§ 25. The rules given for the use of articles with predicative nouns and nouns in apposition also hold good for nouns intro- duced by as.

e.g. I regarded my uncle as a terrible tyrant. He meant it as a joke but forgot to smile. He went to the conference as the head of the delegation. He acted as interpreter for Mr March. They nominated him as Lord Treasurer of the Council.

Although the use of articles with nouns introduced by as is, on the whole, similar to that with predicative nouns and nouns in ap- position, there is a deviation from the general rule — the indefi- nite article need not always be used after as.

e.g. Rebecca was now engaged as (a) governess.

The man had agreed to serve as (a) witness.

Mr Stapleton had persuaded a leather merchant to take my fa- ther on as traveller ('коммивояжер').

"I can't see him doing much good as a traveller," said my aunt.

Note. The above rules do not concern nouns introduced by as used for compar- ison. In this case the articles are used in accordance with the general rules for countable nouns.

e.g. The city looked to him as brilliant as a precious stone. You were as white as the sheet in your hands.

§ 26. When nouns denoting titles, military ranks, or social standing are followed by a proper name they are used without any article, as in: Colonel Holmes, Doctor Smith, Professor Jones, Aca- demician Fedorou, Lieutenant-General Rawdon, President Wilson, Prime Minister Forbes, Queen Elisabeth, King George, Lord By- ron, Lady Windermere, Sir William, etc. In such combinations only the proper name is stressed.

Note 1. But we say: The doctor has come. The Prime Minister made an an- nouncement yesterday.

Note 2. The definite article is used in such cases as the late Professor Smith, the celebrated playwright Osborne.

Note 3. A foreign title followed by a proper name is used with the definite arti- cle: the Baron Munchausen, the Emperor Napoleon III, the Tsar Peter the Great.

The article is not used with some nouns denoting close rela- tionship when they are followed by names of persons, as in Aunt Polly, Uncle Timothy, Cousin John.

Other common nouns, when, followed by proper names, are used with the definite article, as in: the boy Dick, the student Smith, the painter Turner, the composer Britten, the widow Dou- glas, the witness Manning, the geologist Foster, the dog Bal thasar, etc. In this case both the common noun and the proper

name are stressed.

Combinations as above are found not only with names of per- sons but also with lifeless things and abstract notions, as in: the planet Mars, the preposition on, the verb to be, the figure 2, etc.

Note, With names of persons in newspaper style there is a tendency to omit the article in this case too. Thus we find: e.g. World middleweight champion Dick Tiger said yesterday that he will retain his

title against American Gene Fullmer.

However, such combinations on the whole are not very com- mon. More often we find a proper name followed by an appositive common noun.

e.g. Britten, the modern English composer... Turner, the celebrated English painter... Manson, a promising young actor...

§ 27. The article is not used with nouns in appositive of-phras- es when the head-noun denotes a title or a post, e.G. They nominated candidates for the post of President and

Vice-President.

He got the degree of Master of Arts.

When I was a young man, the position of schoolmaster car- ried with it a sense of responsibility.

§ 28. The article is not used in the adverbial pattern from - to, in which the same noun is repeated after the prepositions, as in: from tree to tree, from street to street, from town to town, from day to day, etc. Such combinations are to be regarded аs free combinations (not set phrases) as the number of nouns thus used is practically unlimited. Care should be taken not to confuse

such free combinations with set phrases, which are somewhat sim- ilar to the above mentioned pattern but limited in number:

a) from head to foot, from top to toe, from top to bottom, from beginning to end, from South to North. (Here after the prepo- sitions from ... to we find two different nouns, not the same noun. The number of such units is limited.)

b) hand in hand, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, face to face, day by day. (The same noun connected by different preposi- tions is repeated here. The number of such units is also limited.) § 29. There is no article with nouns in direct address. e.g. "How is my wife, doctor?" "Well, young man," said Eden with a smile, "what can I do for you?" § 30. After the exclamatory what we find the indefinite article with singular nouns. e.g. "What a car!" she exclaimed. I thought what an unhappy man he must be! What a narrow-minded, suspicious woman Maria was! With plural nouns there is no article, in accordance with the general rules.

e.g. What marvellous books you've got!

It is noteworthy that no article is used after the interrogative what modifying a noun.

e.g. What question did you want to ask me?