The sentence

‘The’ to refer to things that are unique (not place names)
1. We often use the to refer to ‘things that are unique’:
a. organizations: the United Nations g. historical events: the French Revolution
b. ships: the Titanic h. official titles: the President
c. documents: the Constitution i. political parties: the Labour Party
d. public bodies: the police, the Government j. the press: The Economist, The Times
e. titles of books and films: The Odyssey k. beliefs: the gods
f. climate: the weather l. the whole species: the dinosaurs
2. We treat other, similar, words as proper nouns and use no article, e.g.
a. organizations: Congress, Parliament d. official titles: Queen Elizabeth
b. titles of books and films: Jams e. the press: Punch, Time magazine
c. beliefs: God, Buddha f. the whole species: Man
D. The zero article (1)
Basic uses of the zero article (Ø ): ‘Life is short’
We often use no article at all (zero) in English where some other languages us the:
1. In front of plural countable nouns used in general statements, e.g. for:
- people: Ø Women need better pay. - places: Ø Museums are closed on Mondays.
- animals: Ø Cats don’t like cold weather. - plants: Ø Tress don’t grow in the Antarctic.
- food: Ø Beans are good for you: - products: Ø Watches aren’t expensive.
2. In front of uncountable nouns (always singular) used in general statements, e.g. for:
- food: I like Ø butter. - substances: Ø Oil is produced in Alaska.
- colours: Ø Red is my favourite colour. - activities: Ø Swimming is good for you.
- abstract: Ø Life is short. - languages: Ø English is a world language.
(Not *The life is short.* etc.)
3. In front of most proper nouns (names spelt with a capital letter)
Fritz Weber lives in Berlin. This was made by Jackson and Son.
By comparison, we use the when the reference is specific, not in general statements:
1. In front of plural countable nouns: The beans I like best are kidney beans.
2. In front of uncountable nouns: I used all the butter that was in the butter dish.
3. In front of proper nouns: The Fritz Weber I know lives in Vienna.
The zero article with names and titles: ‘Mr Pym’
1. We do not normally use articles in front of proper nouns (like John, London, etc).
2. We use a surname or first name + surname after Mr, Mrs, Miss and Mr /məz/ : Mr Pym,
Mr. John Pym. We often write, but rarely say Ms, as in Ms Joan Cartwright.
3. We abbreviate Doctor to Dc in writing and use a surname after it: I’m Dr Brown, but we
can use Doctor on its own as a form of address (written in full): It’s my liver, Doctor.
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