There are two articles:
I. The Indefinite Article - A/An
II. The Definite Article - The
I.THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE - A/AN
1. The indefinite article is used with a singular countable noun.
The article a is used before a word that begins with a consonant sound while an is used before a word that begins with a vowel sound.
- a pen, a choice, a tall building, an interesting story, an employee, an oak tree
Some words start with a vowel letter (a,e,i,o,u) but have a consonant sound. So, the indefinite article a is used before them:
- a university, a universal rule, a European family
Similarly, there are words which begin with a silent h. In such cases, an is used.
- an hour, an honest man, an honourable teacher, an heir
But if you look at following phrases, the words begin with h and the sound 'h' is pronounced. That is, h is not silent.
- a humble man, a hint, a humorous poem, a historian
An is also used before abbreviations which begin with A, E, F, H, I, L, M, N, O, R, S or X and are pronounced as individual letters.
- an ISI product (Indian Standards Institution), an LLB student, an M.P (but a Member of Parliament), an SBI debit card
But if the abbreviation is said as a word (acronym) and begins with a consonant sound, a is used before it.
- a SAARC country, a NATO member
2. A/An used before a singular countable noun may mean one in some cases.
- He stayed in England for a month. (One month)
- Give me a hundred rupee note please. (One hundred rupee note)
- Can I ask a question? (One question)
3. A/An sometimes means any one of a particular type or thing.
- Is there a good hotel near here? (Any good hotel)
- I am looking for a bungalow. (Any bungalow)
- With an uncountable noun we use 'some' in these situations.
- I need some water.
- We are looking for some space to park our car.
4. A/An is sometimes used to refer to what a person's occupation is, was or will be.
- Sam was an accountant during the period 2001-2003.
- He is a software professional now.
- Rima is a lecturer in a university.
II.THE DEFINITE ARTICLE - THE
1. The is used with a noun whose identity is clear to the listener (or the reader) from the context.
- What is the time? (The time now)
- Our laboratory is on the first floor. (The first floor of our college building)
- The weather is nice. (The weather now or today)
- Before you go out of the classroom, turn off all the lights. (Lights of the classroom we are in)
2. The definite article the is also used in some of the following contexts:
(i) before a noun which is unique or one of its kind.
- the North Pole, the Sun, the Pacific, the Arctic
- the Pyramids, the Ganga, the Titanic
(ii) with adjectives to represent a class of people: the rich, the injured, the dead etc.
- Helen Keller was always interested in the blind.
- The injured were immediately taken to hospital.
(iii) with a noun whose identity is part of our knowledge.
- The Chief Minister has promised to provide free primary education to every girl child in the state. (The present Chief Minister of the State)
- The government implemented a scheme to help the poor farmers. (The present government of the state/nation)
(iv) the names of some countries.
- the U.S, the U.K, the Netherlands
(v) before the names of rivers/channels/canals.
- the Mississippi, the British Channel, the Godavari, the Thames, the Indus, the Amazon, the Nile, the Suez Canal
(vi) before the names of holy books
- the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bible
(vii) before the names of inventions
- Who invented the microscope?
- The telescope enables us to see distant stars.
3. The definite article the is used before a superlative adjective. (The largest, the most difficult etc.)
- Vijay is the oldest boy in the class.
- Seema is the most intelligent girl in the college.
4. We also use the definite article the with words like 'middle', 'top', 'end', first', 'next', and 'centre'.
- Aditya was the first to read the book.
- Ashwin walked out of the hall in the middle of the movie.
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