ARTICLES

ENGLISH I (HS 106)

Indian Institute of Technology Mandi

V. Neethi Alexander
SHSS
 WHAT ARE ARTICLES?

• Articles are those parts of the English sentence that allow

us to understand the specificity of a given item

• The articles used in English are

A
AN
THE
 THE SPECIFICS OF ARTICLES (A/AN)

• Words that start with vowel sounds are usually prefixed

with the article “AN”

• Words that start with consonant sounds are usually prefixed

with the article “A”

• Let’s have a few examples from you!

 THE SPECIFICS OF ARTICLES
(A/AN/THE)

• “A”is used to speak about things that are not specific—

only for countable nouns in the singular

• “The” is used to describe a specific item among a group of

similar items
 THE SPECIFICS OF ARTICLES
(A/AN/THE)

• A man and a woman were sitting opposite me. The man

was American, but I think the woman was British.

• When we were on holiday, we stayed at a hotel. Sometimes

we ate at the hotel and sometimes we went to a restaurant.
 SPECIFICS OF “THE”

• We use “the” when we are clear about the specific thing

being talked about:

• Can you turn off the fan please? (= the fan in the
room)
• I took a taxi to the airport. (=the airport in that
specific city/town)
 COMPARE “A” AND “THE”

• “I have to go to the post-office today.” (a specific post-office in the town)

• “Is there a post-office nearby?” (an enquiry about any post-office in the
town)

• “I hate visits to the dentist.” (a specific dentist)

• “My sister is a dentist” (=she is one among many other dentists)

PRACTICE EXERCISE
 REFERENCES

• Murphy, Raymond. English Grammar in Use, (2004)

QUESTIONS?