J.A.Wines

He was a disinterested lawyer, and therefore uninterested in taking a bribe.

• for the major words in the title of books, plays, films, works of art: That’s Capital, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, The Catcher in the Rye, Casablanca, The Laughing Cavalier

• for proper nouns: James, Dad, the Queen, the President

• for place names and the names of buildings: London, Paris, Easy Street, the Taj Mahal, Buckingham Palace

• for adjectives derived from proper nouns: English, Shakespearean, Victorian

• for the pronoun I

• for personal titles that come before a name: Mr, Ms, Mrs, Dr, Captain, Reverend

• for most letters in words that are acronyms: NASA, NATO

• for the months of the year, days of the week, and special occasion days: Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday (but in the new year, his birthday seemed to come round faster each year)

• for brand names: Kleenex, Mars, Hoover

A drunk man

any old drunk man (he could be anyone – we haven’t mentioned him yet)

The drunk man

a specific drunk man (someone we are already talking about)