USE OF ARTICLES

                                                                   

USE OF ARTICLES

Articles are two types:

A)The Indefinite Articles

B)The Definite Articles

A)The Indefinite Articles

The indefinite article is used to mean 'one'.

The following use of indefinite articles:

1)Used to mean any/every/all.

E.g. A cow has four legs(any cow)

       A car must be insured(all car)

2)Used to mean a person like.

E.g. His father is a Hitler(A strict-man like Hitler).

       She feels that she is a Deepika (A beutiful girl like Deepika).

3)Used to mean an unknown person.

E.g. A miss. Marrie John is on the line. She wants to talk to you(An unknown girl whose name is Mss.Marrie John).

4)Used to mean indicate exclamation(To express sudden strong feeling, fear, surprise, terror, anger,        

    happiness).

E.g. What an irresponsible fellow you are!(saying by angrily).

5)Used to mean a noun compliment.

   After 'be form'  a noun is used that noun is called noun compliment.

   i.e. (be form + article + singular noun).

   E.g. She was an Italian.

           I am a lecturer.

6)Used to indicate price, speed and ratio(mean 'per' ).

E.g. Rs.200 a kilo.

       Twice a week.

        100 km an hour.

7)Used with the following words (many, like, such, as)  after these words it is used.

E.g. It is flying like a bird.

       I have warned him many a time. 

8)Used with the following words.

    a lot, a lot of, a couple of, a piece, a piece of, a slice, a slice of, a great many, a great deal of, a number of, a large/great number.

       

Omissions of indefinite articles:

1)With uncountable and plural noun it is not used.

E.g. A Gold is a precious metal. (☓)

       Gold is a precious metal.(✓)

       

       We want an advice from you.(☓)

       We want some advice from you.(✓)

2)With the names of meals and diseases it is not used.

E.g. She is suffering from a  typhoid.(☓)

       She is suffering from typhoid.(✓)

       a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner. (☓)

       breakfast, lunch, dinner.(✓)

3)Before the word mean human being we should not use.

E.g. a man is a social animal.(☓)

       Man is a social animal.(✓)

Some important points to be  rememberd: 

A/An which one and when it it is used?

     'An' is used with a word beginning with vowel and vowel sound. E.g. An egg, a elephant, an actor, an invitation.

     Some words beginning with consonant but having with vowel sound. 

E.g. an FBI, an HCL, an LLB, an MA, an MSC, an MMS, an MLA, an MLC, an MP, an NRI, an NCC.

    'A' is used with a word beginning with  consonant and consonant  sound.

E.g. A banana, a cat, a boy.

    Some words beginning with vowel but not vowel sound.

E.g. A uniform, a unit, a useful, a university, a unique, a universal.(a word pronounsation starts from 'यु').

B)The Definite Article 'The'.

    'The' is pronounced as द( ðə) and दि(ðɪ).

     दि(ðɪ)- pronounced a word before vowel sound.

     द( ðə) pronounced a word before consonant sound.

The definite article used before:

1)Names of the canals, rivers, sea, ocean.

E. g. The Suez, The Godavari, The Bay of Bengal, The Pacific Ocean.

2)Before the names of  ranges of mountains.

The Himalayas

The Eastern Ghats

3)Before the names of group of islands and plural name of a country.

E.g. The Andamans(island)

        The Netherlands (island)

        The USA(United States)

        The U.K.

4)Before the names of the deserts and gulfs

The Sahara, The Arabian Gulf.

5)Before the names of musical instrument.

E.g. The Sitar, The Piano, The harp.

5) Before the names of building and structure with historical important.

E.g. The Tajmahal, The pyramid, The great wall of china.

6) Before the names of inventions.

E.g. The radio, The electric bulb, The telephone.

7) Before the names of designations.

The manager, The principal, The accountant, The principal.

8)Before the names of religious books and holy books.

E.g. The Bible, The Quran, The Upanishad.

9)Before the names of epic and classics.

E.g. The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Bhagvad Gita, The Paradise Lost.

10)Before the names of the trains, ships.

E.g. The Titanic, The Rajadhani Express.

11)Before the names of a part of the body if it is touch.

E.g. She patted me on the head. 

        He was stabbed thrice in the back.

12) Before the names with either of the following two structure.

1)Noun+of+Noun

2) Adjective+Noun

E.g. The Gandhi of America

        The Manchester of India

        The new forest

        The United Nations

13)Before the words when they represent a region.

E.g. The North, The East, The West, The  South.

14)Before an adjective which represent a class.

E.g.The responsibility lies with the educated(educated people).

       Fortune favours the brave(brave people).

       The scheme will benefit the poor(poor people).

15)With the double comparative structure we use 'the'.

E.g. The higher you go, the colder you get.

        The sooner you start, the better it is.

16)Before the comparative which is succeeded by the phrase "of the two".

E.g. The taller of the two girls.

       The elder of the two brothers.

       

17)With the superlative

E.g. The richest family in our village.

       The best book on the Subject.

       The longest river in the world.

       One of the biggest cities in India.

        

By...

S.M.Rachawad.

At Post Nanded.

srachawad370@gmail.com.