- The adjectives A or An and the are generally called articles. They are mostly used as determiners.
Types of Articles:
There are two types of articles --- 'Definite' and 'Indefinite'
- Articles A and an are called indefinite and article the is called definite.
- A or an is called the indefinite article as it indicates the people or things in general sense.
Examples:
a teacher (that is, any teacher) an umbrella (that is, any umbrella)
The is called the definite article, because it points out a particular person or thing.
Examples:
- I saw 'a man' lying on the road. (Anyone, does not matter who)
- A policeman came and took 'the man' to hospital. (Now the same man who is referred to in the previous example.)
Where to use 'a' or 'an'?
The choice between 'a' or 'an' is determined by sound. The article 'a' is used before a
countable noun that begins with a consonant sound, whereas the article 'an' is used before a countable noun that starts with a vowel sound. For example, an orange, an apple, an ink-pot, an ass, an enemy, an umbrella, an hour, an honest man, an heir, an M.A. etc.
(Note: You can easily notice that the words 'hour', 'honest' and 'heir' begin with a vowel sound, as the initial letter 'h' is silent.)
Examples:
- a donkey, a monkey, a ruler, a woman, a yard, a hole, a university, a union, a European, a ewe, a useful person, a unicorn, a B.A. etc. Because the words such as university, union, European, ewe, useful, unicorn, etc. begin with a consonant sound, i.e., /j/ 'य' we use the article 'a' before all these words.
- Likewise, we say: a one-rupee note, a one-eyed person, a one-man show, etc.
(Note: You can notice that in the above phrases 'one' begins with a consonant sound, i.e., /w/. Therefore, we should always use the article 'a' before one.)
The use of 'The'
Ø 'The' + superlative: the tallest, the most beautiful, the most impressive, etc.
Ø 'The' + newspaper: the Kathmandu Post, the times, the Sankhuwasabha Post, etc.
Ø 'The' + musical instruments: the violin, the flute, guitar, etc.
Ø 'The' + single objects: the universe, the earth, the stars, the moon, etc.
Ø 'The' + Religious books: the Ramayan, the Vedas, the Gita, etc.
Ø 'The' + Names of ships: the Mary Celeste, the Titanic, the Queen Mary, etc.
Ø 'The' + Geographical names: the USA, the UK, etc.
Ø 'The' + Names of deserts: the Sahara, the Gobi, the Sahel, the Thar, etc.
Ø 'the' + Names of canals: the Suez canals, the Panama canals, the Gandak Canals
Ø 'The'+ Historic events: the Martyr's Day, the Democracy Day, etc.
Ø 'The' + names of rivers: the Karnali, the Ganges, the Nile, etc.
Ø 'The' + names of seas: the Caribbean Sea, the Dead Sea, the red sea, etc.
Ø 'The' + oceans and Island: The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the isle of Man, etc.
Ø 'The' + mountain ranges: the Himalayas, the Alpes, the Rockies, etc.
Ø 'The' + plural names of families: the Ranas, the Rais, the Tamangs, etc.
Ø 'The' + musical instruments: the piano, the violin, the flute, the guitar, etc.
Ø 'The' + directions: the east, the west, the south, etc.
Ø 'The' + ordinal numbers: the first, the second, the third, the tenth, etc.
Ø 'the' + period of ten years: the twenties, the thirties, the fifties, etc.
No Articles
Proper nouns:
Names of particular persons or places, e.g., Ram, Khandbari, etc.
Abstract nouns: honesty, humanity, etc.
Plural nouns if they are not definite:
'Cows are animals' but 'the cows in the shed are mine'.
Names of languages, games, subjects, days, months, diseases, colours, generally:
She speaks Hindi.
Hari plays football.
My friends are good at Mathes.
He was born in January.
Some of the expressions they do not take articles:
on foot, in place of, on top of, at work, at home, at heart, by sea, on holiday, at night, at first sight, in town, in public, on duty, on strike, by air, on fire, in class, by surprise, dinner, nature, God, etc.
Where to use the definite article 'the'?
The definite article 'the' is normally used:
- Before the musical instruments
The madal The piano The guitar The flute, etc.
- Before the names of newspapers
The Kathmandu Post The Rising Nepal
The Himalayan Times, etc.
- Before plural nouns of countries
The USA The UK The Netherlands, etc.
- Before the names of ships
The Titanic The Mary Celeste, etc.
- Before the parts of day
in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon
- When something is mentioned second time,
He bought a bicycle. The bicycle was made in China.
- Before the names of direction and poles,
The west, thee east, the North pole, the south pole
- Before names of the periods of history,
The Victorian age, The Renaissance, the modern age
- Before names of nationalities / religious/ races/ positions or posts
The Nepalese, the Hindus, the Black, the President
- Before the names of scientific innovations
The computer, the telephone
- Before proper and abstract nouns to make them common
Bal Krishna Sum is the Shakespeare of Nepal.
She is the beauty of the town.
- Before superlatives; the best student, the highest mountain, the most beautiful
- With ordinals; The first, the fifth, etc.
Ø If plural nouns, uncountable nouns are definite, we use the article 'the', if they are not definite, we use no article.
(For example)
Milk is white. The milk in this glass is hot.
Horses are animals. The horses in that stable run fast.
Ø We use no article with proper nouns. If they are compared, we use the article 'the'. For example:
Shakespeare is a great English poet. Balkrishna Sama is 'the' Shakespeare of Nepal.
Ø We use no article with abstract nouns if it is not specified in the context. e.g. Honesty is the best policy.
Ø We generally use no article with the names of languages, subjects, games, days, months, diseases.
· We use no article with these expressions:
by bus, by air, by mistake, at first sight, on foot, on duty, at once, in time etc.
· Before the names of the metals, e.g. Gold is a very expensive metal.
· Before names of seasons
Summer, winter, ………………..
· Before names of relation : father, mother , brother
· Before school, college, university, temple, mosque, church, hospital, when these places are visited for their primary purpose :
He goes to college every day.
She goes to temple every morning.
· If these places are visited for other purposes, the definite article 'the' is used before them as:
He goes to the college to meet is father
- Amrita is ………useful member in our club. (a, an, the)
- This is ……...place which I like to visit most. (a, an, the)
- He plays ……. guitar well. (a, an, the)
- Nile is ……...longest river in the world (a, an, the)
- It is ….one rupee note. (a, an, the)
- That is ………...book I like most. (a, an, the)
- She is ……………...MBBS doctor (a, an, the)
- Mr. Joshi is ……. honorable person. (a, an, the)
- We played ……football yesterday. (a, an, the, no article)
- New Zealand is …...island. (a, an, the)
There is …...ewe beside him, (a, an, the)
John is from ……village. (a, an, the)
Peter is from……USA. (a, an, the)
I like……computer. (a, an, the)
Who invented……telephone? (a, an, the)
She went to……...school as usual. (a, an, the, no article)
They went to………temple to observe its architecture. (a, an, the, no article)
…………milk in the bottle is fresh. (A, An, The)
Don't hate…………. poor. (a, an, the)
……………. honesty is the best policy. (a, an, the, no article)
Ram is ……. Christian. (a, an, the, no article)
Who is …. second person to climb the mountain? (a, an, the, no article)
The hotel is situated by ……...sea. (a, an, the, no article)
It is very hard to gain ……...popularity. (a, an, the, no article)
I waited for ………. hour. (a, an, the, no article)
2 Comments
it's fine
ReplyDeleteThank you sir 😊 for help us study
ReplyDelete