Zero article for transport

by air by bicycle, by bike, by boat, by bus, by car, by coach, by land, by plane, by sea, by ship, by tram, by tube, on foot-We travelled all over Europe by bus

The zero article

By + noun is used in fixed expressions of this kind, but not where the

means of transport is specified:

/ came here on the local bus You won't go far on that old bike

3.28.5 Zero article in fixed phrases

e.g. arm in arm, come to light, face to face, from top to bottom, hand in hand, keep in mind, make friends, make fun of

3 28.6 Zero article for 'pairs' joined by 'and' [compare > 2.38, 3.14, 6.12.2] e.g. day and night, father and son, husband and wife, light and dark, young and old, pen and ink, sun and moon

This business has been run by father and son for 20 years

3.28.7 Zero article after 'what' and 'such' [> 3.13]
The noun is stressed after What;such is stressed before the noun:
- + plural countable:

What fools they are¹

We had such problems getting through Customs! - + (singular) uncountable: What freedom young people enjoy nowadays! Young people enjoy such freedom nowadays!

3.28.8 Zero article for unspecified quantity [> 3.6, 5.3, 5.10]
Sometimes we do not use some or any to refer to indefinite number or
amount:

/ have presents for the children I have news for you Are there presents for me too? Is there news for me too?

3.29 Deliberate omission of 'a/an' and 'the'

There are many instances in everyday life when we deliberately omit

both definite and indefinite articles to save space, time and money.

For example:

Newspaper headlines: HOTEL FIRE DISASTER

Nouns in The use of the zero article is very common in journalism:

apposition: e.g. Film star Bntt Ekland War hero Douglas Bader,

Miracle heart-swap man Keith Castle (no commas)

'Small ads': 1st fl fit in mod blk close West End, dble recep (= A first

floor flat in a modern block close to the West End with a

double reception room...)

Notes: Causes of 2nd World War- massive re-armament, invasion

Czechoslovakia, etc. (= The causes of the Second World War: massive re-armament, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, etc.) (Shopping) lists: Cleaner's collect skirt

Supermarket: meat, eggs, sugar, melon
Instructions: Cut along dotted line (= Cut along the dotted line.)

Notices: Lift out of order (= The lift is out of order.)

Labels: Beside e.g. a picture of a bicycle, an arrow pointing

to the 'frame', with the label FRAME (for the frame)
Some dictionary filling material used to fill cavity in tooth (= filling: a
definitions: material used to fill a cavity in a tooth.)