ARTICLES

TOPIC O1

ARTICLES

warming up activity for practice:

     TOPIC - 1 

ARTICLES 

I. Definition :- 

The adjectives ‘A’,  ‘An’, or ‘The’ are called Articles. They are actually Demonstrative Adjectives. 

II. Types :- 

a) Definite Article:-

The’ is called the Definite article because it points out to a particular person, thing or idea. 

b)Indefinite Article :- ‘A’ or ‘An’ is called the indefinite article because it leaves indefinite, the person or thing or idea spoken of. 

III. Uses :- 

a) 'A' is used before :-

i) ii) Such vowels which have the sound of “you” - a useful thing, a unit, a university. iii) ‘O’ when it is sounded as in ‘one’ eg. a one-rupee note, one sided affair. 

b)‘An’ is used before :- 

A vowel : an eye, an ox, an apple. 
Consonants beginning with a vowel sound : an M.A. an M.D. M.S. an MBA iii) Before words beginning with ‘h’ where it is silent eg. an hour, an honest man, an heir. 

‘A’ or ‘An’ is sometimes used before a noun to indicate a class eg. A son should obey his father. An ant is an industrious creature.

C)Rules For using‘The’ :- 

When we speak of a particular person or thing about which we have already spoken. 

e.g. I lost the pen you gave me. I do not like the fellow. I went to the club. 

Singular common nouns to represent a whole class : e.g. The dog is a faithful animal.The names of river (The Ganga), mountain ranges (The Himalayas), newspapers (The Times of India), holy books (The Gita, The Koran), noted public places (The High Court), important event (The French Revolution) Sea (The Red Sea). 
Singular nouns referring to things of which only one exists. eg. The earth, The sun, The moon. (Universal things by nature) 
With superlatives : Ram is the best boy in the class. 
A nominal name with a plural notion to show the people collectively e.g. The French (The French People) fought hard. Without ‘The’ such a noun indicates the language : e.g. I have been learning French. 
Adjective with a plural notion to indicate a whole class of person e.g. : The rich (rich men) are not always happy. But we can also write “Rich men are not always happy. 
So, The rich are not always happy.- Correct 
But,  The rich men are not always happy. - Wrong For some abstract ideas e.g. The future is unknown to us. ix) Nouns to indicate a profession e.g. He joined the church (became a clergymen.) 

IV. Omission of Articles :- 

Before proper material or Abstract nouns except when they are particularized eg : Ashoka (but “the kind Ashoka), gold (but “the gold of Kerala) honesty (but “the honesty of the boy) 
Before common nouns in the plural except when they are particularized e.g. Dogs bark, cows eat grass. But we write, The cows of Gopal give a lot of milk. 
Before ‘man’ in the sense of “mankind” e.g. Man is mortal. 
Before “Father”, “mother”, “Uncle”, “Aunt” when a particular one of them is meant. 

e.g. : Mother has gone to the market. 

In many idiomatic phrases e.g. : at home, to give car to, on horseback, send word. 

Article Poem 

How does he travel ? a lot.  do you have a few or many friends ? I saw a boy.  Which boy  Stout one or the lean - one ? black one or brown one ?  Tall one or short one ? Nothing is specific or particular so we call it  INDEFINITE ARTICLE  He saw an elephant which one ?

with two-big tusks or no tusk while - one or grey - one ? here too is Indefinite  I saw an elephant on the road  The elephant belonged to the  Temple  It had two big tusks.  So I knew it was a male  Elephant  Is an elephant afraid of an Ant ?  Yes, really it is ........ Why ?  Because in its spelling

It ends with the ant What toys and things did you buy ?  Why did you use, ‘AN’, Because all the word start with the vowel sounds ?  What about an hour or an hotel ?  Here the ‘h’ is mute or silent.  An aeroplane  An Elephant  An orange		And An umbrella  If you invite me For your wedding ?  For whom I must wait ? Before having any refreshments ? Me only, that is your friend or else you will face some problems Either I must wait to see you,  My friend,  The Bridegroom
SENTENCES APPEARED IN THE BOARD EXAMINATION :-
1..... Yamuna is ….. tributary of the Ganges.(Feb. 2008)
(Rewrite using the appropriate articles)
2.He saw star shooting down towards Earth.(Oct. 2008)
(Insert appropriate articles wherever necessary and rewrite the sentence)
3 …. rich must always help … poor.(Feb. 2009)
(Use suitable articles)
4..Being good teacher he teaches in best way.(Oct. 2009)
(Insert the appropriate articles wherever necessary)
5..It was ….. excellent lunch. The meal cost him … hundred and fifty rupees.(Feb. 2010) (Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles)

6..My teacher is ….. M.A. in English and is … honest teacher. (Feb. 2011 A, B)
 (Use suitable articles and rewrite the sentence.) 

 

7..My friend has got appointment in television company.   (Oct. 2011) (Insert the appropriate article wherever necessary) 

8.I found myself in ….. maidan and sat down on ….. bench.       (Feb. 2012) 
(Fill in the blanks with suitable article) 

 

9. The best way to learn musical instrument is to find enthusiastic teacher. (Feb.2013) 
(Insert the appropriate article wherever necessary) 

 

10. My friend is … able translator and …. impartial editor as well.(Feb. 2014) (
Rewrite it using appropriate ‘articles’) 

                  11. It is paradoxical that …. average consumer cannot             decide which technology will offer him ….. highest                         of water purification. (Oct. 2014) 

(Fill in the blanks with  ‘articles’) 

12.     One of …. most common causes of malnutrition is …. unhealthy lifestyle. 
(Feb. 2015) (Fill in the blanks with appropriate ‘articles’) 
13. Draw …. map of …. world.    (Oct. 2015) (Fill in the blanks with appropriate ‘articles’) 

