Сегодня мы разберем одну интересную тему, связанную с использованием артиклей в английском языке при обозначении музыкальных инструментов. Конкретно, мы рассмотрим вопрос: «Play Piano or Play the Piano?»
В английском языке употребление артиклей может быть довольно запутанным, особенно когда речь идет о названиях музыкальных инструментов. Давайте разберемся в этом на примере фразы «играть на пианино» на английском языке.
- Play Piano — Использование без артикля:
- «She can play piano very well.» (Она играет на пианино очень хорошо.)
- «I love to play piano in my free time.» (Я люблю играть на пианино в свободное время.)
В этом случае, когда мы говорим о музыкальном инструменте в общем смысле, мы используем без артикля. Мы просто упоминаем сам инструмент, без указания на конкретное пианино.
- Play the Piano — Использование с определенным артиклем:
- «He is learning to play the piano.» (Он учится играть на пианино.)
- «Can you play the piano at the concert?» (Можете ли вы играть на пианино на концерте?)
Когда мы говорим о конкретном пианино или указываем на определенный инструмент, мы используем определенный артикль «the». Это подразумевает, что речь идет о каком-то определенном пианино.
Важно отметить, что употребление артикля зависит от контекста и специфики фразы. Например, если вы говорите о своем собственном музыкальном инструменте, вы можете использовать «my piano» или «your piano» без артикля.
Итак, чтобы ответить на вопрос «Play Piano or Play the Piano?», правильный выбор зависит от того, хотите ли вы обозначить общую идею игры на пианино или указать на конкретный инструмент.
Конечно, давайте рассмотрим еще несколько примеров использования артиклей с названиями музыкальных инструментов:
- Play guitar — Использование без артикля:
- «He loves to play guitar in his free time.» (Он любит играть на гитаре в свободное время.)
- «I’m trying to learn how to play guitar.» (Я пытаюсь научиться играть на гитаре.)
- Play the guitar — Использование с определенным артиклем:
- «Can you play the guitar for us tonight?» (Можете ли вы сегодня вечером сыграть на гитаре для нас?)
- «I heard you playing the guitar earlier, you’re really good!» (Я слышал, как ты играл на гитаре раньше, ты действительно хорош!)
- Play drums — Использование без артикля:
- «She’s been playing drums since she was a teenager.» (Она играет на барабанах с тех пор, как была подростком.)
- «I can’t wait to start playing drums in my band.» (Я не могу дождаться, когда начну играть на барабанах в своей группе.)
- Play the drums — Использование с определенным артиклем:
- «Can you play the drums for our school talent show?» (Можете ли вы сыграть на барабанах на нашем школьном талант-шоу?)
- «I saw him playing the drums at the concert last night, he was amazing!» (Я видел, как он играл на барабанах на концерте прошлой ночью, он был потрясающим!)
Надеюсь, эта статья помогла вам разобраться в использовании артиклей при обозначении музыкальных инструментов на английском языке. Запомните эти правила и продолжайте развивать свои навыки в изучении английского языка. Удачи вам!
Расшифровка видеоурока на английском языке
Hi everyone. I’m Jennifer from English with Jennifer. Do you consider yourself a musician? Do you play an instrument? I can’t claim to be a really skilled musician, but I do enjoy playing the piano, and every once in a while I’ll pick up my accordion and play a little. Recently, I was talking with my friend and colleague Linda from Linda teaches English, and I asked her, «Do you play an instrument?» Because I didn’t know. I never asked. Listen to her answer. Sadly, no. I don’t play an instrument unless you count the recorder in the fifth grade. My husband, however, is a musician. He plays guitar and mandolin. So, does Linda play an instrument? No, but she did play the recorder back in her school days. A lot of American school children learn to play the recorder for one or two years as part of their music classes. Do you know what a recorder is? It’s a woodwind instrument similar to a flute, but you hold it downward. American school children learn to play on plastic recorders like this one. Did you hear Linda talk about a family member? What does he play? I’m going to let you listen again, but this time, I want you to pay attention to the names of the instruments. Does Linda use the definite article like I did when I told you I enjoy playing the piano ? Sadly, no. I don’t play an instrument unless you count the recorder in the fifth grade. My husband, however, is a musician. He plays guitar and mandolin. Who’s the musician in Linda’s family? Her husband. What instrument does he play? Actually, two. Guitar and mandolin. Something interesting happened in Linda’s speech. She talked about the recorder and then said her husband played guitar and mandolin. Hmm. This reflects a pattern that seems to be increasing more and more in American English. Twelve years ago, I made a grammar video about generic nouns. I talked about three ways we can refer to all members of a group. A recorder is a woodwind instrument with seven finger holes in the front and one in the back. A recorder. That’s a generic noun. It uses the indefinite article plus a singular noun. I’m talking about all standard recorders. This sounds like a definition or an explanation that I’m giving to someone who doesn’t know what a recorder is. Pianos require