Nouns in set expressions used without an article

1. out of doors- надворі, на вулиці	The children spent most of the time out of doors.
2. to take to heart- брати близько до серця	Don't take things too much to heart.
3. to take offence - ображатися	If he had heard your remark, he would have taken offence.
4. to give (to get, to ask) permission - давати (отримати, просити) дозвіл	I asked permission to keep the book a little longer.
5. to lose heart- втрачати мужність, зневіритися	He found the subject very difficult at first, but he did not lose heart. He went on working hard and finally mastered it.
6. at present - зараз	You may go home, we don't want you at present.
7. from morning till night- з ранку до ночі	Не worked in his little garden from morning till night.
8. from head to foot - з голови до ніг	She was dressed in furs from head to foot.
9. from beginning to end - з початку до кінця	The whole story is a lie from beginning to end.
10. at first sight- з першого погляду	He fell in love with her at first sight.
11. by chance -помилково	They met quite by chance.
12. by mistake - випадково	I have brought the wrong book by mistake.
13. for hours - годинами	He could read for hours.
14. for ages - довгий строк, вічність	I have not seen you for ages.
15. by land, by air, by sea- по суші, повітряним шляхом, морем	I like travelling by sea.
16. to go to sea - стати моряком	My sister wants to be a doctor, and my brother wants to go to sea.
17. on deck - на палубі	We spent hours on deck.
18. to keep house -вести домашнє господарство	Her sister keeps house for her.
19. at sunrise - на сході сонця	We left the town at sunrise.
20. at sunset - на заході сонця	We arrived at the village at sunset.
21. at work - бути зайнятим чимось, за роботою	Whenever I come, he is always at work.
22. at peace -у мирі	We want to be at peace with all countries.
23. by name -на ім’я	His cat, Snowball by name, was playing on the carpet.
24. in debt -у боргу	Mr. Smith was always in debt.

So a considerable number of nouns of different character when used in adverbial prepositional phrases have no article, e. g. by accident, by hand, by letter, by land, by sight, at hand, off hand, in detail, in person, on board, on foot, on tiptoe, at sea, to sea, on hand, on leave, on business, on holiday, etc.

There is no article in a number of combinations consisting of a preposition + a noun + a preposition. Such set phrases are to be treated as compound prepositions: in addition to, in charge of, in con­trast with, in regard to, in support of, in reply to, in connection with, on account of, in comparison with, in conformity with, in honour of, in memory of, in pursuit of, in favour of, in combination with, in answer to, on top of, in defiance of, with regard to, in recognition of, in return for, in place of, in relation to, in search of, by reason of, by way of, etc.

I rushed through the passage in search of my mother.

My father found himself in charge of a factory.

However, in other set phrases built up on the same pattern the def­inite article is found: under the influence of, in the centre of, on the invitation of, by the side of, in the middle of, on the initiative of, under the pretence of, etc.

There are no articles in so-called parallel structures such as from tree to tree, from house to house. These are free combinations as they are freely built up by the speaker with the help of the pattern “ from + N + to + N”, in which the same noun is repeated:

He leaned back in his long chair and rolled from side to side with laughter.

There are also set expressions among parallel structures, the most common of which are: arm in arm, hand in hand, man to man, face to face, shoulder to shoulder, from beginning to end, from north to south, from floor to ceiling, from right to left.

At the end of the living-room there were bookshelves from floor to ceiling.

Practice

Exercise 1. Read and translate the following sentences, paying attention to the phrases in bold type.

1. Step by step we are getting nearer to our goal. 2. They walked from room to room, admiring what they saw. 3. Day after day things are improving. 4. We've been working side by side for so many years. 5. She read the foreign text slowly, line by line. 6. We call each other from time to time. 7. The fellow kept grinning from ear to ear. 8. It was all a big lie from start to finish. 9. I must tell you that from beginning to end you acted most foolishly. 10. He is a gentleman from head to toe. 11. During the war the family lived from hand to mouth. 12. He keeps all his bank accounts under lock and key. 13. Let me announce you now husband and wife. 14. Mother and child should be protected by State. 15. Time after time I've tried to walk away from you. 16. The moon was rolling slowly in the sky, from star to star. 17. Traffic stood nose to tail all the way down the Strand.

Exercise 2. Insert articles where necessary.

