtöbbször így reagálok arra, ha mérges vagyok. A magyarok persze
általában nem ezt teszik, hanem kiabálnak egy jót egymással az utcán – milyen kiváló
módszer, ugye? Néha-néha persze ez segít (jó kis segítség), de szerintem még ötven évre
van szükségük az öregeknek, hogy megtanítsák a fiatalokat viselkedni.