professional movers, so don’t try to move one by yourself. Here I’m using the zero article plus a plural noun, and I’m referring to any and all pianos. I play the accordion but not very well. With musical instruments, we can use the definite article before a singular noun to talk about all instruments of that type. Okay. So we have three ways to make a generic reference. Here’s another. Remember how Linda said that her husband played the guitar in mandolin? I started to notice this pattern only recently with musical instruments. The change has been gradual. The zero article plus a singular noun has really gained popularity in American English. It’s not the pattern I remember growing up with. However, language is always changing. When people start to use a new pattern, they change the so-called rules. I think this new pattern is becoming more and more standard: play guitar, play piano. Looking into this and talking about the grammar with a couple of colleagues, I’ve come to the conclusion that the zero article plus a singular noun to talk about musical instruments is a pattern that we hear mostly in spoken American English, and it’s likely not as common in other varieties of English, at least not yet. I also think if you’re reading about musical instruments, you’re likely to see one of the other three patterns, namely the definite article plus a singular noun. For example, Mozart was a skilled musician, and he learned to play chords on the harpsichord around the age of three. He composed on other instruments as well, including the violin. Do you know who Andrea Bocelli is? Google him and you’ll find out some interesting facts, and I bet you’ll see his favorite instruments listed with the definite article. As a child, he learned to play the piano, flute, saxophone, and other instruments. Remember with a list we can use the definite article only once, and then it applies to the other nouns in that list. We understand that Andrea Bocelli learned to play the piano, the flute, the saxophone, and other instruments, but I only need to use the definite article once at the beginning of my list. The point is that a biography is written, and it’s usually rather formal writing. I suspect that the pattern with the zero article plus a singular noun to talk about instruments is already making its way into written English, but again I’ll tell you that it’s a pattern I’ve mostly heard and not read. Yet another factor might be the type of instrument. I’ve noticed that the definite article remains common with instruments for classical music, meaning instruments in an orchestra: the violin, the harp, the French horn. In contrast, instruments we associate more with jazz, rock, and contemporary music are more likely to be found in this new pattern with a zero article: keyboard, bass guitar. We might also consider who the speaker is and if the person in question is a serious musician. Mozart was a trained professional. As an alternative to saying he played the violin, we could say he was a skilled violinist. So, we’ll now turn to people who are serious about music. Let’s hear from my friend and colleague Jase, also known as FluencyMC. Listen to Jase’s background in music. Hey everyone. My name is Jason Levine. I’m also known as FluencyMC, and I play drums. I’ve been playing since I was nine years old. I got started on the snare drum, took lessons, played in the elementary school band, uh, then middle school and high school, I played drum set and also percussion, conga drums. When I went to college, I joined…actually, I was in a punk band in high school, and then got serious in bands in college. I was in a band that played in New York City quite a bit. We played at different universities. I was on a record. I played in the funk band after that. These days I play for fun at open mic nights, uh, here in Paris, France. What instrument does Jase play? The drums. Did you hear how he got started? I want you to listen just to that beginning part again and pay attention to his use of articles. Hey everyone. My name is Jason Levine. I’m also known as FluencyMC, and I play drums. I’ve been playing since I was nine years old. I got started on the snare drum, took lessons. As with Linda, there was a mix of two patterns. Jase said he plays drums, but he got started on the snare drum, a type of drum. That, too, was a generic noun. He could play any and all snare drums, just like Linda’s husband plays guitar — any and all guitars . Now he may have a preference for acoustic guitars over electric guitars, but he plays guitar. He’s a musician. He’s a guitarist. He plays guitar. Please note that it’s still okay to say he plays the guitar and Jase plays the drums. I simply want you to be aware that another pattern exists, and it seems like this pattern with the zero article is being used more and more. Do you remember what kind of music Jase has performed? Uh, then middle school and high school I played drum set and also percussion, conga drums. When I went to college, I joined…actually, I was in a punk band in high school and then got serious in bands in college. I was in a band that played in New York City quite a bit. We played at different universities. I was on a record. I played in a funk band after that. He’s not a classical musician. He’s played punk and funk. Note how he said he played drum set and conga