ERGÄNZUNGSSTUDIUM TECHNISCHES ENGLISCH

Lecturer: Doris Storrer

The definite article is not used in die following cases:

Before countries, towns, proper names:

Mr. Jones returned to Wales and bought a house in Swansea.

Exceptions:

the U.S.A., the Congo, the Sudan, the Netherlands, the Mali, the Strand (in London);

the Smiths (= Mr. and Mrs. Smith and family), The Joneses (Mr. and Mrs. Jones) etc.

Before abstract nouns except when they are used in a particular sense:

Men fear death. He studies history. She loves English literature. But: the death of the Prime Minister left the party without a leader.

Before verbal nouns ending in "ing":

Do you like painting? Do you object to smoking?

After a noun in the possessive case, or a possessive adjective:

the uncle of the boy = the boy's uncle:

the (blue) book is mine = it is my(blue) book

Before names of meals - The Scots have porridge for breakfast.

Americans eat junk food.

Charly invited us for dinner tonight.

but: the wedding breakfast was held in her father's house.

The dinner with the Prime Minister took place in the Hilton.

Before parts of the body and articles of clothing, as these normally prefer a possessive adjective:

Raise your right hand. He took oft his coat.

Before indefinite plural nouns

Women are expected to like housework (i.e. women in general)

Big hotels all over the world are pretty much the same.

Boys don't cry. Normally, men are physically stronger than women.

Omission of "the" before home, church, market, school, hospital etc.

a: home: when home is used alone, i.e. is not preceded or followed by a descriptive word or phrase, "the" is omitted:

He went home. She left home early. They got home late at night. They hurried home. They arrived home after dark.

Note that the preposition to is omitted and at is not used after arrive.

But when home is preceded or followed by a descriptive word or phrase it is treated like any other noun as regards articles and prepositions:

We went to the bride's home. For some years this was the home of Oskar Wilde. A mud hut was the only home he had ever known.

b: chapel, church, market, college, school, hospital, court, prison, work, sea, bed. These nouns are used without the when they are visited or used for their primary purpose:

we go

to church to pray

to school to stud

to college to study

to bed to sleep

to sea as sailors

to market to buy or sell

to hospital as patients

to prison as prisoners

to court as litigants (Prozeßführer)

to work as workers

Similarly, we can be in prison/hospital/court/bed as prisoners/patients/workers etc.; also at school; And we return from work/school/market/church. We get out of bed/leave hospital/escape from prison.

However, when these places are not visited for their primary purpose, the article "the" is used:

I went to the church to see the carvings.

He comes to the school sometimes to speak to the headmaster.

He returned from the prison where he had been visiting his brother.

They are at the sea = at the seaside.

They are at sea = in a ship but not necessarily as sailors.

In contrast to the above list, the following very common nouns always take "the": the cathedral, the office, the cinema, the theatre: he is at the office (but: at work). She is going to the theatre.

Before certain collective nouns, such as:

money                   das Geld                                                 

hair                    das Haar, die Haare                                      

mankind                 die Menschheit                                           

Labour                  die Arbeiter(schaft)                                     

Capital                 das Kapital                                              

and nouns ending in "ism":

Capitalism, Socialism, Marxism; Communism etc.

However, the definite article is used for expressions like:

the public              das Publikum, die Öffentlichkeit                         

the peasantry           die Bauern(schaft)                                       

the bourgeoisie         die Bourgeoisie                                          

the gentry              der Landadel                                             

the nobility            der (Hoch)Adel.                                          

Before materials when they are used in an abstract sense:

Ex: coal, iron, wood, copper. Iron is more useful than gold.

but: the coal that is exported.

Before nouns describing certain sciences in an abstract sense:

Physics deals with matter and energy. Linguistics studies languages.

Exercises: Fill in the where necessary:

1. Art never expresses anything but itself.
2. Nature is the art of God.
3. One can survive everything nowadays except death.
4. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
5. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
6. The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is unread.
7. Man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to.
8. Scientists are learning a lot about the nature of the atom.
9. We must learn to live in the society of people we don't like.
10. Truth is the one thing that nobody will believe.
11. I will give you the money on the condition that you spend it sensibly.
12. The object of government in peace and in war is not the glory of rulers or of races, but the happiness of the common man.
13. In the nineteenth century Parliament was made more representative, slavery was abolished in the colonies, and legislation reflected the growing political and economic power of the middle class.
14. Spring makes everything young again except man.
15. In the May of that year, something totally unexpected happened.
16. Many people who work in Manhattan commute from their homes in Brooklyn or in the Bronx.
17. The Congo has vast mineral resources.
18. Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest mountain in Britain.
19. The history of Niagara Falls has been the subject of many studies
20. If you have influenza, stay at home.
21. Don't go near John, he's got the whooping cough.
22. Baby-sitters are paid by the hour.
23. He plays the piano, and she plays the violin.

Please translate:

1. Ich mache meine Einkäufe nicht so besonders gerne in der Oxford Street.
2. Das Guggenheim-Museum ist gegenüber vom Central Park.
3. Soweit ich mich erinnere, war es im März jenes Jahres.
4. Nach dem Abendessen sieht er meistens fern.
5. Die ersten Nahaufnahmen vom Mars wurden im Juli 1965 gemacht.
6. Der Mond dreht sich um die Erde, und die Erde dreht sich um die Sonne.
7. Die Nacht brach herein, ehe sie ihr Ziel erreichten.
8. Stahl, Stahlguß, Grauguß, Temperguß, Kupfer, Messing, Bronze, Aluminium, Blei, Zink, Zinn etc. gehören zu den Werkstoffen der Elektrotechnik.
9. Verunreinigungen, zum Teil schon in geringen Mengen, beeinflussen die Leitfähigkeit and erhöhen den elektrischen Widerstand.