The Use of Articles
Two
types: 1. Indefinite 2. Definite
Indefinite articles: 1. An 2. A
(I)
The
Use of ‘An’
(1)
‘An’ is used in front of singular countable nouns which begin
with the following vowel sounds:
(i)
‘A’
as in army
(ii)
‘e’
as in ‘enemy’
(iii)
‘I’
in Indian
(iv)
‘o’
in officer
(v)
‘u’
in ‘umbrella’
An
inkpot, an engineer, an apple, an ambassador, an island, an onion
(2)
There are some words in English,
that begin with consonants but sound like vowels. We use ‘an’ in front of such
words also.
(i)
His father is an M. L. A.
(ii)
Is your father an S. D. O. in P.W.D.
department?
Similarly we have, an honest person, an heir
(3)
The word ‘university' begins with a vowel letter, but it
gives the sound of a consonant, so, ‘a’ will be used in front of it.
· This
is ……………. university.
(II)
Use of ‘a’
(i)
When a singular countable noun is mentioned for the first time a/an is used in front
of it.
(a)
He lives in a hut.
(b)
I need a car these days.
(i)
When a singular countable noun is used to represent a class or a type, a/an is used.
(a)
A television is necessary for all the
families.
(b)
A motor-cycle is very useful.
(c) A computer needs careful handling.
(ii)
In
front of the names of professions, a/an is used.
(a)
My father is a teacher.
(b)
Is he a businessman?
(c) He is a singer.
(d)
You are a very good comedian.
(iii)
With
the expressions like:
A
lot of, a great deal of, many a, a great number of, a few, a little, a little
bit of, a couple of days, a pair of, one and a half kg , such a ...., What a
....., a Mr. Khanna ( a person who is called Mr. Khanna)
1.
There are………………………..lot of students in
our school.
2.
There
are…………………………..few men working in the fields.
3.
There is ………little water in the jug.
4.
What………..beautiful scene it is!
5.
He is such …………………person as cannot be
believed.
6.
……….Mr. Khanna came to meet you.
7.
I bought ……..pair of shoes from the
market yesterday.
8.
In …………couple of days, I will come to
meet you.
In
the following situations a/an and ‘the’ is not used.
1.
In
front of the names of meals, no ‘a’ or ‘an’ is used.
· I
eat dinner at 9 p.m.
· Have
you eaten breakfast?
In
the above sentences, dinner and breakfast are usual features of a routine. So,
no article is needed here.
2. But for
specific breakfast, lunch, and dinner, an article is used.
· The
dinner we had at Karnal Haveli was marvellous.
Use
of the Definite Article ‘the’
It can be used in front of both, singular and
plural nouns
1.
‘the’
is used in front of unique things:
The
railway station, the bus stand, the earth, the moon, the east, the west, the
north, the south, the sun, the pole star, the equator, the stars,
2. Sometimes a noun or a noun phrase
is made specific by adding a phrase or a relative clause to it. Then ‘the’ is
used before it.
· The
boy who is wearing a red shirt is my friend.
· The
lady with flowers in her hands
is a stranger.
· ………….. dog which
is standing outside is very smart.
3. Repetition of a noun also makes it
unique or particular.
· There
was a king. He had four sons. The sons were very lazy. One day the king decided to make his sons
active.
4. In front of the superlative
degree of the adjective ‘the’ is used.
· Rubi
is the most intelligent girl in her
class.
· Alice
is the wisest girl in her family.
5. In front of the ordinal number
‘the’ is used.
· She
is the first girl of this village to
have been selected as the leader of a mountaineering team.
· My
father will return from abroad on the twenty-second of this month.
6. In front of famous mountain
ranges, mountains, seas, islands, meaningful names of some states and
countries, famous newspapers, magazines, religious books, sacred rivers, etc.
Examples: The Himalayas, the
Shivalik hills, The Andaman Islands, the Arabian sea, the Pacific ocean, The Bay of Bengal, the U.S.A., the Uttar Pradesh, The Tribune, The
Times of India, The Illustrated Weekly, The Time, The Gita, The Quran, The
Ramayana, The Ganga, The Sarswati, etc.
7. In front of some adjectives when
used as nouns:
The poor, the rich, the
downtrodden, the deprived, the oppressed, etc.
8. When a famous person’s name is
used as an adjective, ‘the’ is used.
· Kalidas
is called the Shakespeare of India.
· Neha
is the Lata of our school.
9. In front of ‘whole’ and after ‘both’
and ‘all’, ‘the’ is used.
· The
whole world knows.........
· All
the boys of this school........
· Both
the friends.........
10.
