Articles

An article is a word or a letter which is often used before a noun and tells about the certainty of that noun.
There are two types of articles:

Indefinite Article (A/An)
Definite Articles (The)

Articles can be used before noun, but not all nouns are used with articles. Therefore, it becomes necessary to understand the correct usage of articles.

Tips And Tricks

1. Indefinite Articles (A, AN)

Indefinite Articles are used to introduce new concepts (noun phrase) into a discourse. These articles are called indefinite because their usage implies that the thing, which is being referred to is nonspecific.

For Example – He caught a bird. (any bird).

Note: Indefinite articles are generally used before “Countable Singular Nouns”

Usage of ‘A’

1. If the first letter of a countable singular common noun is ‘Consonant’, ‘A’ is used before it.
For Example – (a) Rajeev has bought a new car
(b) I have caught a fish
2. ‘A’ is used with a singular countable common noun when the noun denotes a complete class of
things/Persons/Animals etc.
For Example – A dog has four legs.
In the above sentence, ‘A’ has been used before ‘dog’ because we are talking about a complete class of dogs.
3. ‘A’ is used before a Profession, rank, title, religion, nationality, etc.
For Example – A teacher, A Japanese, A Hindu.
4. ‘A’ is used before singular countable nouns and after ‘what’ and ‘How’, in exclamatory sentences.
For Example – (a) What a beautiful painting!
(b) What a great match it was!
5. ‘A’ is used before an indefinite collective noun.
For Example – A team of cricket players, A bundle of money
6. ‘A’ is used to express the rate.
For Example– Ten rupees a kilo, Fifty words a minute.
Note: we can also use ‘per’ in the place of ‘a’ in the above expressions. Ten Rupees per kilo, Fifty words per minute

7. We use ‘A’ before an adjective, when the adjective is followed by a singular noun.

For Example – (a) Madhuri is a good dancer.

Usage of ‘AN’

1. If the first letter of a countable singular noun is a vowel, then ‘An’ is used before it.

For Example –
(a) He is an astronaut.
(b) He ate an apple.
2. We use ‘An’ before some abbreviations which start with ‘H, L, M, N, F, R, S, X, etc.

For Example–
(a) He is an MLA.
(b) She works for an N.G.O.

Note: We can use ‘an’ in the place of ‘a’ whenever the indefinite article is followed by a noun, which starts with a ‘vowel sound’.

Note: Indefinite articles (‘A’/ ‘An’) Are used on the basis of the ‘initial sound’ of a noun and not on the first letter of the same, because usage of ‘A/An’ depends on the initial sound of the noun and not on its spelling.

For Example – We write ⇒ ‘An honest man’ (not ‘A honest man’)
⇒’An hour ago’, (not ‘a hour ago’)
Similarly, we write: A union. (not ‘an union’)
A European (not ‘an European’)

The Omissions of Indefinite Articles (An/An)

1. Indefinite Articles are not used with a ‘Plural Noun’

For Example – A cars are parked (wrong)
Cars are parked (correct)

2. Indefinite Articles are not used before the name of “meals”, “Sports’, Subjects’, ‘language’, etc.

For Example – (a) Harsh was absent from a dinner (wrong)
Harsh was absent from dinner (correct)

(b) I am playing a Tennis (wrong)
I am playing Tennis (Correct)

2. Definite Articles (The)

Definite Article (the) is used when the noun with which it is used is a particular one, which is identifiable to the listener. It may also be used for a noun that has already been mentioned or is uniquely specified.
For Example – “This is the boy who played cricket.”
In the above sentence, the boy has been specified to be the one ‘Who played cricket’.
Note: Unlike indefinite articles, the definite article can be placed before both singular and plural nouns.

For Example – (a) She called the doctor.
(b) One of the boys is absent.
Uses of Definite Article (The)
1. Definite article (The) is used before a noun if it is followed by a relative pronoun stressly.
For Example – (a) He is the boy who plays Guitar.
(b) She is the girl who plays Tennis.
(c) This is the dog which I bought.

2. Definite article (The) is used before the name of commission, Rivers, Seas, Gulfs, Deserts, Direction, Canals, historical caste, Name of titles and posts, buildings and monuments,
Religious books, Community, Holy Scriptures, etc.

For Example– The Ganga, The Arabian Gulf, The Pacific Ocean, The Mahabharata, The Gita, The Taj Mahal, The Iron Man, The Father of the Nation.

3. ‘The’ is used before an adjective if that adjective is followed by proper noun.
For Ex – Yesterday, I met the great Sachin Tendulkar.

4. ‘The’ is used before common noun whenever it is used as adjective.
For Example – When Sonam saw a hungry girl crying, the mother came in her.

5. ‘The’ is used whenever two proper nouns are compared.
For Example – Prabhu Deva is the Michael Jackson of India.

6. ‘The’ is always used before “Superlative degree”
For Example – (a) Shyam is the fattest boy of his class.
(b) Rahul is the best player of his team.

FAQs

Q. Which Book is best to learn articles?
Ans. Students can learn articels and all the other important topics of english from English Language eBook or English Language Book.

Q. What all exams does it cover?
Ans. Aspirants can prepare for all the SSC exams like CGL, CHSL, CPO and other govt. Exams.

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The omissions of definite Article

1. Definite Article (The) is not used before the name of language and sports.
For Example – (a) The Hindi is our national language. (Wrong)
Hindi is our national language (correct)
(b) The Hockey is my favourite sport. (Wrong)
Hockey is my favourite sport. (Correct)

2. Definite Article is not used before the name of day, month, parts of day.
For Example – (a) The Monday is the first day. (Wrong)
Monday is the first day. (Correct)
(b) The December is the last month. (Wrong)
December is the last month.

3. ‘The’ is not used before the name of meals
For Example – The breakfast was very delicious. (Wrong)
Breakfast was very delicious. (Correct)

4. Definite article (The) is not used before these words.
“Life, money, Pride, God, Love, Society, Parliament, Death” and name of subjects.
For Example – (a) The love is as important as the air we breathe. (Wrong)
Love is as important as the air we breathe (Correct)
(b) The mathematics is an interesting subject (wrong)
Mathematics is an interesting subject. (Correct)
⇒ But, if the words given above are particularised or if the name of the subjects is particularised,
we use definite article before them.
For Example – (a) The love of mother is incomparable. (Correct)
(b) The Mathematics of Priya are good. (Correct)

5. Define article should not be used before these places if we go there for the primary purpose.
“Church, Mosque, Temple, School, College, Court, Prison, Hospital, Library, University, Jail (as accused).”
For Example– (a) I went to the temple to worship. (Wrong)
I went to temple to worship. (Correct)