This section discusses noun phrases that do not normally contain an article: proper nouns and vocatives, as well as a number of more special cases. Note that we will not discuss here the types of language usage that favor economizing on language, in the sense that only the most important pieces of information are spelled out, such as telegraphic writing or newspaper headlines. In these cases, articles are typically suppressed. A traditional telegram informing the recipient that the car has broken down and the dog has run away would take the form in (85a). The same goes for headlines: (85b) is much preferred to Een man heeft een hond gebetenA man has bitten a dog.

Article drop also occurs in signposts, in the titles of paintings and books, etc. For a more detailed discussion of this and other types of economy in written language, we refer the reader to Bennis (2015). As mentioned above, we will focus on noun phrases that do not normally contain an article.