Лекция: The Article
BUYING PIES
Fast train stopped at platform. Passenger looked out of window at far end of platform. He saw woman with basket over her arm. She was selling something — he could not see what.
— What is she selling? — he asked boy who was standing nearby.
— Pies, sir — was answer.
— How much does she charge for them?
— Penny pie.
— Well, my boy, here is two pence piece. Go and buy me pie and with other penny buy pie for yourself.
Boy took money and ran to woman. Soon he was seen coming back. In one hand he was holding pie of which he had taken enormous bite. In other hand he was carrying penny. He gave it back to passenger, saying: «Sorry, sir, she had only one pie left.»
Fill in the required articles for all kinds of the nouns in the following text:
Early in the morning, the knight started again on his journey, hoping to cover a long distance, but the way through the forest was very difficult so that, when evening fell, he found himself only on the edge of the Yorkshire forests.
By this time the man and the horse were very tired. It was necessary to find a place to spend the night but looking around the knight saw only deep woods with a few open glades and paths.
The sun, by which the knight directed his course, had now sunk, and he did not know which path to follow. At last he decided to let his horse follow his own instinct and find the right way. The tired horse at once seemed to become more lively and took a path which turned off from the former course. Soon the path grew a little wider and the sound of a small bell gave the knight to understand that he was near a chapel. At last he reached an open glade and saw a small hut. At a little distance on the right hand there was a fountain of the purist water. Beside the fountain were the ruins of a very small chapel. A green bell hung at the entrance of the chapel. It was the sound of this bell that the knight had heard some time before. He sprang from his horse, approached the hut and knocked at the door.
The Article
Артикль – это служебное слово, являющееся одним из основных формальных признаков существительного.
Он не имеет самостоятельного/отдельного значения и не переводится на русский язык. В английском языке есть два артикля – неопределенный и определенный. В русском языке артиклей нет.
1 Неопределенный артикль имеет две формы: a и an .
Форма a употребляется перед словами, которые начинаются с согласного звука: a man человек, a table стол, a big apple большое яблоко, a woman, a good engineer. Форма an употребляется перед словами, которые начинаются с гласного звука: an answer ответ, an apple яблоко, an old man старик, an uncle, an hour, an old woman, an engineer.
Неопределенный артикль произошел от древнеанглийского числительного an один, поэтому он употребляется лишь перед исчисляемыми существительными в единственном числе. Во множественном числе он опускается (так называемый «нулевой артикль»), а иногда заменяется неопределенными местоимениями some несколько, any любой, всякий.
2 Определенный артикль имеет одну графическую форму the, которая произносится перед словами, которые начинаются с согласного звука (the book книга, the woman, the good engineer), и [DI] перед словами, которые начинаются с гласного звука (the author [DI'LTq] автор, the apple [DI'xpl] яблоко, the old house [DI'Ould 'haus], the engineer, the old woman).
Определенный артикль происходит от указательного местоимения that тот и употребляется перед существительными в единственном и множественном числе.
Артикль, как правило, бывает безударным и произносится слитно со следующим за ним словом.