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§ 205. The omission of an article differs from the absence of an article in that it is stylistically or
traditionally determined. It occurs in cases where economy of expression is required and is often accompanied
by other ellipses, such as omission of prepositions, auxiliaries, etc.
1. In newspaper headlines:
‘Girl saw Flame’, ‘CTV is winning Fireside Battle’.
(Cp. the text of the newspaper report that follows the headline: Commercial television is winning the
battle of the fireside.)
2. In telegrams:
Attending cytological congress Rome will stop few days on way love John.
3. In newspaper announcements:
Anna Linden, daughter of a Manchester engineer, made her debut...
4. In stage directions:
At rise of curtain... goes to telephone; stands at door.
5. In reference entries or notes:
See table Taxonomic Classification on following page.
Hellman, Lilian, American dramatist, author of a succession of dramas ...
Use of the articles with nouns in some syntactical functions
§ 206. 1. A noun in the subject position is usually preceded by the definite article in its specifying function,
or by either of the articles in their generic function. In these cases the noun denotes some notion forming the
starting point of the utterance and therefore is presented as known to both the speaker and the addressee.
The way was long. The wind was cold.
The minstrel was infirm and old.
The indefinite article in its classifying function occurs to express the idea of novelty or unexpectedness, no
matter what the position of the subject is:
On the opposite side of the landing a girl was standing.
A girl was standing on the opposite side of the landing.
Such sentences are translated into Russian with inverted word order:
На другой стороне площадки стояла девушка.
A similar use of the indefinite article occurs in sentences with the existential construction There is (comes,
appears, etc.), as in:
There is an exception to the rule.
2. When used as a predicative the noun is usually preceded by the indefinite article in its classifying
function. The position of the predicative is most suitable for the manifestation of the classifying function and
for giving some new information:
This is a house.
George is a telephone engineer.
The definite article before a noun in this position suggests the identity of the object expressed by the