Articles

Article

Article is a word which determines a noun if it belongs to a particular group of something or to a general group of something.
Kinds of articles: there are two types of articles
a) Indefinite:    ‘A’ or ‘an’ points to a general person or thing.
b) Definite:    ‘The’ points to a particular person or thing.


    Articles are generally used before noun or adjective + noun. But if the noun is in plural form ‘a/an’ is not used. Only ‘the’ is used before plural nouns to particularize.

A. Use of ‘A’: It is used before a singular common noun starting with a consonant (B,C,D,F,G,H,J,K,L,M,N,P,Q,R,S,T,V,W,X,Y,Z).
Example: My father is a doctor. A boy has come to meet you. A bird is flying. A thing of beauty is joy forever.
There is a book on the table.  All the underlined words are singular common nouns beginning with a consonant. So ‘A’ is used before tem.

B. ‘A’ is used before some vowels that have the sound “yu”.
Example: a ewe, a university, a unicorn, a union, a European, a useful thing, a unit etc.

C. When “O” sounds as in “One”.
Example: A one eyed deer, a one rupee coin, a one man committee etc.

D. Use of ‘An’: it is used before words beginning with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U).
Example: an apple, an ox, an umbrella, an Indian, an eye, an international organization etc.

E. Before a word beginning with a consonant with a vowel sound.
Example: An honest man, an L.L.B, an M.L.A, an heir, an hour, an F.I.R, an S. D. O. etc.

Some special use of A or An:

F. A’ or ‘An’ is used before a noun to qualify a class:
Example: a cow is a very gentle animal. A student must respect a teacher. A man cannot neglect his duty to his country.

G. ‘A’ is used as a preposition:
Example: He earns ten thousand rupees a month. (A month=per month)
Apples are selling rupees twenty five a kilo.

H. ‘A’ or ‘an’ is used sometimes before some proper noun in the sense of a certain.
Example: A Mr. Khan has come to see you.
a. ‘A’ is used in some phrases.
Example: I am in a hurry. He has got a cold.
I. To mean a like: He thinks that he is a James Bond.
J. In an exclamatory sentence: what an idea! What a pity!
K. In sense of one (not number) I gave him a note book. There is a temple in the village.

Use of ‘The’ (It is used before the names of things which is known to both the speaker and the person spoken to)

A. ‘The’ is used before the names of……
The Himalayas, the Alps ………….. Mountain ranges
The Ganges, the Indian Ocean ………………..Rivers, oceans
The Andamans, the West Indies………………group of islands
The Times, the Telegraph………………….news papers
The Gita, the Bible, the Quran………………………holy books,
The Sahara, the Thor…………………………………….names of desert
The tajmahal, the French revolution, the Sepoy mutiny, the Fast world war………….historical events and building
The national Library, the great Eastern Hotel, the Public store, the Oriental Club, the High Court, the Red Fort……………….shops, hotel, restaurants, clubs, cinema halls, noted public places etc
The Rajdhani Express, the Koniska…………………………. Trains, ships, planes
The G.T. Road, the GrandTrank Road, the B.S. Road………. Names of Road, but not before street or avenue,
The headache, the toothache, the mumps, the measles, the gout the agni………. Before such diseases,
The Punjub, the Deccan…………..places of Historical importance
The United States of America, the United Kingdom, the U.A. E………………the name of union country
The dog, the tiger, the tree………….. Singular common nouns to represent a whole class.
The sun, the moon, the earth, the sky………….. The things of which only one exists
The north, the south, the west, the east…………..when used as nouns.
There are many forests in the north of India. But, go north (adverb).
The Hague (capital of the Netherlands), the Bronx (a city in New York) exceptional case.
The British, the Bengalees, the Adhivasis, the Negros, the Hindus, the Muslims……….. Race, nation or religion.
The Bharat Ratna, the Noble Prize, the Pulitzar Prize……………….names of prizes and awards.
The 5th September, the 23rd January…………. Date


B. Before the names of persons and things already mentioned.
Example: A man came to me yesterday. The man told me this.
I have found the book which I lost.
I enjoyed the movie. (It was already mentioned)

C. Before the names of proper adjectives to qualify the whole or a single thing.
Example: The Indian, the French, the English, the British etc.
The Shakespearean drama, the Petrarchan sonnet etc.

