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second is situationally or contextually determined, as in these two examples: The yard and the lane outside it
were in darkness. In the darkness he could discern the figure of the watchman.
§ 199. Proper names point out individual objects. Their individualizing meaning makes the use of an article
unnecessary. All proper names of living beings are situationally specified (when we say Tom, Mary, Mrs
Brown, Mr Wilson, etc.), for there are hundreds if not thousands of people bearing the same name.
When a proper name is preceded by a modifier no article is used in case the latter denotes a title,
relationship, or rank, or if the proper name is accompanied by adjectives which sometimes form part of it:
simple Simon, lucky Jim, old Jolyon, young Jolyon, poor Smith, Miss Dodson, Mister Brown, Colonel
Pickering, Queen Elisabeth, Professor Jones, President Kennedy, Doctor Manson.
When modified by other adjectives, not commonly used, proper names may take the definite article.
Use of the definite article before proper names
§ 200. The definite article is necessary:
1. When additional specification is needed. This is realized with a restricting attribute, usually formed as an
of-phrase or a clause, or with the definite article alone, or a premodifier operating as one:
Gloria at twenty-six was still the Gloria of twenty.
Did Bait understand the England of today?
That’s not the George Lamb I knew.
“You are the Mr Murdstone who married the widow of my late nephew?” said my aunt.
“Why, she’s Sue Courtenay,” Gladys informed her uncle impressively.
“The Sue Courtenay! Why, don’t you know her?”
“Cap’n Kit, that’s my name.” “What? The Captain Kit? O’course I’ve heard of him.”
2. When the specifying premodifier denotes a profession or points out some peculiar feature or temporary
state (often expressed by a participle): the playwright Pinter, the painter Reynolds, the electrician Smith, the
unsophisticated Kitty, the susceptible Mr Snodgrass, the puzzled Henry, the calculating Becky, the brilliant
George Osborne, the offended Soames.
3. Before a group of objects or persons bearing the same name and forming one whole: The Pennines, the
Alps, the Rockies, the Urals - a group of mountains, a mountain range; the British Isles, the Philippines, the
Canaries, the Hebrides, the Shetlands - a group of islands, an archipelago; the Browns, theTullivers - a family,
a clan, as in: the Dobsons were a very respectable family indeed.
The absence of the article before a plural proper name suggests a mere plurality, as in: There are a lot of
Wilsons, Browns and Smiths in England.
4. Before proper nouns formed by means of substantivized adjectives: the Pacific (ocean), the Atlantic
(ocean), the Mediterranean (Sea), the Argentine (Republic), but Argentina (because it is a proper name).
5. Before nicknames: the Gadfly, the Scout.
Use of the indefinite article before proper names
§ 201. The indefinite article is necessary:
1. When the person mentioned belongs to the family bearing the same name:
Mrs Tulliver had been a Miss Dodson...
No daughter of the house could be indifferent of having been born a Dodson, rather than a Gibson or a