Chapter I. General overview of the category of article in english

responsible employee. – Он трудолюбивый и ответственный работник versus You will be the person responsible if anything goes wrong in the project. – Ты будешь виноватым, если проект не пойдет. I’d like to thank everyone concerned for making the occasion run so smoothly. – Я бы хотел поблагодарить всех имеющих к этому отношение за то, что у нас все прошло так гладко versus Concerned parents have complained about the dangerous playground. – Обеспокоенные родители жалуются на то, что на детской площадке стало опасно играть.
Sometimes Russian attributive groups may correspond to a single English word, so calque translation will seem overworded: официальный орган печати – gazette, папка документов – file.¹³⁸
Translating attributive quotations (цитатные речения) is another challenging problem. They often have predicative relations between the components and, therefore, resemble separate clauses. For instance, There is a sort of Oh-what-a-wicked-world-this-is-and-how-I-wish-I-could-do-something-to-make-it-better-and-nobler expression about Montmorency (Jerome K. Jerome). Монморенси глядит на вас с таким выражением, словно хочет сказать: «О, как испорчен этот мир и как бы я желал сделать его лучше и благороднее». (Пер. М. Салье) This example demonstrates that attributive clusters like this can be rendered as a comparison, with the extension and direct quotation.
Attributes expressed by infinitives tend to be descriptive and the nouns modified by them are used with the indefinite article. Yet, sometimes, depending on the general situation or context, the infinitive may become a limiting attribute. Thus, the definite article is used.
e.g. “May be he is the man to ask about work,” she thought.
The use of the definite article with class nouns modified by clauses.
According to Gordon nouns can be modified by two kinds of clauses – attributive and appositive. As appositive clauses modify only certain abstract nouns we are not going to discuss them. But as for the attributive clauses Gordon divides them into non-defining clauses and defining clauses. Non-defining clauses are those that can be removed from the sentence without destroying its meaning. They are marked by a pause separating them from the principal clause. In writing they may be separated by a comma. Non-defining clauses are always descriptive and in the majority of cases are used with the indefinite article.
Defining clauses are so closely connected with the antecedent that they cannot be left out without destroying the meaning of the sentence. There is no pause between this kind of clause and the principal clause, and in writing they are never marked off by comma. Defining attributes may be limiting or descriptive, depending on situation or context.
Barmina and Verkhovskaya do not give such a classification for the clauses. They say that the attributive clauses may be limiting or descriptive.
Anyway, all the linguists come to the conclusion that when the attributive clauses are limiting, the definite article is used with the antecedent.
e.g. He took th The use of the definite article with class nouns modified by nouns in the common case.
Attributes expressed by nouns in the common case are usually descriptive and the indefinite article is used. The definite article also can be used but this is accounted for by situation.
e.g. Lanny looked at the dining-room window and smiled.
The use of the definite article with class nouns modified by class nouns in the genitive case.
The meanings of the definite article used with nouns in the genitive case are the same as with nouns in the common case:
the specifying meaning which denotes a particular person or thing, as in: my mother’s picture, the river’s bed.
the generic meaning:
I stand in the place of the doctor. The doctor first diagnoses the patient’s disorder (=the disorder the patient suffers from), then he recommends a course of treatment.
e cigarette that Robert offered him.
The use of the definite article with class nouns modified by prepositional phrases.
A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a noun (at the window). A prepositional phrase may be used as a) a limiting or b) a descriptive attribute. Being used as a limiting prepositional phrase it requires the use of the definite article:
e.g. He always felt ill at ease among the callers at his sister’s house.
Within this type of attributes special consideration should be given to the so-called of-phrase which is very common. Kaushanskaya calls of-phrase attributes as particularizing attributes.
As limiting of-phrase express a great variety of meanings there is no point in classifying them. The most common types of combinations with the class nouns are: the house of my neighbor, the wife of a miner, the foot of a mountain, the collar of a shirt, the shadow of a tree.
If the head-noun denotes an object which is the only bearer of the property expressed by the of-phrase, the definite article is used: the president of the club, the glow of a lamp, the murderer of Caesar, the monitor of the group, etc.