Page 133 - Advanced English Grammar in Use

H o l i d a y s , t i m e s o f t h e d a y , m e a l s , e t c .

We often use zero article with the names of holidays, special times of the year, or with the names
of months and days of the week:
• Easter Ramadan New Year's Day September Monday
But compare:
• I'll see you on Saturday. • They arrived on a • They arrived on the
• We met on Saturday. Saturday as far as I can Saturday after my
remember. birthday party.

= next Saturday / = we are only interested in = a particular Saturday,
last Saturday the day of the week, not specifying which one
which particular Saturday

With winter, summer, spring, autumn, and New Year (meaning the holiday period), we can
often use either the or zero article:
• In (the) summer I try to spend as much time in the garden as I can.
• In Scotland, they really know how to celebrate (the) New Year.
We use the when it is understood which summer, spring, etc. we mean:
• 'When did you meet Beth?' 'In the summer.' (= last summer)
• 'When are you going to university?' 'In the autumn.' (= next autumn)
• I first went skiing in the spring of 1992.
We say 'in the New Year' to mean at or near the beginning of next year:
• I'll see you again in the New Year.
When we want to describe the features of a particular holiday, season, etc., we use a/an:
• That was a winter I'll never forget.

D We use the and a/an in the usual way when we talk about the morning/afternoon/evening of a
particular day:
• I woke up with a sore throat, and by the evening my voice had disappeared.
• We're going in the afternoon.
• 'You look upset.' 'Yes, I've had a terrible morning.'
However, we use zero article with at night and by night. Compare:
• She kept us awake all through the night, and
• I don't like driving at night.
We use zero article with midnight, midday, and noon:
• If possible, I'd like it finished by midday.

We usually use zero article when we talk about meals:
• What have we got for dinner?
• I don't like drinking coffee at breakfast.
We wouldn't say, for example, 'I had a/the breakfast before I went out'. However, if we want to
describe a particular meal, then we can use an article:
• We didn't get up until 10 o'clock and had a late breakfast.
• The dinner we had at Webster's restaurant was marvellous.
When we talk about a formal dinner or lunch for a special occasion, we use 'a dinner' or 'a
lunch':
• We're having a dinner to welcome the new manager.

The and a/an = Zero article =