Usually,
‘the’ article is used in front of the superlative degree of an adjective, but,
there is a situation when ‘the’ is used in front of the comparative degree of
adjective.
The higher you go, the cooler it
is.
11.
When
context is already clear to the listener, ‘the’ can be used.
A. (to B): Where is your father?
B.: He is in the study.
Similarly, A: Where is the book? B: It is lying on the table.
Omission
of the definite article ‘the’
1.
In front of proper nouns, ‘the’ is not
used.
(a)
Delhi
is the capital of India.
(b)
Solan
is not a far-off place from Chandigarh.
(c)
Rohit
studies
in class X
2. In front of abstract nouns, names
of games, meals, and material nouns, we should not use ‘the’. But in their
particular use ‘the’ is used.
(a)
Honesty is the best policy.
But we can say:
· ‘The
honesty in Mr. .. is marvellous.
· ‘The artist in him is still alive.’
· Kapil
plays golf as well as cricket but the cricket in him
is vigorous.
· I
usually eat simple dinner at 9 p.m.
but the dinner I ate at Sapphire was very spicy.
· Gold is
a precious metal. But we can also say, ‘The
gold of this necklace is not pure.’
· Wheat is
sown in the month of November. The wheat
which I sowed in Nov. last year did not grow properly.
3.
Before parts of the body, no
article is used, but, in particular use, ‘the’ is preferred.
(a)
The teacher hit the child on the head.
(b)
He patted his back.
(c)The ball hit him on the forehead.
4.
When man and women are used
in general sense, ‘the’ is not used, but in particular case, ‘the’ is used.
Man
is a social animal.
Women
are worshipped in civilized societies.
5.
When we mean human nature by the word
‘nature’, we can use ‘the’. But when we mean the world of vegetation,
mountains, fields, and all the creatures associated with nature, ‘the’ is not
used.
· William
Wordsworth was a great worshipper of Nature.
· The
nature of Mr. Khanna is very good.
6.
In
front of languages, we do not use ‘the’, but in front of nationalities, we use
‘the’.
· The
French speak French.
· The
English speak English.
7. We do not use articles the in
front of some places or buildings if the speaker uses them for their basic
purposes.
Such
buildings and places are school, hospital, church, temple,
mosque, office, market, etc.
For example, a school is built for the purpose of imparting education. If the
speaker goes to school as a student, he/she cannot use ‘the before it.
(i)
I did not go to school yesterday.
(ii)
At what time do you go to office?
(iii)
I went to hospital yesterday.
(iv)
I often go to market in the evening.
(v)
She goes to church every day.
(vi)
I go to bed at 10 p. m. daily.
(vii)
His son went to sea 10 years ago and has not returned yet. (as a sailor or an employee at a ship)
But,
‘the’ can be used when these places are visited for not their basic or primary
purposes. (i) I
went to the hospital to see a patient yesterday. (ii) She goes to the hospital to
distribute medicines and fruit to the poor patients. (iii) We go to the sea daily in the evening. (for
strolling on the sea beach)
Exercises
on the use of articles:
Exercise
1. Use (a) an (b) the (c) a (d) x
1.
His father is ...........businessman.
2.
I met ................ old friend of
mine yesterday.
3.
.........Shivalik hills are near
Chandigarh.
4.
.........Mount Abu is in Rajasthan.
5.
His brother is ...........idealist.
6.
Rajjaq is .................heir to the
property of his father.
7.
I took a patient to .............
hospital yesterday.
8.
He loves playing ................... cricket.
9.
Usually I go to ...................bed
at 10 p.m.
10.
He went to............sea when he was just of
17.
11.
In our country, .......... poor are becoming poorer and
............. rich are becoming richer day by day.
12.
I bought ........... necklace, ...............
umbrella and some fruit from ............ market yesterday
13.
He threw .................. ball which hit
................ man who was coming from ............ opposite direction.
14.
East or west, home is .............. best.
15.
Atul is ................ most intelligent boy
in his class.
Exercise2.
I went to .....1.....
village yesterday. It is 10 km from here. I reached ....2....... bus stand to
catch .......3....... bus. While walking, I found some children playing near
......4..... bye-pass road. One of them picked up....5..... stone and threw
towards ......6......bus coming from
Ambala. .......7..... stone hit ......8......passenger
who was looking out of .....9....window.
........10.......head of .....11......passengers started bleeding profusely. ....12........conductor
of ......13.........bus whistled at once to stop ...14..... bus. It was stopped
in no time. Some passengers got down of ...15.....bus and ran towards ......16.......children
who also had already started running as they had seen ....17....... bus stopping
and ......18..... passengers coming towards them.
