Articles

Topic - 8

ARTICLES

INTRODUCTION

Articles are a subclass of determiners, which determine' or 'specify’the nouns that follow. The words used as articles in English are a / an and the.

'à' or ‘an' is called the indefinite article. ‘The' is called the definite article.

The indefinite article (a/an) refers to a noun in a general way without making it definite or particular. In the sentence Give me a knife, a knife' means ‘any knife’, not a particular knife.

The definite article (the) makes the noun definite or particular. In the sentence Give me the knife I bought yesterday, the speaker means a particular knife, the knife he bought yesterday. 

Indefinite Article (a/an)

The form a is used before a consonant sound.

The form an is used before a vowel sound.

Note: The use of a' or 'an' depends on the sound of the letter or letters at the beginning of the next word, not the spelling. 

Definite Article (the)

1. The may be used before any noun, singular or plural, countable or uncountable.

2. When an uncountable noun is used for a general statement, 'the cannot be used before it.

She loves music /poetry. 

Water is precious. 

Milk is good for children. 

Gold is a valuable metal.

3. When an uncountable noun is followed by a phrase or clause describing it, we can use the’ before it.

She loves the poetry of Shelley. 

The water in this pond is dirty. 

The milk we bought yesterday was bad. 

How many of you like the music of Beethoven?

4. Perhabs the most important function of 'the’ is to make a noun definite or particular.

This is the bag I bought yesterday.

I saw a man and a woman waiting there. The man was tall and thin, but the woman was short and fat.

5. "The'before plural nouns makes them definite or particular.

I saw some cows. The cows were eating grass.

6. But the' cannot be used in a general statement.

Cows (NOT The cows) eat grass. 

Monkeys (NOT The monkeys) live in hot countries.

7. We use 'the' when someone or something is known to both the speaker and the hearer.

She's in the kitchen/ the garden. 

When did he go to the park/the post office? 

Please close the door.

Other familiar objects and people with 'the’:

8. Name of inventions and musical instruments take ‘the'.

'The' is not used before ‘television' except when it means 'a television set’. 

She watches television every evening. 

She turned off the television (television set) when the phone rang.

9. Adjectives like young, elderly, rich, poor, wicked, disabled, wounded, etc become nouns when 'the' is used before them.

These nouns are usually plural. 

Certain books and films have a special appeal to the young. 

Are the rich happier than the poor? 

All the wounded were admitted to a local hospital.

10. 'The' comparative can show that two things increasel decrease in the same proportion.

The more he earns, the more he spends. 

The more I study, the less I remember.

11. 'The' is commonly used before superlatives and ordinal numbers.

It was the most interesting item.

He was the best actor. 

Annie was born on the twenty-first of May.

12. The following categories of nouns usually take ‘the’. 

a. Plural place names :

the United States of America (the USA), the Netherlands

b. Some other names:

the Pentagon, the Vatican, the Far East, the Middle East

c. Names of lakes, rivers, canals, seas, groups of islands, mountain ranges and deserts:

the Ganga, (River), the Atlantic (Ocean), the Mediterranean (Sea), the West Indies, the Alps, the Himalayas (but Everest or Mount Everest), the Western Ghats, the Sahara (Desert)

d. Names of ships and trains:

the Titanic, the Island Express

e. Names of newspapers and sacred books:

The Hindu, The New Indian Express, the Bible, the Koran, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata

f. Names of theatres, restaurants, public institutions, associations, peoples and families: 

the Globe (Theatre), the Ambassador Hotel, the Lok Sabha (but Parliament), the British Museum, the European Union, the English, the Gandhis

Practice Exercises

I. Use 'a', 'an' or 'the' where necessary.

1. _________ sky is blue.

2. _________ sun shines by day.

3. _________ birds are singing 

4. She's gone to _________ park.

5. Tom is _________ player in our team. 

6. There's _________ letter for you.

7. _________ postman usually comes at noon. 

8. This is _________ boy who won _________ first prize. 

9. This is _________ oldest building in our village. 

10. I like _________ furniture in your drawing room.

11. Mother is in _________ kitchen.

12. This is _________ BBC programme; it is _________ interesting one.

13. This was ________ cheapest bag I could find there.

14. Do you like ______ calculator I gave you? 

15. He's working in ______ garden.

16. ______ elderly need love and care. 

17. Are you going to ___ post office? I need ___ envelope and ___ M.O. form.

18. ______ teacher taught ______ subject very well. 

