1. Normally no article is used with names of people as they
point out individuals, so the proper nouns Peter (first name),
Carl (middle name) and Faberge (surname) are used without
articles.
2 and 7. These are cases of a metonymic transfer. In these
sentences the names of the famous jeweller (Faberge) and
painters (Levitan and Aivazovsky) are used to denote their works
and thus become common countable nouns. As such they must
be used with articles. The indefinite classifying article is used,
because the works of art in both sentences are mentioned for
the first time.
3. No article is used if the name of a person is modified by the
descriptive attribute little. The same rule applies to big, dear,
poor, lucky, old, young, honest, pretty and some others because
they form a part of the name they precede.
4. Big Ben and the Tower are proper names denoting buildings.
The use of articles with names of important buildings varies
from name to name and largely depends on tradition. Most of
them take no article but there are quite a few exceptions which
should be memorized.
5. Here tower is a common noun used in a set phrase with the
classifying indefinite article.
6. In the first clause of this compound sentence “the city” is
a common noun. It is used with the definite article in its specifying
function because it is clear from the context that the city in
question is London. In the second clause of the sentence “the
City” is a proper name. The use of the definite article here is
based on tradition.
8, 10, 15, 16. These are clear cases of a metonymic transfer.
Names of companies usually take no article but here Sony,
Panasonic, Ford, Adidas, Nike and Chanel denote not the manufacturing
companies but items produced by them. As such they
are countable and can take articles including the classifying
indefinite article as in these sentences.
9. There is a legend that the popular nickname for
Academy Awards which were first conferred by the US-based
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1929 for
excellence in acting, directing, writing screenplays and other
aspects of film production stuck to the gilted statuette in the
following way. One of the Academy’s employees, a Margaret
Merrick looked at one of the first statuettes and said, “Why
he looks just like my uncle Oscar!” Thus as a result o f
a metonymic transfer the Academy Awards came to be known
as Oscars. This is a common count noun which takes articles
and has a regular plural.
11. Heniy Ford is a personal name. Generally such names
take no articles and this is just the case.
12 and 13. These are clear cases of a metonymic transfer.
Names of persons become countable common nouns indicating
typical features associated with those names. In sentence
12 the indefinite article is used because the speaker
evidently does not think the boy or young man in question
unique. In sentence 13 the definite article is used because
everybody seems to believe the singer a unique phenomenon.
14. This is another case of a metonymic transfer. The characteristic
qualities of the proverbial Jack-of-call-trades are meant,
so the name becomes a count noun.
17. The definite article is used with the surname in the plural
to indicate the whole family.
18. If a name is preceded by Mr., Mrs. or Miss, the use of the
indefinite article implies that the speaker doesn’t know this
person.
19. See 17 for the Benois. The indefinite article is used before
the name Benois to indicate that one of a family is meant.
20. The definite article is used with the name of a person
modified by descriptive attributes as the limitation is clear from
the context.
21. In the second sentence the name is just that - a personal
name indicating the bearer of the name, so no article is used. In
the first sentence the characteristic qualities of the Cora in question
are meant, and it becomes a countable common noun in
the plural.
22. The name is modified by a descriptive attribute and is the
center of communication, so the indefinite article is used.