D. Before an adjective to qualify the whole class.
Example: The poor= all the poor people, the rich= all the rich people, the brave= all the brave people, the sick, the def, the blind, the coward, the old, the unemployed, the handicapped.
Some nationality words ending in sh, ch, ese, take definite article to for plural expressions.
Example: The French (French people) are fond of music. The British/ the English (English people) have a long history. The Japanese, the Chinese, the Irish, the Ditch etc.  Without ‘The’ English and French mean language.

C.      Before superlative degree of adjectives.
Example: He is the best boy in the class. Pine is the tallest tree in the forest. This is one of the most beautiful places.
In structure like (the + comparative + the + comparative).
Example: The more we get, the more we want. The higher you o, the cooler you feel. The earlier is the better. The older we grow, the wiser we become.

In comparison between the two.
Example: This is the better of the two books. He is the taller of the two boys. This is the more interesting of the two stories.
The + Adjective to qualify a particular part of things.
Example: I do not like the yellow of an egg. He only ate the red of the watermelon.

The + Adjective or adjective phrase.
Example: Alexander the Great. The immortal Kalidas. The man with red cap. The girl in blue.
The + common noun to qualify an abstract idea.
Example: The mother (motherly feelings) in her rose to see the child. The beast (animal nature) grew in him while killed the man. The father in the stranger saved the boy.

The + Proper noun, Material noun or Abstract noun to make them common nouns.
Example: He is the Sachin in our team. Ahammedabad is called the Manchester of India. Kalidas is the Shakespeare of India. The water of the Ganges is holy to the Hindus. The tea of Dergeeling is famous all over the world.

D.     Use of ‘The’ before Ordinal numbers: ………………Example: Edward the second, the first boy, the second edition, George the Fifth etc. But no article is used before Roman notation. Edward ii.
e. Use of ‘The’ before musical instruments………………..Example: He plays the violin. He plays the flute. But he has a violin or flute.
f.     Use of ‘The’ before plural names of families…………………. Example: I have invited the Browns to my birth day. The Boses/the Roys / the Chakrobrties have attended the party.
g.      Use of ‘The’ before names of body parts……………..Example: The ball hit him on the head. The man pulled the cow by the tail. A dog bit him on the leg.
h.      Use of ‘The’ before a noun to give it superlative force…………… He is the singer of the day. Sachin is the man of the match. I have received the student of the year award.
i.      Use of ‘The’ before uncountable  nouns to specify them………… The wisdom of the monk, the skill of Sourav  Ganguly, the knowledge of the priest etc.
j.     Use of ‘The’ before collective noun in plural sense…………  The audience clapped spontaneously.  The clergy are respected by all. The vermin are harmful. The public were moved to see the sight.
k.      Use of ‘The’ before vehicles if not followed by preposition ‘By’………..  I availed the morning train. I ride the bike/ car/ cycle. I went to Kolkata by train.
l.       Use of ‘The’ to mean a character in a drama or cinema……….. Rahul played the king in the drama. Who is the hero/ heroine/ villain in the cinema?
 

 

OMISSION OF ARTICLES

 Articles are not used:
1. Before the names of places or persons except as shown in the examples.
2. Before proper, abstract, and material nouns except when they are particularized.
3. Before common noun in plural form if they are not meant to particularize.
4. Before man in the sense of mankind.
5. Before father, mother, baby, brother, sister, daughter, son, children when they refer to the speaker’s own family.  Ex. Father told me this.
6. Before common noun preceded by possessive noun or pronoun. Ex:……..This is our maid. Her doctor told her to take rest. This is Ram’s pen.
7. Before some diseases like fever, cancer etc.
8. Before school, hospital, home, prison, college, court, market, table, bed, church, temple, university, work (place of work), office (to have a position), town, sea etc. when we think of their use or in general.
9. Before names of Streets, parks, buildings, roads etc consisting of proper name. But Albert Hall, the Thackersey are also used.
10. Before breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper etc.
11. Before complements to the factitive verbs. Ex:  we made him captain. They elected him president.
12. Before languages………. English, Bengali, Hindi,
13. Before names of games……….Football, Tennis, Cricket etc.
14. Before a common in structure of ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’, ‘type of’…………. What sort of book is this?
15. Before names of season, festivals, days, months.
16. Before single mountain, island ………..…Everest, Greenland, Java etc.

Repetition of Articles

When same noun is meant, article is not repeated.
Example: The secretary and headmaster has arrived (Same person). The secretary and the headmaster have arrived (two persons).
He is a better politician than leader.
When different adjectives qualify the same noun then article is not repeated. But if the adjectives qualify different nouns, article is repeated.
Example: He has a black and white dog (Same dog with two colors). He has a black and a white dog (Two dogs with different color).