19. He bought _______T-shirt from ______ textile shop in ______ city.

20. We spent _______ quarter of _______ hour at _______ library.

21. Copper is _______ useful metal. 

22. He is not _______ honourable man. 

23. __________able man has not always a distinguished look. 

24. ________ reindeer is a native of Norway. 

25. Honest men speak _______ truth.

26. Rustum is _______ young Parsee.

27. Do you see ________blue sky? 

28. Varanasi is _______ holy city. 

29. Aladdin had _______ wonderful lamp. 

30. The world is _______ happy place. 

31. He returned after _________ hour.

32. _______ school will shortly close for the Puja holidays.

33. _______ sun shines brightly. 

34. I first met him _________ year ago. 

35. Yesterday _______ European called at my office. 

36. Sanskrit is _______ difficult language.

37. _______ Ganga is _______ sacred river. 

38. _______ lion is _______ king of beasts. 

39. You are _______ fool to say that. 

40. French is _______ easy language.

41. Who is _______ girl sitting there? 

42. Which is _______ longest river in India? 

43. Rama has come without _______ umbrella. 

44. Mumbai is _______ very costly place to live in. 

45. She is _______ untidy girl. 

46. The children found _______ egg in the nest. 

47. I bought ___ horse, _______ox, and ___buffalo. 

48. If you see him, give him _______ message. 

49. English is _______ language of ___ people of England. 

50. The guide knows _______ way.

II. Insert articles where necessary.

Example

He's got camera. Camera is new. 

He's got a camera. The camera is new.

1. Is there bank near here?

2. Where's nearest hotel?

3. Torch I bought yesterday is missing.

4. Man who helped us is waiting there.

5. There are twelve months in year.

6. Are rich always happy?

7. Who invented telephone?

8. This is computer we bought last week.

9. Chennai is capital of Tamil Nadu.

10. I'd like to see principal.

11. Office is on third floor of building.

12. There's interesting programme on television tonight.

13. Do you watch television or listen to radio?

14. He's only friend I have in place.

15. Ganga is holy river.

16. Everest is highest peak in world.

17. I bought new dictionary last week. Dictionary is very useful.

18. Write your address in top right-hand corner of paper.

19. “Where's your sister?” “She's in kitchen making coffee.

20. Ramayana and Mahabharata are greatest Indian epics.

21. Brutus is honourable man.

22. Her knowledge of medicine had been acquired under aged Jewess.

23. Sun rises in east.

24. The brave soldier lost arm in battle.

25. The doctor says it is hopeless case.

26. I like to live in open air.

27. Get pound of sugar from nearest grocer.

28. Set back clock; it is hour too fast.

29. The poor woman has not rupee.

30. You must take care.

31. Eskimos make houses of snow and ice.

32. Where did you buy umbrella?

33. Have you never seen elephant?

34. Draw map of India.

35. Do not look gift horse in mouth.

36. Have you told him about accident?

37. Tagore was great poet.

38. How blue sky looks!

39. Who wishes to take walk with me?

40. What beautiful scene this is!

41. The musician was old Mussalman.

42. The river was spanned by iron bridge.

43. Moon did not rise till after ten.

44. Like true sportsmen they would give enemy fair play.

45. They never fail who die in great cause.

46. There is nothing like staying at home for comfort.

47. He likes to picture himself as original thinker.

48. It is never thankful office to offer advice.

49. Umbrella is of no avail against thunderstorm.

50. I have not seen him since he was child.

III. Complete the following text by inserting a/an/the in each gap.

Giorio Stabile, (1) ________ professor of history at La Sapienza University in Rome, has demonstrated that (2) _______ @sign, now used in email addresses, was actually invented 500 years ago. Professor Stabile has shown that (3) _______ @, now (4) _________. symbol of (5) ________ internet, was first used by Italian merchants during (6) _______ sixteenth century.

He claims that it originally represented (7) ________ unit of volume, based on (8) _______ large jars used to carry liquids in (9) ________ ancient Mediterranean world. He has found (10) _______ first example of its use in (11) _______ letter written in 1546 by (12) _______ merchant from Florence. (13) ________ letter, which was sent to Rome, announces (14) _______ arrival in Spain of ships carrying gold from South America.

(15) ________ professor argues that (16) _______ @sign derives from (17) _______ special script used by these merchants, which was developed in (18) _______ sixteenth century. According to him, (19) ________ _loop around (20) _________'a' is typical of that style. He found (21) _________ evidence while researching (22) ________ visual history of (23) ________ twentieth century.