1. I trust you to tell me ____ bare truth, whatever it is. 2. The maid, looking to right and left, spoke in ____ low and hurried voice. 3. He decided that he whould not at ____ present explain to her who he was. 4. I see ____ good deal of him during the war. 5. He has taken his death very much to ____ heart indeed. 6. All seemed perfectly at their ease, by no means in ____ hurry. 7. Am I dealing, young people, with ____ case of ____ love at ____ first sight? 8. It’s ____ pleasure to see you. 9. On ____ other hand, if he was beaten he took it with complete good humour. 10. He is beginning to lose ____ heart, they say. 11. She burned like ____ fire from ____ head to ____ foot. 12. I got into conversation with him by ____ chance at ____ concert. 13. She’s taken quite ____ fancy to you, Ridgeon. 14. I returned at once, and found Ada sitting at ____ work by ____ fireside. 15. He played ____ flute. 16. He was chronically in ____ debt. 17. ____ woman I fixed my eye on was ____ woman who kept ____ house for me at my cottage. 18. He was given ____ permission to go up and see her there. 19. ____ rain had stopped, and we went on ____ foot to Ebury Street. 20. On being informed… that her departure would be delayed… she had flown into ____ violent passion.

Exercise 3. Make up sentences using the following prepositional phrases.

In regard to, in support of, in reply to, in connection with, on account of, in comparison with, under the influence of, in the centre of, on the invitation of, in favour of, in combination with, in answer to, on top of, with regard to, in return for, in place of, in relation to, in search of, by reason of, by way of, week by week, face to face, hand in hand.

Exercise 4. Complete the sentences with the phrases from column.

1. Do you prefer travelling ____ or ____? 2. If they start ____, they will be for the train. 3. I miss you so much! You are always ____! 4. It was ____ or ____ that she was saved. 5. This Persian carpet is made ____. 6. Her son, a sailor, is most of the time ____. 7. I know him ____, but not personally. 8. ____ you have come! Where have you been? 9. It's a reliable airline. Planes are always ____. 10. - Is this book still ____? — No, it's out of print. 11. We can't say ____ what will come out of it. 12. I must tell you ____ that we've lost a first-rate teacher in Jim. 13. - Are they still ____? — Yes, they are going to get married on Sunday. 14. My car is out of order again; I'll have to go ____to the office. 15. We travelled to Britain first ____, then ____, and then ____. 16. ____ did the parents try to stop him. He wouldn't listen to them. 17. Sorry, I've taken your keys ____. 18. It's most important! Keep it ____, will you? 19. Nick travelled all over Europe ____.

· in mind · by mistake · in vain · by air, by ferry, by train · on time · at once, in time · by hand · on my mind · by chance or by good fortune · by night or by day · at sea · by thumb · on foot · by name · at last · on sale · off-hand · in private · in love

Exercise 5. Supply the required articles, paying special attention to set expressions.

1. We sent ____ results of ____ vote by ____ letter. 2. His father had crept several times on ____ tiptoe into ____ room to see if he was stirring. 3. And on ____ top of all that he had ____ quarrel with his wife. 4. Let's go by ____ underground. 5. On ____ consideration I am not so sure you're right. 6. He took one of ____ books at ____ random. 7. He opposed my plan on ____ principle. 8. I came across ____ book by ____ chance. 9. I'11 make ____ inventory of what we have on ____ hand. 10. After she had ____ leisurely dinner downstairs Julia played ____ piano for ____ while. 11. There was nothing to be said in ____ answer to such ____ bitter accusations. 12. His name was mentioned in ____ connection with ____ ping-pong championship. 13. He spent part of ____ afternoon telling them ____ news he could not tell them by ____ telephone. 14. ____ little car in ____ question now stood outside ____ front door. 15. He knew Marion Sharpe by ____sight as he knew everyone in Milford. 16. He asked ____ man what was his idea with ____ regard to ____ best means for accomplishing his plan. 17. ____ transport must come by ____ sea to Plymouth. 18. I broke my spectacles by ____ accident and then found I didn't really need them. 19. He was so uneasy that his presence was out of ____ question. 20. "Are you ____ bad sailor?" she asked quickly. "About as bad as it is possible, in ____ spite of having been at ____ sea so much." 21. They are at ____ sea now. They write that they are having ____ marvellous time. 22. Anna and her husband went out after ____ tea to play ____ cards, and took their baby, though Eugene said it would get ____ pneumo­nia. 23. She went by ____ coach, because it was cheaper. 24. Before long I reached several conclusions in ____ relation to my unknown friend. 25. He tore open ____ parcel that came for him by ____ post. 26. He then went down to ____ dinner, and ordered ____ whole bottle of ____ claret in ____ honour of ____ event. 27. They followed him through ____ slight drizzle to ____ garage. ____ few men were sitting at ____ table, playing ____ cards.

Exercise 6. Translate into English.

