Articles
Definition
Articles are words that are used before noun and help us to understand whether we are referring to a noun specifically or generally.
There are three articles: A, An, The.
They are used before noun or noun phrases.
Article A:
A is used before singular countable noun that begins with consonant or a consonant sound.
E.g.- a cow, a rug, a shop, a glass of milk, a girl, a hut, a unit, a uniform etc.
In above examples unit & uniform begins with vowel but they have a consonant sound. Here pronunciation of u is yu and y is consonant, so we used article a before such words.
E.g. i) A cow is by a cot.
ii) There is a park in front of my house
iii) Kavya has a book with lots of colorful picture in it.
iv) A soldier needs to be wear a uniform.
v) He is reading a newspaper.
Article An:
An is used before singular countable noun that begins with vowel or a vowel sound.
E.g.- An ice-cream, An elephant, An egg, An ink pot, An umbrella, An hour, An honest.
In above examples hour and honest are begins with consonant but they have vowel sound.
Here consonant h is silent, these words begins with vowel sound. We will use article an before such words.
E.g. i) Would you like an ice-cream?
ii) He waited an
iii) The first picture is of an owl.
iv) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Article The:
The is called the definite article because it refers to a particular person, animal or thing. It is also used when we are talking about something again after having mentioned it once before.
The following are important uses of The:
When we talk about particular thing or person:
i. My father met the principal today.
Before a singular countable noun that represents whole class, it belongs to:
i. The dog is faithful animal
ii. The leopard can climb the tree.
With thing that are only one of that kind:
i. The moon shines in the sky at night.
ii. The sun rises in the east.
Before some proper noun like the name of river, ocean, sea, mountain ranges, holy books, trains, ship, airplane, famous buildings and newspaper.
E.g.
i)The Ganga is holly river for Indians.(River)
ii)A ship drowned in the Pacific Ocean (Ocean).
iii) The times of India is a leading newspaper in India. (Newspaper)
iv) The Maharashtra Express is running late due to flood. (Train name)
v) The Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonder of the word.(Building)
vi) He read a few verses from the (Book name)
Before superlative degree of adjective:
i)The youngest child finished lunch before her cousins.
ii)Riya is the tallest girl in her class.
Before the uncountable nouns that have been made particular:
i) I drank the juice that you poured in the glass.
ii) The wood used by the carpenter was of best quality.
Before the name of the people of different countries:
The Japanese work hard.
Practice Exercise 1:
Fill in the blanks with articles a, an or the.
1)—– sun is up. It is hot.
2) I am —- teacher.
3) Brian is ……Irishman.
4) He studies in ——university.
5) ——-earth is round.
6) —-honesty is the best policy.
7) Please give me —-book of your choice.
Answer:
1) The 2) a 3) an 4) a
5) The 6) No article 7) a
Practice Exercise 2:
Replace the incorrect articles with correct one.
1) Gauri visited Pune an year ago.
2) I am studying in an university of Mumbai.
3) Aaryn boarded a Vidarbha express from Mumbai.
4) I have come without the umbrella.
5) Would you like a orange?
6) Look at an hill. How high it is?
7) Roy is a honest man.
8) A moon revolves round an earth.
1) Gauri visited Pune a year ago.
2) I am studying in the university of Mumbai.
3) Aaryn boarded in the Vidarbha express from Mumbai.
4) I have come without an umbrella.
5) Would you like an orange?
6) Look at the hill. How high it is?
7) Roy is an honest man.
8) The moon revolves round the Earth.
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