1.抽象名詞前一般不加冠詞:
Time is precious.
時間是寶貴的。
Knowledge is power.
知識就是力量。(諺)
Practice makes perfect.
熟能生巧。(諺)
2.即使有詞修飾也可不加冠詞:
It's nearly bed time.
差不多是睡覺時間。
It's common knowledge that his life is in danger.
他生命垂危是人所共知的。
You've made good progress this year.
今年你進步很大。
3.但如果一個抽象名詞不足用于一般意義,而是有特別涵義的時侯,可以加定冠詞用一般意義(泛指)用于特殊意義(特指):
She has a passion for music. Some of the music is folk music.
她熱愛音樂。那音樂有些是民間音樂。
Time tries truth.He didn’t tell me the truth.
時間檢驗真理。他沒有跟我講真話。
Art lies in concealing art.It's one of the arts of living.
藝術在于掩蓋藝術。(諺) 這是一種生活的藝術。
His Job was to collect information.The information was false.
他的任務是搜集情報。這項情報是假的。
4.在一定情況下前面還可加不定冠詞,如:
1)表示“一種”,“一場”等:
Translation is an art.
翻譯是一種藝術。
It was a just war.
這是一場正義的戰(zhàn)爭。
2)表示動作的一次,一例等:
He went outside for a smoke.
他到外面抽了一支煙。
We should make a thorough investigation.
我們應做一次深入的調查。
3)表示引起某種情緒的事:
It's a pleasure to work in China.
在中國工作很愉快。
It's an honor to meet you.
見到你很榮幸。
4)表示某一品質的人或事:
She was a great success in the play.
她演出很成功。
In some places white bread is a luxury.
在某些地區(qū)白面包是奢侈品。