14. I read interesting story from Mahabharata.(Feb. 2016) 
(Rewrite the sentence by inserting the appropriate articles wherever necessary) 

15. Madhu is … model and ….. artist. (July 2016)
 (Fill in the blanks with  suitable articles) 

16. J.R.D. Tata was ….. amazing personality. He always helped …. poor in the country. (Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles)             (Feb. 2017) 

 

17. Nowadays, we have to use …. solar energy on ….. large scale. (July 2017)
 (Fill in the blanks with the appropriate articles) 

18. He wanted to become …. artist and live in ….. Himalayas. (Feb. 2018) 
(Fill in the blanks with appropriate ‘articles’) 

 

19. We have to learn ….. lot from … autobiographies of great personalities.
 (July 2018)
 (Fill in the blanks with appropriate ‘articles’) 

 

20.When earthquake strikes, world trembles.   (Feb. 2019)
(Insert appropriate articles wherever necessary and rewrite it)

 

21.As he was …. rich person, he helped …. poor.  (July 2019) 
(Rewrite the sentence using appropriate ‘articles’) 

 SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE :- 

Use appropriate ‘article’ wherever necessary. Put an ‘X’ where it is not necessary. 

1...…. advertisement should be brief. 
2.We cannot entertain … complaint of this kind. 
3.Mr. Prakash is … active member of the communist party.
 
4.What … excellent speech he made ! 
5.Mr. Sharma has been working as … accountant since 1996. 
6.It is … universal truth that … anger destroys one’s peace of mind. 
7.You are … B.A., only … M.A. can apply for this post. 
8.She is … Indian artist married to … European engineer. 
9.Where is … hat that I bought yesterday ? 
10...….. industrial exhibition was opened in … city.
 
11.There was … star shining in … sky. 
12.I have received … notice from … bank. 
13.If you are going to … office, take … umbrella with you, it might rain. 
14.There is … bag lying on … back seat of … car. 
15...…. honest employee is … asset to his firm. 
16...…. Ganga is … sacred river of … India. 
17...… Hindustan times has … widest circulation among all … newspapers in … northern India. 
18...… more you read, … more you know. 
19...… sun rises in … east and sets in … west. 
20.Only … rich can afford … comforts of … modern times. 

 REMEMBER :- 

We use the Indefinite Article a / an ‘when we don’t know which one’ because the thing or person is one of many. 

‘a’ is used before a singular common noun beginning with a consonant sound. .g. a major media event, a double amputee, a biscuit a day. However, we use ‘an’ before words such as : an hour, an honest man, an M.P., an H.B. Pencil 

Do you know the reason ? All these words have a consonant letter in the initial position, but when we say them or pronounce them, we start with a vowel sound. In short, since these words begin with vowel sound, we use ‘an’ before them. There are many such words in English, Working in pairs / groups, list out as many words as possible. 

‘an’ is used before a singular common noun beginning with a vowel sound 

e.g. an ice-cave, an expedition, an interesting story. 

However, we use ‘a’ before words such as : a university,  a union,  a European 

Do you know the reason ? 

These words begin with a consonant sound and therefore we use ‘a’ before them. 

Working in pairs / groups, list out more such examples. 

Now, with the help of your teacher, learn about the use of the Definite Article ‘the’ with the expression in Set ‘B’ and complete the gaps with ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’ in the following sentences, wherever necessary. 

EXERCISE 

1.We celebrate our Independence Day on ….. fifteenth of …..August. 
2...… highest range of mountain in ….. world is ….. Himalayas. 
.3...…. Taj Mahal attracts …..  lot of tourists every year. 
4...….. Ganga is ….. holy river but it is not in ….. Maharashtra. 
5..The distance from ….. sun to …. earth is 149.6 million kilometres. 
6.Yesterday, I saw ….. European riding on ….. elephant. 
7..Driving ….. boat is not ….. same as driving ….. car. 

            8. Woman’s Organization raised ….. same problem again.

*Omission of Articles*
I go to college. 

Do you know the meaning of this sentence ? 

Yes, it means going to college for learning. You notice that, here, the Definite Article ‘the’ is not used before the noun ‘College’.

Now read the other sentence : 

M father came to the college to meet the Principal. 

You can notice that the Definite Article ‘the’ is used here before the noun ‘college’. Father’s visit to the college is not for learning, but for meeting the Principal. 

 REMEMBER :- 

Place such as school, college, university, church, hospital, bed, court, prison, market etc. do not carry the Definite Article ‘the’ before them if they are visited for the purpose for which they are meant i.e. (their primary purpose). Otherwise, the Definite Article ‘the’ is used before them. In that case, the reference is merely to the building, place etc. 

 Fill in the blanks with the definite article ‘the’ where you think it is necessary and put an ‘x’ where it is not necessary. 

1.He goes to ….. church for offering prayers. 
2.My mother has gone to ….. hospital to visit a sick relative. 
3.I feel tired, as I went to ….. bed late last night. 
4.I went to ….. church to see the carvings. 
5.The stranger went to ….. school to complain about the behaviour of one of the pupils. 
6.He was found guilty of theft and sent to ….. prison for six months. 
7.If you are seriously ill, you will have to go to ….. hospital. 
8. Ravi walked up to … Principal’s cabin. 
9.Ahmed lives in ….. small town. 
10.Can I use your … cell phone ? 
11.Who’s …. woman in your office ? 
12.I need …. English-Marathi dictionary. 

 

Activities Prepared by:

Tushar Jaisinha Bagwe.

K.J.SOMAIYA COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND COMMERECE VIDYAVIHAR EAST

MUMBAI - 77

E MAIL ID : tushar@somaiya.edu