drums. No article. So, why is this pattern with the zero article in use? Here’s a thought. I see a similarity between playing guitar, playing drums and other activities that people enjoy doing and activities that they’ve gained skill in, like playing tennis, playing golf. Do you see what I mean? Perhaps we can think of all of these things as activities that people devote time and effort to. It’s just a theory. The goal now is to train your ears and mind to accept this fourth pattern for generic nouns, and you need to accept that article usage varies not only from speaker to speaker, but even one American English speaker can go back and forth between patterns, between the zero article and the definite article, when talking about musical instruments. Let me introduce you to one more musician who not only performs but also teaches and conducts. He has dedicated his career to music, and he brings the joy of music to others. This is a friend and former neighbor George Furlow. Good morning. My name is George, and I’m here to share with you today about a musical instrument that I fell in love with when I was about 10 years old. And they offered it in the school that I was going to, and I had listened to a lot of music from a much, much older time, and I just fell in love with the sound of the saxophone. What instrument does George play? The saxophone. He fell in love with the sound of the saxophone. Here he used the definite article. What did he get a degree in after high school? Listen. So, I started playing it at 10 years old and went all the way through junior high school and high school. And then decided at high school that I wanted to go to college for music, and I went and got a degree in teaching and also on saxophone. So, I taught school and while I was teaching school I went on to my master’s degree and decided I wanted to become a professional musician. George got a degree in teaching and on saxophone. No article. He shifted to the zero article. In this next clip, you’ll learn what kinds of music George has played. Listen for the genres. And I started playing out when I was about 17 years old and, uh, played all kinds of bands, and I’ve played all kinds of music since that time. Some of it’s jazz. Some of its pop music. Some of its R&B music. I’ve played in the symphony with saxophone. Uh, I’ve played in sax quartets, in big bands, where there’s eighteen of us playing at once — five saxes. Um, and it’s been a lot of fun for me over the years. George has played jazz, pop, and R&B (rhythm and blues). We don’t need articles before genres of music. George has also played in the symphony. This is an interesting pattern. It’s also a generic noun: in the symphony. I don’t know specifically which symphonies George has performed in, and at this point, it’s not important. He’s simply listing the types of music he can play. «The symphony» uses the definite article. George has played in the symphony with saxophone. He used a mix of patterns for generic nouns. Now listen as George gives some background information on the instrument. He’s going to give some historical facts. Can you predict which pattern you’re going to hear? The saxophone was created at around 1850. Adolphe Sax, uh, decided that the military bans of that day…they had brass players and they had woodwind players. He needed something in the middle, he thought, for these bands to really sound better. George taught us that Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone around 1850. He used «the sax» because in this context it’s a little bit more formal and he’s talking about the musical instrument as an invention. Now listen to how George compares the saxophone to other instruments in the band. So, he created the saxophone, and it’s it’s very unique because it’s brass like a trumpet or a trombone or a tuba, French horn, baritone horn, and yet it’s a woodwind instrument like a clarinet, a bassoon, or an oboe. It has a reed and that reed when you blow on it vibrates like that, and that’s what makes the sound of the saxophone. And so it’s a combination of a reedy sound and then that brass sound. Listen to it. The key in listening to someone speak like this is to understand when they’re talking generally and when they’re making a specific reference. George is making generic reference after generic reference, and he’s using a mix of the patterns we’ve studied — patterns for generic nouns. In this last clip, don’t focus on the grammar. Focus on the meaning. George is going to give an important message about learning an instrument. Your goal is to understand his advice. Okay? It’s a very unique sound. If you want to play the saxophone, it’s easy to get started on; like any instrument, it’s difficult to master. I also play the flute. Here’s a flute here, and I play the clarinet, and, uh, I play piano as well. So, if you have a music gift in you that’s been endowed to you, you can play just about any instrument you want to play because that gift comes out in whatever instrument. But go to the instrument that you… when you hear it, you just go, «Oh yeah. I like this.» Maybe it’s the piano. Maybe it’s the French horn. Maybe it’s violin. Maybe it’s cello, string bass. Maybe it’s the drums. But it’s important for you to know what you’ll like inside. Hey, it’s really good talking to you all today. Thank you so