Definite and Indefinite Articles

In English, A, An and The are known as Articles. They are mainly used before any noun just to modify it. Originally they are Demonstrative adjectives.

A, An are the weakened forms  of ‘one’ & The is the weakened form of ‘that.’

• ‘The‘ is called the definite articles, because it refers to some definite or particular thing or person.
• ‘A’ and ‘An’ are called indefinite articles because they do not signify any particular person or thing.
• A singular common noun generally takes an article before it. Thus instead of saying ‘cow’, we should say ‘a cow’ or ‘the cow’.

Rules to use of article ‘A’

• Before a word beginning with a consonant ; such as : a car , a story, a tree etc.
• ‘o’ having the sound of ‘owa’ as in ‘one’; as- a one-eyed man etc.
• Before the Words beginning with a vowel sounding ‘yu’ ; as- a unit, a university etc.
• To denote a class; such as: A cow is a four footed animal.

 Rules to use of article ‘An’

• Before a word beginning with a vowel; such as : an egg, an ant etc.
• Words beginning with a silent ‘h’; such as an hour, an heir etc.
• Words starting with consonant having vowel sounds at the beginning; as– an MP, an MBA etc.

             Rules to use of article ‘the’

• Before the names of seas, oceans – e.g; the Atlantic, the Arabian sea etc.
• Just before the name of rivers –e.g; the Ganga, the Tapi etc.
• The names of groups of islands- e.g; the Andamans , the west indies etc.
• Before the name of any holy books – e.g; the Vedas, the Ramayana
• The name of gulfs ; e.g; the Gulf of Mexico etc.
• The name of mountain ranges – e.g; the Himalayas , the Vindhyas etc.
• The names of noted places and important events – e.g; the Tajmahal ,the French Revolution etc.
• Before the dates of months ; e.g; the 15^th march
• the name of any musical instrument- e.g; the flute, the drum etc
• Before any superlative degree of word – e.g; the strongest, the smallest etc.
• Proper nouns denoting persons or things of a similar nature – e.g; Srinagar are the Venice of the east.
• Adjectives denoting an abstract idea; e.g; Check the beast in you.(the beast means beastly nature)
• Nouns denoting any profession; e.g; My father has joined the Bar. (He has become a lawyer.)
• When a proper noun is preceded by any qualifying word ; e.g; The great Akbar died long ago.
• If the compass direction follows a preposition or if it designates a definite region, use the definite article the.

         E.g; Look to the north and you will see the lake.

         The North is cooler than the South.

• ‘The’ is used to mention a noun for the second time in a statement: such as, There was a king. The king was very kind.
• An ordinal number written in letters; e.g; Somesh is the 5^th boy in his class.
• Before some countries e.g; the USA, the Congo, the Netherlands the Sudan etc.
• Before the name of Hotel, newspaper, ship,Museums etc.

No Article is used:

1. Before Proper, Material, Abstract nouns- e.g; Shivaji was a brave king, Truthfulness is a great virtue, Gold is a precious metal.
2. Before common noun in pairs. Such as I have no brother and sister.
3. Before a common noun denoting title, rank etc. e.g; Queen Victoria,
4. Before the names of diseases ; as fever, smallpox et.
5. Before the name of any language e.g; He knows English as well as French.
6. Before any continents e.g; Asia, Europe
7. Before meals – e.g; -I like breakfast

Examples of uses of definite and indefinite articles

• He has gone into _ Church.
• He has lost _ book that I gave him.
• He is _M.A but I am _B.A.
• I need _ kilogram of salt.
• That is one of _ best book in _ English language.
• Please pass me _ note book.
• I want _ envelop to send _ document.
• _ Social network we use most often is facebook.
• Our neighbor hates _ dog because he barks _ lot at night.
• Yesterday, _ strange man came in front of our door.

Ans:

1. the 2.the 3. An,a 4.a  5.the,the  6.the  7. An, the 8 . the 9. The ,a 10.a