Articles Types and Examples
‘A’, ‘An’ and ‘The’ are called articles.
‘A’ and ‘An’ are Indefinite Articles while ‘The’ is Definite Article.
The articles function like adjectives.
Use of article ‘a’
1) With singular common nouns beginning with consonants.
e.g.
| a pen | a girl |
| a hut | a book |
| a bag | a man |
| a dog | a lion |
2) With vowel letters, having pronunciation like consonants.
e.g.
| a university | a unit |
| a utility | a unicorn |
| a useful decision | a European |
| a one-rupee note | a one-eyed man |
| a one-man show | a one-time-settlement |
3) Before singular noun which shows the profession.
e.g.
| a teacher | a carpenter |
| a doctor | a potter |
| a tailor | a washerman |
| a lawyer | a cobbler |
Uses of article ‘an’
1) With words beginning with vowel sounds (vowel letters are ‘a, e, i, o, u’).
e.g.
| an ass | an action |
| an egg | an elephant |
| an idiot | an inkpot |
| an ox | an umbrella |
| an ultimatum | an unusual |
2) With words beginning with silent ‘h’.
e.g.
| an hour | an honest man |
| an heir | an hotel |
| an historical novel | an honourable person |
Uses of article ‘the’-
1) To denote a particular person or thing or one already mentioned.
e.g.
a) The book you gave me is lost.
b) I hate the idea.
c) We shall go to the movie.
2) When a singular noun represents a whole class.
e.g.
a) The dog is extremely faithful.
b) The cow is a very useful animal.
c) The earthworm helps the farmers.
3) With superlatives.
e.g.
a) She is the tallest girl in my class.
b) Pune is one of the coolest cities.
4) With names of rivers, seas, gulfs, groups of islands, mountain rangers and Newspapers.
e.g.
| The Ganges | The Himalayas |
| The Taj Mahal | The United Kingdom |
| The Indian Ocean | The Kingdom of Bhutan |
| The Persian Gulf | The British Isles |
| The Amazon | The Alps |
| The Times of India | The Indian Express |
5) Before a proper noun only when it is qualified by an adjective.
e.g.
| The immortal Shakesphere | The great Caesar. |
| The great Maratha | The last emperor |
6) Before names of certain books.
e.g
| The Ramayana | The Vedas |
| The Puranas | The Mahabharata |
7) With nouns that are unique.
e.g.
| The earth | The moon |
| The Milky Way | The sky |
| The North Pole | The equator |
8) With nouns of musical instruments.
e.g.
| The flute | The guitar |
| The violin | The plano |
9) With adjectives representing a class of person.
e.g.
| The poor | The rich |
| The weak | The elderly |
| The old | The coward |
10) With ordinals.
e.g.
a) Armstrong was the first man to land on the moon.
b) The tenth chapter of the novel was very big.
c) He is the fourth person to reach there.
d) It was the tenth century which he scored in Mumbai.
Omission of the articles-
1) Before the two common nouns “Man’ and ‘Woman’ when used for mankind or womankind as a whole.
e.g.
a) Man is mortal.
b) Woman is man’s real strength.
2) Before Common nouns used in their widest sense.
e.g.
a) He is not that type of person.
b) What kind of game is this?
3) Before names of materials.
e.g.
a) Gold is a very precious metal.
b) Wool is used to make cloths.
c) Coal is cheap for generating electricity.
d) Silver is used to decorate the temple.
4) Before titles coming before proper nouns.
e.g.
a) Guru Nanak
b) Lord Krishna
c) Milton, Poet Lau of England
d) Maharaja Jaisingh
5) Before Abstract nouns used in a general sense.
e.g.
a) Honesty is the best policy.
b) Wisdom is useful for all.
c) Truth always wins.
6) Before Languages.
e.g.
a) We speak English.
b) Latin is very old Language.
c) Chinese is complicated language.
d) Russian is her mother tongue.
7. Before names of relations, like father, mother, aunt, uncle etc.
e.g.
a) Uncle is leaving for Pune.
b) Mother is getting ready to go to school.
8) In certain phrases consisting of a translative verb or preposition followed by its object
e.g.
| to give ear | to lose |
| to hear | to set foot |
| to take offence | to send |
| to catch fire | at sight |
| at night | in debt |
| at home | on demand |
| by name | at ease |
Choose the correct articles to fill in the blanks in each sentence:
1) She bought ——– umbrella and ——– raincoat at the market.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) an / the
ii) a / a
iii) an / a
iv) the / the
Answer- iii)
2) I saw ——– owl sitting on ——– old tree.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) a / an
ii) an / an
iii) an / the
iv) the / a
Answer- ii)
3) He wants to be ——– astronaut and explore ——– universe.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) an / a
ii) a / the
iii) the / the
iv) an / the
Answer- iv)
4) ——– sun was shining, so we went for ——– walk.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) The / a
ii) A / a
iii) The / the
iv) A / the
Answer- i)
5) I watched ——– movie and then read ——– book it was based on.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) the / a
ii) a / the
iii) an / the
iv) a / an
Answer- ii)
2) I saw ——– owl sitting on ——– old tree.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) a / an
ii) an / an
iii) an / the
iv) the / a
Answer- ii)
3) He wants to be ——– astronaut and explore ——– universe.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) an / a
ii) a / the
iii) the / the
iv) an / the
Answer- iv)
4) ——– sun was shining, so we went for ——– walk.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) The / a
ii) A / a
iii) The / the
iv) A / the
Answer- i)
5) I watched ——– movie and then read ——– book it was based on.
(Choose the correct alternative.)
i) the / a
ii) a / the
iii) an / the
iv) a / an
Answer- ii)
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