Part 5 Articles with Personal Names

No article is used with personal names in their orientating function, i.e. when due to their fixed meaning they identify the same person in different situations.

e.g. The sale of a portrait claimed to depict William Shakespeare is reviving the debate what the bard really looked like (The Times).

In contrast the definite article is used with personal names to refer to the deceased in the pattern 'the late + personal name',

e.g. You asked for the late Mrs. Ferrars? (A.Christie). Articles with personal names are also used:

• to denote situational features of a single person (§1);

• to denote the position of a person in a family (§2);

• to denote the position of a person in society (§3).

§ 1. The use of articles to denote situational features of a single person

1. The indefinite article is used with personal names:

a) to show that a person isn't familiar to the addressee,

e.g. / have never treasured the likeness of a Mrs. Covman against my heart (A.Christie).

b) to denote temporary (Pattern 1) and new (Pattern 2) features of a person:

Pattern 1. A beaming Mario handed his wife a bundle of flowers (New Idea).

jubilant

wasted

shivering

unhappy

a + Personal Name

agitated

astonished

relaxed

relieved

Pattern 2. I've seen a new Bart, a Bart whose tenderness had quenched his passion (D.Cusack).

new

a different + Personal Name

unusual

2. The definite article with names of persons denotes more or less permanent situational features of a person expressed by an attribute (Pattern 3 and Pattern 4):

Pattern 3 (with adjectives and participles). They carried the wounded

Worldly (J.Cooper).

athletic

unlucky

sinister

cautious

impulsive

cynic

the + Personal Name

garrulous

gentle

odious

trim

good

real

Pattern 4. (with subordinate clauses)

The Dorian Grey I knew ...

The Shaw Gould I was ...

The Georgiana I remember ...

Note: Sometimes the choice of articles to denote temporary or permanent features of a person depends on the wish of a speaker.

§ 2. The use of articles to denote position of a person in a family

1. No article is used with names of family members if they are used as orientating names to identify members of a family - Mum(my), Dad, Mother, Father, Aunt, Uncle, Grandmother, Baby, Nurse, Cook,

e.g. 'I'm going to marry Ralph,' she went on. 'Uncle, is very pleased. It keeps me in the family, you see (A.Christie).

2. The definite article with personal names in the plural denotes the whole family (cf. the use of the definite article with orientating names in the plural),

e.g. I was absolutely sure that the^ Cunninghams lied (Conan Doyle).

3. The indefinite article with personal names may denote one member of a family,

e.g. John is like me and like my brother - he is quite a Gibson (Sh.Brontc).

§ 3. The use of articles to denote position of a person in society

1. No article is used with personal names preceded by nouns denoting titles, ranks, or social standing of a person in the patterns:

Queen Elizabeth, Baroness Thatcher, Prime Minister Blair.

2. The definite article with certain attributes denotes a person famous in society (Pattern 5).

Pattern 5. / made sure that I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr.Sherlock Holmes (Conan Doyle), great famous celebrated

the illustrious + Personal Name immortal fabled legendary

3. The indefinite article denotes:

a) a person with features of a famous man, e.g. 'Do you think this man Poirot is clever?' 'He doesn 't look a Sherlock', said Rhoda (A.Christie);

b) a piece of work by a famous person,

e.g. A complete Wordsworth stood at one end of the longest shelf (J.Joyce).