一、不用冠词的场合

在通常情况下，表示一日三餐的 breakfast, lunch, supper前不用冠词。如：

Breakfast is served until 9 am. 早餐一直供应到上午9点。

Can you manage lunch on Tuesday? 你星期二能来吃午饭吗?

Have you finished supper already? It’s only 5 o’clock! 你已经吃过晚饭了? 现在才5点钟啊!

A snack in the afternoon bridges the gap between lunch and supper. 在午餐和晚餐之间，下午吃些点心补充一下。

Mother said lunch was ready and there was a mad dash for the table. 母亲说午饭做好了, 大家一下子都向饭桌奔去。

注：不连用冠词的用法尤其注意以下搭配：have breakfast (lunch, supper), after breakfast (lunch, supper), at breakfast (lunch, supper), before breakfast (lunch, supper), during breakfast (lunch, supper), for breakfast (lunch, supper), over breakfast (lunch, supper), since breakfast (lunch, supper), without breakfast (lunch, supper)。如：

They were having breakfast when I arrived. 我到达时，他们正在用早餐。

We got off immediately after breakfast. 我们吃完早餐就动身了。

Please make your beds before breakfast. 请在早饭前把床铺好。

It happened at [during] lunch. 此事发生在吃午饭的时候。

I nearly always go home for lunch. 我差不多总是回家吃午饭。

Do you want a boiled egg for breakfast? 你早饭要吃煮鸡蛋吗?

She scanned the newspaper over breakfast. 她吃着早饭把报纸大略看了一遍。

I haven’t eaten since breakfast. 我吃了早饭后到现在还什么都没吃呢。

I had to go without breakfast this morning as I was in a hurry. 我今早很匆忙, 只好不吃早饭了。

二、用定冠词的场合

虽然在通常情况下，“三餐饭”前不用冠词，但是若要特指某一顿早餐、中餐或晚餐，则可在其前加定冠词。如：

The supper is well cooked. 晚饭做得很好。

Thank you for the breakfast. 谢谢你的这顿早餐。

注：表特指时，除可用定冠词修饰外，有时可用指示代词或物主代词等的修饰。如：

After that breakfast, I never saw her again. 吃了那顿早餐后，我就再没有看到过她。

Why don’t you go for a walk? It’ll give you an appetite for your lunch. 你怎么不出去散散步? 散散步午饭时就有食欲了。

三、用不定冠词的场合

若breakfast, lunch, supper受到描绘性定语的修饰，则其前通常要用不定冠词。如：

We had a working lunch. 我们吃了一顿工作午餐。

We had a very late lunch. 我们很晚才吃午饭。

That was quite a decent lunch. 那顿午餐相当不错。

He takes a packed lunch to work. 他带(盒装)午饭上班。

After a quick breakfast, he hurried to the station. 匆匆忙忙吃完早餐，他就赶到车站去了。

I’ve got out of the habit of having a cooked breakfast. 我已不再保持早餐吃热食的习惯。

We had a quick lunch and finished up with a cup of coffee. 我们匆忙吃了午饭，最后又喝了一杯咖啡。

【知识拓展】

1. 有时可以有自己的修饰语：此时通常是指所吃的东西。如：

She doesn’t eat much breakfast. 她早点吃得不多。

She always eats very little supper. 她晚饭总是吃得很少。

Take her some breakfast on a tray. 用托盘给她送些早点。

注：有时也可不直接用 much, little 等修饰，而换用其他表达。如：

She never eats much for breakfast. 她早点从不多吃。(from www.yygrammar.com)

2. 有时可以用复数形式：此时通常是指不同种类或不同人所用的早餐、中餐或晚餐。如：

We serve hot and cold lunches. 我处供应冷热午餐。

Does this pub provide lunches? 这家酒馆供应午餐吗?