VI. Special difficulties in the use of articles

1) With the nouns day, night, morning, evening

1) The nouns day, night, morning, evening are used without articles:

· if day and morning mean “light” and night and evening mean “darkness”, or if they denote a certain part of the day.

Day broke and we started.

· in the expressions by day, at night, from morning till night.

It is easier to work by day than at night.

2) The definite article is used when these nouns are modified by a particularizing attribute or when the situation makes them definite.

He will never forget the day when he met her.

We spent the night in the forest.

3) The indefinite article is used when the noun is modified by a descriptive attribute.

I spent a sleepless night.

When the nouns morning and evening are modified by the adjectives early and late, no articles are used because these adjectives do not describe the morning or night, but only show the time.

It was early morning when the train arrived.

Exercise 1. Insert articles where necessary.

1. Late in … afternoon they went back to London. 2. It was such … cold and windy night that we had to look for shelter. 3. … morning was breaking when we started. 4. It happened on … very day of his arrival. 5. It was … evening when we parted at last. 6. It has been … wonderful evening for me. 7. It is pleasant to go to the country on… warm summer day. 8. … night was so wet that no one was about. 9. … morning was perfect. 10. It is … early morning. 11. … night was silent. 12. I thought it was … morning. 13. It was … late night when he arrived. 24. … evening was still and warm. 15. It all happened early in … morning. 16. What … exciting day it has been! 17. It is … last day that we are together. 18. We arrived there late at … night. … morning we were to begin our work. 19. It was … day to tempt once out – of – doors – cool and bright.

Exercise 2. Insert articles where necessary.

1. Outside it was … night. (Murdoch) 2. It was … warm summer night. (Snow) 3. … night outside seemed very quiet. (Greene) 4. He wondered what hour it was. … sun seemed to indicate … late morning. (Greene) 5. It was early in … afternoon. (Murdoch) 6. … night was … windy one, with broken clouds drifting swiftly across … face of … three – quarter moon. (Conan Doyle) 7. I was up at six in … morning. (I. Shaw) 8. It was about ten o’clock at … night. (Maugham) 9. It was … morning after Roger had talked to me in … Park, and Margaret and I were sitting at breakfast. 10. It was as lovely … morning as one could desire. (Jerome K. Jerome)

Exercise 3. Translate into English.

1. Утро было холодное и ветреное. 2. Был тёплый летний вечер. 3. Настала ночь, и путешественники решили отдохнуть. 4. Он пишет с утра до ночи. 5. Он провёл бессонную ночь и был очень бледен. 6. Было раннее утро, и все в доме еще спали. 7. Было прекрасное утро – солнечное и тихое. 8. Приятно поехать за город в ясный летний зной.

With names of seasons

1) Names of seasons are used without articles if they show a certain time of the year.

It was spring. I like spring.

2) The definite article is used when these nouns are modified by a particularizing attribute or when the situation makes them definite.

It happened in the spring of 1930.

The spring was cold and rainy.

3) The indefinite article is used when these nouns are modified by a descriptive attribute.

It was a cold spring.

When names of seasons are modified by the adjectives early or late, no article is used.

It was early spring.

Exercise 1. Insert articles where necessary.

1. … winter was bitterly cold. 2. It was … early autumn. 3. … summer is my favourite season. 4. October is … rainy month. 5. There are many wonderful verses about … winter. 6. In … spring … days become longer and … nights grow shorter.

7. … children have … long vacations in …summer and … short vacations in winter and spring. 8. … summer is … good time for sports. 9. It was … cold rainy autumn. 10. It is pleasant to go to … country on … hot day in … summer. 11. What is … weather like in Siberia in … winter. 12. … Russian winter is famous for its frosts.

13. Look at … sky. It is covered with … dark clouds. 14. When it is … winter in one part of our country it is already … summer in another.