The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002

4.3. The use of the article
Unit four. Determiners

Sections 82-90; 448; 475; 579; 597; 641; 747

Task one ***

Underline the definite articles, the indefinite articles and the places where zero article has been used in the texts opposite. Then list rules for their use in the table opposite. Ignore proper nouns.

1. The owner of a pet shop in Leeds saved the life of a lizard by giving it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after it choked on a locust. (Metro, 21 June 2001)

2. Stolen property recovered by police in Sandwell, West Midlands, is to be sold on the internet to raise money to increase the number of bobbies on the beat. (Sandwell Chronicle, 15 June 2001)

3. The outbreak of foot and mouth disease was detected in England on February 20. Since then the disease has spread in the U.K. in an explosive manner. By March 2, the disease had been found in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The virus causes foot and mouth disease only in hoofed animals, but may cause a transient infection in horses and people. Hoofed animal species include cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, reindeer and elks. The disease causes no risk for humans. (Finland: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Food and Health Department - Press release, 5 March 2001)

4. With Special Delivery we give you a guarantee that, if we fail to deliver by the guaranteed time, we will refund your money within five days. In cases of lost or damaged items, compensation is based on the loss suffered up to the market value of the item or the compensation level paid for up to £2,500), whichever is the lower. (Royal Mail’s Code of Practice, August 2000)

5. Demos, the independent think tank, is looking for imaginative, experienced and forward looking people to join a growing team and broad-ranging work programme. (Ad. For Demos in New Statesman, 25 June 2001)

Task two***

Add any other uses not included in the texts above.

Task three **

Select from the list below the use of the definite article in the following texts.

A: When the person or thing is generally known.

B: When the person or thing has been mentioned in the text before.

C: When the person or thing is defined later.

D: When the person or thing is unique.

E: For countries which are a federation of states.

F: For names of rivers and ranges of mountains.

1. We are boosting pensioner incomes and meeting the concerns of motorists and hauliers.

2. Victory for the Queen and Prince Philip!

3. Turner’s painting “The Crook o’Lune near Lancaster” frames a famous view of the river Lune.

The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

4 He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright -

And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.

After a fortnight of glorious indolence staying with friends in a diplomatic suburb of Damascus, I was woken this morning by the sound of

5. Bing, their Filipino manservant, blow-drying my now spotlessly clean rucksack. (W. Dalrymple, From the Holy Mountain, Harper Collins, 1997)

6. On a hill overlooking the Lune, stands Lancaster Castle. The castle has always been a prison. The prison now houses grade C prisoners.

Task four **

In the following text, all the articles (definite and indefinite) have been removed. Rewrite the text with the appropriate articles. The first one is done for you.

I’d bought the revolver on impulse from morose, tubby man who said he went by name of ’Lefty’. I gave him story about needing to defend my home from scum who were running around these days. He nodded in sympathetic but slightly bored way. He didn’t care what I was going to do with gun any more than car salesman cares where you plan to drive. All Lefty wanted to do was make sale. He proceeded to describe technical virtues and drawbacks of various models he had on sale. As he talked me through each one, he picked it up and put it in my hand. It was odd feeling. I realised that I had never before touched something which was solely and specifically designed to kill.

(M. Dibdin, Thanksgiving, Faber & Faber, 2000)

Task five **

1. Give reasons for your choice of articles in Task Four.

2. Give reasons for leaving some words governed by zero articles.

Task six ***

In the following text, underline the generic uses of the article (definite article, indefinite article and zero article). Then rewrite the text with alternative articles where possible, if necessary changing the noun from singular to plural or from plural to singular.

Lions, tigers and other big cats

Few creatures are held in such awe as lions, tigers, cheetahs and leopards, which we often call the big cats. These agile predators have strong, razorsharp teeth and claws, muscular bodies and excellent senses. Their beautiful striped and dappled fur camouflages among the trees, allowing them to leap from the shadows to ambush unwary zebras, giraffes and other prey. There are seven kinds of big cats. The tiger is the largest. A fully-grown tiger may measure more than three metres from nose to tail; a fully-grown lion is almost as big.

The first large cats lived 45 million years ago. Many, including the lion, cheetah and leopard still inhabit parts of Africa. Snow leopards dwell in the mountains of Asia. Jaguars are the largest of the big cats in North and South America. They are equally at home swimming in lakes or climbing in trees.

Lions are the only big cats that live in groups, called prides, which may be up to thirty strong. The pride roams over an area of 100 sq. km. or more, depending on the abundance of prey in that area. The large male lion protects the pride’s territory against other prides. The lion also defends the female against other males.

Lions, tigers and other big cats are true carnivores (flesh eaters). Lions usually eat large prey such as antelopes and zebras. One giraffe is often enough to feed a whole pride of lions.