Articles

Articles are of two type, definite and indefinite articles.

Articles are demonstrative adjectives.

A, An, The, are called articles..

The is definite article. a and an are indefinite articles.

Use of A

1. Every singular noun which starts with consonants , starts with

a

E.g. a cat, a dog, a pen, a house, a college etc.

2. Every singular noun which starts with E or U starts with a.

E.g. a university, a European, a uniform, a utensil

3. Every singular noun which starts with O but sounds like v

E.g. a one rupee note, a one eyed man, a one way ticket.

Use of An

1. Every singular noun that starts with a vowel and sounds like (a,
e, i, o, u)

E.g. an apple, an egg, an eye, an ear, an inkpot, an orange, an

elephant, an army, and idiot, an American.

2. That singular noun that starts with a consonant but sounds like
a, o, e.

E.g. an MP, an MLA, an S.H.O( s sound like a in starting), an M.A ,

an hour, an honest man, an heir, an hotel ( Because they all
sounds like o in starting) Note: only countable singular noun
take a or an with them.

Uses of The
1. With the name of celestial bodies.

E.g. the sun, the moon, the earth, the starts etc.

2. Before the name of the directions if it is preceded by a

preposition.

E.g. the sun rises in the east and sets in the west

3. Before the name of ships, trains, seas, oceans, canals, lakes,

mountains, islands, dams, deserts.

E.g. The frontier mail, the Arabian sea, the Indian ocean, the
panama canal, the dal lake, the Himalayas, the Andaman, the
bhakra dam, the sahara desert.

4. Before the name of some countries and provinces. E.g. the

USA, the Punjab, the Deccan

5. Before the name of religious books, magazines, newspapers

E.g. the Gita, the Indian express, the Hindustan times, the
Mahabharata

6. Before the name of communities. E.g. the English, the French,

the Hindus.

7. Before the proper noun which is used as common nouns. E.g.

Kalidas is the Shakespeare of India, Kashmir is the Switzerland of
Asia.

8. Before the name of political parties,

E.g. the congress, the Janata dal.

9. Before the name of historic and public places.

E.g. the Taj Mahal, the golden temple, the zoo, the library

10. Before the adjectives which have used as noun.

E.g. the rich, the poor, the brave

11. Before( adjective+ proper noun)

E.g. the little bunny is a shy girl

12. Before the adjectives if it is used before noun.

E.g. Ashoka the great, Akbar the great

13. To make plural of proper nouns. E.g. the Guptas, the mauryas,
the browns

14. Before the big ranks

E.g. the prime minister of India, the president of India, the

principle of school

15. Before the historical events. E.g. the battle of Plassey, the
battle of Panipat, the mutiny of 1857

16. Before cardinal number

E.g. the second girl in the third row is my friend.

17. Before superlative degrees.

E.g. the wisest boy, the most intelligent person

18. Before comparative degree

E.g. She is the wiser of two

19. After all or both , but before whole or same

E.g. All the boys are making noise, both the girls are pretty, the
whole class is absent, their ages are the same.

20. Before the common noun which have been described in the
paragraph before.

E.g. There was a fox. The fox was hungry I know the man who
came yesterday
Which indefinite article should we write in front of the
following words - a or an?

1. __________ chair

2. __________ girl

3. __________ school

4. __________ egg

5. __________ hour

6. __________ apple

7. __________ exam

8. __________ hospital

9. __________ year

10. __________ university

11. __________ address

12. __________ ear

13. __________ sheep

14. __________ tie

15. __________ union

1. a; 2. a; 3. a; 4. an; 5. an; 6. an; 7. an; 8. a; 9.a; 10. a; 11. an; 12.
an; 13. a; 14. a; 15. a

Which indefinite article should we write in front of the

following words - a or an?

1. __________ orange

2. __________ ice cream

3. __________ pencil
4. __________ umbrella

5. __________ shoe

6. __________ number

7. __________ heater

8. __________ interview

9. __________ application form

10. __________ heir

11. __________ computer

12. __________ bag

13. __________ octopus

14. __________ ewe

15. __________ fridge

1. an; 2.an; 3. a; 4. an; 5. a; 6. a; 7. a; 8. an; 9. an; 10. an; 11. a;12.
a; 13. an; 14. a; 15. a

Exercise Choose the appropriate article:

1. This is ____ book that I wanted to read.

a) a b) an c) the

2. She gave me __ one rupee coin.

a) a b) an c) the

3. ___ Bible is a holy book.

a) a b) an c) the

4. The sun rises in ___ east.

a) a b) an c) the
5. She is drinking ___ cup of milk.

a) a b) an c) the

1. Every child jumps with joy at the sight of _________ elephant

i) a ii) an iii) the [Ans: an]
2. He holds ________MA degree in history.
i) a ii) an iii) the [Ans: an]
3. The mobile phone is _________ utility item.
i) A ii) an iii) the [Ans: a]

Questions
1. Every child jumps with joy at the sight of ____ elephant. Ans: an
2. I went to ____ airport to catch a flight to Mumbai. Ans: the
3. She has returned home for ____ moments rest. Ans: a
4. Siva gave _____ one rupee coin to the blind beggar Ans: a
5. Karthik is _____ famous percussionist. Ans: a
6.What _____ amazing model! whispered Hughie. Ans: an

Model Question Papers

1. I have brought you a collection of ________ award winning books
this year. Ans: the
2. This is _________ book that I had been looking for in all the book
shops. Ans: the
3. He holds _________ M.A. Degree in History. Ans: an
4. This is not _________ easiest way to do it. Ans: the
5. The Ganges is _________ important holy river for the Hindus.
Ans: an
6. The mobile phone is __________ utility item. Ans: a

Additional exercises:
1. He saw ___________ one eyed beggar. Ans: a
2. Giraffe is___________ tallest animal . Ans: the
3. Ramu, our servant is ___________ honest person. Ans: an
4. ___________ thing of beauty is a joy forever. Ans: A
5. I am ___________ university graduate. Ans: a
6. Kamala is ___________ idle girl. Ans: an
7. ___________ earth revolves around the sun. Ans: the
8. What ___________ lovely flower ! Ans: a
9. I saw ___________ elephant. Ans: an
10. He switched on ___________ light. Ans: the