1. Вона завжди говорить дуже тихо. 2. Цими днями я раптово побачила Ніну. 3. Якщо ви так відповідатимете їй, то вона розлютиться. 4. Правду кажучи, я не зрозуміла, чому вона образилася. 5. Вона читає з ранку до ночі. 6. Більш за все я люблю подорожувати морем. 7. Він помилково приніс не той журнал. 8. Коли б я не прийшов, він завжди за роботою. 9. Приходьте до мене завтра. – Я дуже зайнята. Про це не може й бути мови. 10. Він навіть не потурбувався зустріти нас на вокзалі. 11. Шкода, що ви не можете піти з нами до театру. 12. Ми вже можемо читати Діккенса і Теккерея в оригіналі. 13. Мій брат дуже добре грає на скрипці. 14. Вона ображається досить часто. Не сприймай це близько до серця. 15. Велика кількість завдань на іспиті була дуже важкою. Тому він розгубився і в результаті не склав іспит. 16. Якщо ви раптово почнете розмовляти з ним дуже голосно, він може розлютитися. 17. Марія захопилася Джоном з першого погляду. 18. Правду кажучи, мені дуже хотілося прочитати цю книгу в оригіналі з початку до кінця. 19. В нашій родині мама веде хатнє господарство. 20. В цілому Пітер дуже приємна людина, але, правду кажучи, іноді він буває нестерпним.

Exercise 7. Translate into English.

1. Будьте уважними. Ви зробили помилку. 2. Вибачте, я увійшов у цю аудиторію помилково. 3. Я збираюся надіслати вам книги поштою. 4. Нещодавно, зовсім випадково, я зустріла свою давню подругу. 5. Моя сестра захворіла на грип, тому декілька днів вона має бути на постільному режимі. 6. Він поїхав від нас на світанку. 7. Дитина спить. Говори, будь ласка, тихіше. 8. Його здоров’я погіршилося в результаті надмірного паління. 9. Соромно, що ніхто з вас не допоміг Джону, коли він розгубився. 10. Вранці Брауни завжди поспішають. 11. Не втрачай мужність. У будь-якій ситуації завжди має бути якийсь вихід. 12. Я був впевнений, що президент мав намір підписати контракт з вашою компанією, але раптом він змінив своє рішення. 13. Вчора була дуже гарна погода і ми добре провели вихідні за містом. 14. Днями я отримала дозвіл на придбання дуже коштовної книги. 15. Вчора я потрапила під дощ і промокла з голови до ніг.

Exercise 8. Translate into English.

1. День за днем вона мріяла про зустріч з ним. 2. Вони живуть душа в душу. 3. Око за око, зуб за зуб. 4. Ми потрапили під дощ і промокли з голови до ніг. 5. Почалася сильна буря, і катер кидало з боку убік. 6. Книга така цікава, що я знаю її від початку до кінця. 7. Вони зустрічали усі труднощі пліч-о-пліч. 8. Вони прийшли на зустріч під ручку. 9. Ви коли-небудь зустрічалися з ним віч-на-віч? 10. Вони дуже бідні і живуть впроголодь. 11. Дама у червоному танцює з ним щока до щоки. 12. Директор та його помічник працювали з ранку до ночі. 13. Машини стояли впритул у пробці на дорозі. 14. Він без кінця повторював мені теж саме. 15. Я час від часу зустрічаюся з ним. 16. Він постійно перевертався з боку на бік, але ніяк не міг заснути. 17. Він переїжджав з міста в місто у пошуках роботи.

Exercise 9. Translate into English.

1. Я зустрів ту дівчину випадково, але закохався в неї з першого погляду. Я думаю про неї день і ніч. 2. Після весілля моя дружина буде вести господарство, а я буду працювати з ранку до ночі. 3. Будьте уважнішим. Ви зробили помилку. 4. Мій друг повідомив мене про народження дитини листом, а не по телефону. 5. Мені надіслали багато кольорових фотокарток у листі. 6. Я натрапив на її записку абсолютно випадково. 7. Ми вирішили скористатися нагодою. 8. Правду кажучи, зараз я дуже поспішаю, але завтра ми будемо розмовляти цілий день. 9. Цей маленький хлопчик завжди каже праду. 10. Говори тихіше. Дитина спить. 11. Прикро, але ми нікого не застали вдома. 12. Я залишив ключи вдома і розгубився, не знаючи, що робити. 13. На відстані трьох метрів ми побачили щось незвичайне. 14. Я не можу одночасно виконувати декілька справ. 15. Соромно, що ти досі не вмієш читати англійською.

Unit 14

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