much. Bye-bye. Maybe George’s words will inspire some of you to learn an instrument or return to playing an instrument. He’s worked with musicians of all ages. He currently works at the Pittsburgh Youth Concert Orchestra. He conducts the Adult and Youth Jazz Bands. George Furlow’s music is available online. He’s produced more than one album. I’ll put his Spotify and iTunes links in the video description. One of the many musicians George has worked with is a talented young man his name is RJ Williams. George has known RJ since he was six years old. Well, RJ is all grown up now and he’s become a very skilled musician. I’d like to introduce RJ to you, and as you listen, listen for a mix of patterns with the articles. Focus on the message. Focus on the meaning. What instrument does RJ play? What’s his background in music? Hey. My name is RJ Williams. Um, I play drums, keys, a little bit of bass. I also produce, arrange, and I program. I got started around the age of two with drums, which is crazy to think, but yes, I got started around that age, and I started taking lessons professionally around age six. And I play Christian music, um, mainly. I used to play secular music and R&B. Right now, it’s mainly like more Christian music, gospel music. I also play in church. I played with a couple artists named, um, Tye Tribbett, Jonathan Traylor, Blanca. And I also like arrange and produce for a bunch of other artists, um, and yeah…that’s part of my story. If you’d like to hear more of RJ’s work, you can visit his YouTube channel. I’ll put the link in the video description. To pull everything together, I’d like to invite you to take a final listening test. The goal is to understand the grammar in context. There’s one more guest in this video: my very own piano teacher. I’ve had two piano teachers in my life. The first was a wonderful woman who taught me from the time I was about seven to the time I graduated from high school. My current teacher, Tom, is a wonderful person and a wonderful pianist. I’ll let you hear more about him, and I’ve been taking lessons from him for the past few years like many others in my town. I play the piano, the organ, and the trumpet. Many, many times. At one time, I ran a nine-piece band, uh, and I played trumpet in that band and wrote all the arrangements. We had two trumpets, an alto sax, a tenor sax, and a trombonist. The alto sax player and the tenor sax player all could double on other instruments: flutes, clarinets. And then the rhythm section, traditional rhythm section: drums, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and pianist. I’ve been teaching since 1968, so that’s well over 50 years. My favorite kind of music, uh, would be ballads, sentimental ballads, uh, but that’s what I like to play. What I like to listen to is jazz and rather contemporary, modern music. It is never too late, and the piano is actually the best instrument that anybody young or old can learn because the keyboard is right there in front of you and everything is linear, and it doesn’t take long for people to learn to play with the understanding that they’re doing it for their own enjoyment. Well, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this special grammar lesson. Thank you to all the generous teachers and talented musicians for their contributions. You’ll find all the links in the video description. Please remember to like and share this video if you found the lesson useful and interesting. As always, thanks for watching and happy studies! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon. And don’t forget to subscribe here on YouTube. Turn on those notifications.
В приведенном тексте Дженнифер, учитель английского языка, рассказывает о своих музыкальных предпочтениях и задает вопрос своей коллеге Линде. Дженнифер признается, что не считает себя опытным музыкантом, но с удовольствием играет на пианино и иногда берет аккордеон, чтобы поиграть немного.
Однажды Дженнифер разговаривала с Линдой и спросила ее: «Ты играешь на музыкальном инструменте?» Потому что она не знала. Никогда не спрашивала. Линда отвечает, что, к сожалению, она не играет на инструменте, если не считать флейту-рекордер, которую она играла в пятом классе. Однако ее муж является музыкантом и играет на гитаре и мандолине.
Дженнифер замечает, что Линда не использует определенный артикль (the) при упоминании инструментов, в отличие от нее самой, когда она говорила о своем удовольствии от игры на пианино. Линда также упоминает, что ученики американских школ обычно изучают флейту-рекордер в течение одного или двух лет в рамках уроков музыки.
Дженнифер задает вопрос, услышали ли мы Линду говорящей о члене семьи. Какой инструмент он играет? Дженнифер предлагает еще раз послушать и обратить внимание на названия инструментов. Оказывается, что муж Линды является музыкантом и играет на гитаре и мандолине. Интересно, что Линда упоминает флейту-рекордер, а затем говорит о гитаре и мандолине. Это отражает тенденцию, которая становится все более распространенной в американском английском языке.
В заключение, Дженнифер подчеркивает, что использование артикля может зависеть от контекста и предпочтений говорящего, а также от конкретного инструмента. Она указывает на то, что использование нулевого артикля (без артикля) с инструментами становится все более распространенным в американском английском языке.