English: Articles

ü  Articles ("a," "an," and "the") are determiners or noun markers that function to specify if the noun is general or specific in its reference. Often the article chosen depends on if the writer and the reader understand the reference of the noun.

ü  Articles:

ü  A, an- Indefinite Articles. Refer to non-specific or general thing.

ü  The- Definite Article. Refers to specific things.

Let’s see Where to use ‘A’ and ‘An’

We use a/an for nouns that are not specific, when we can refer to any one of a certain kind of thing.

 

For example, imagine your uncle just made cookies. You say:

                I want a cookie!
                (You want any one of the cookies he has made, not a specific cookie. So, you use a.)

                The word “cookie” begins with a consonant sound, so we use a. 

 If the word begins with a vowel sound (a,e,i,o,u) we use an.

For example:

                The scientist had an idea.
                (We do not know anything about the idea, so it is not specific. The word “idea” starts with a

                 vowel sound, so we use an.)

Let’s check where to use “The”:

We use the for specific nouns, when we know exactly which thing we are talking about. We use the for singular or plural nouns.

For Example:

                Jack fell asleep in the green chair.
                (We know exactly which specific chair we are talking about.)

             

                Eric and Adam are coloring the eggs.
                (We know exactly which specific eggs we are talking about.)

We also use the when there is only one of a thing.

For Example:

                The sun is shining today!
                (There is only one sun.)

 

Where Articles are not used?

 The article are mostly unusable before any Proper Noun

For example:

                There is a person called “Jay”,

                We call him with his name- Jay not “the Jay”

Similarly, articles are not used before Pronouns

For example:

                 According to me this was right

                We usually speak in this way not “According to the me”. 

  

Look at following Activity

A.   Look at the example, then complete the sentences with a or an.

1.      Bradley gave his teacher _________ apple.

2.      She is holding _________ pencil.

3.      Emily is in __________ garden.

4.      There is _________ fountain in the middle of the park.

5.      They had _________ accident!

 

B.      A, an, the, or no article?

1.    We visited _________ Taj Mahal in June.

2.    He is giving her a ring. _________ ring is very expensive!

3.    Harold is upset. He is having ________ argument!

4.    John is looking at _________ yellow map.

5.    Dave is listening to ________ song in his car.

6.    James is pulling a rabbit from his magician’s hat. __________ rabbit does not look happy!

7.    ________ toys are important for children.

8.    She is wearing _________ dress.

9.    She likes ________ books.

10. Caroline is running __________ race.

Ans: A. 1. An   2. A   3. A   4. A   5. An   

 B 1. No article   2. The  3. An   4. The  5. A   6. The  7. No Article  8. A  9. No Article 10. A