ARTICLES (A, AN, THE)

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WHAT ARE ARTICLES?

Articles are determiners that come before nouns and tell us whether the noun is:

• General

• Specific

• One among many

There are only three articles:

• A

• An

• The

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PART 1: A AND AN

(Indefinite Articles)

The word "indefinite" means:

We are not talking about a specific person or thing.

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Situation 1

Imagine you enter a room and say:

I saw a cat.

Question:

Which cat?

Nobody knows.

Any cat.

Not specific.

Therefore:

✓ I saw a cat.

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Now suppose later you say:

The cat was sleeping.

Now everyone knows which cat.

Therefore:

✓ The cat was sleeping.

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RULE OF A AND AN

Most teachers teach:

A before consonants

An before vowels

This is incomplete.

The actual rule is:

A and An depend on SOUND, not spelling.

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USE OF A

Use "A" before a consonant sound.

Examples:

✓ a boy

✓ a girl

✓ a pen

✓ a teacher

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Why?

Because the next sound is:

b

g

p

t

All consonant sounds.

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USE OF AN

Use "An" before a vowel sound.

Examples:

✓ an apple

✓ an orange

✓ an elephant

✓ an umbrella

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Because sounds begin with:

a

o

e

u

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MOST IMPORTANT EXCEPTIONS

These are favourite CBSE traps.

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A University

Students write:

❌ an university

Why wrong?

Because university starts with sound:

"Yu"

University

Yu-niversity

"Y" sound is consonant.

Therefore:

✓ a university

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A European

European

Sounds like:

Yu-ropean

Therefore:

✓ a European

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A One-Rupee Coin

One sounds like:

Won

Therefore:

✓ a one-rupee coin

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AN HONEST MAN

Students see H.

They think:

"H is consonant"

Wrong.

The sound is:

Onest

H is silent.

Therefore:

✓ an honest man

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AN HOUR

Hour sounds:

Our

H is silent.

Therefore:

✓ an hour

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AN MBA

MBA sounds:

Em-Bee-Ay

Starts with vowel sound "E"

Therefore:

✓ an MBA

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A UPSC ASPIRANT

UPSC sounds:

Yu-Pee-Ess-See

Starts with "Yu"

Therefore:

✓ a UPSC aspirant

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USES OF A/AN

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Use 1: One Among Many

✓ I saw a dog.

Meaning:

One dog among many dogs.

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Use 2: Profession

✓ He is a teacher.

✓ She is an engineer.

✓ My brother is a doctor.

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Common Error

❌ He is teacher.

✓ He is a teacher.

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Use 3: Meaning "One"

✓ Give me a pen.

Meaning:

One pen.

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Use 4: Exclamatory Sentences

✓ What a beautiful flower!

✓ Such a nice boy!

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WHEN A/AN ARE NOT USED

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Before Plural Nouns

❌ a boys

✓ boys

❌ an apples

✓ apples

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Before Uncountable Nouns

❌ a water

❌ a milk

❌ an information

Correct:

✓ water

✓ milk

✓ information

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PART 2: THE

(Definite Article)

The means:

Specific.

Speaker and listener both know the noun.

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USE 1: Already Mentioned

✓ I bought a book.

✓ The book is interesting.

First mention:

a book

Second mention:

the book

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USE 2: Only One Exists

✓ the Sun

✓ the Moon

✓ the Earth

✓ the sky

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Because only one exists in that context.

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USE 3: Superlative Degree

Always use THE.

✓ the tallest boy

✓ the best player

✓ the most beautiful building

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Common Error

❌ He is best player.

✓ He is the best player.

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USE 4: Ordinal Numbers

✓ the first chapter

✓ the second question

✓ the last boy

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USE 5: Rivers

✓ the Ganga

✓ the Yamuna

✓ the Nile

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Memory Trick:

Almost all rivers take THE.

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USE 6: Seas, Oceans

✓ the Indian Ocean

✓ the Pacific Ocean

✓ the Arabian Sea

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USE 7: Mountain Ranges

✓ the Himalayas

✓ the Alps

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But:

❌ the Mount Everest

✓ Mount Everest

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Rule:

Single mountain → No THE

Mountain range → THE

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USE 8: Newspapers

✓ The Hindu

✓ The Times of India

✓ The Guardian

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USE 9: Holy Books

✓ the Gita

✓ the Quran

✓ the Bible

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USE 10: Musical Instruments

✓ He plays the guitar.

✓ She plays the piano.

✓ He plays the violin.

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CBSE favourite error:

❌ He plays guitar.

✓ He plays the guitar.

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USE 11: Adjectives Representing a Class

✓ the rich

✓ the poor

✓ the blind

Meaning:

poor people

rich people

blind people

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USE 12: Nationalities as Groups

✓ the Indians

✓ the Chinese

✓ the Americans

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ZERO ARTICLE

(No Article)

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Languages

❌ the English

✓ English

❌ the Hindi

✓ Hindi

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Subjects

❌ the Mathematics

✓ Mathematics

❌ the Science

✓ Science

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Games

❌ the cricket

✓ cricket

❌ the football

✓ football

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Meals

❌ the breakfast

✓ breakfast

❌ the lunch

✓ lunch

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Exception:

When specific meal is referred.

✓ The breakfast served at the hotel was delicious.

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Most Countries

✓ India

✓ Japan

✓ China

✓ Nepal

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Not:

❌ the India

❌ the Japan

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Exceptions:

✓ the USA

✓ the UK

✓ the UAE

✓ the Netherlands

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MOST COMMON ERRORS

❌ an university

✓ a university

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❌ a honest man

✓ an honest man

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❌ the Mount Everest

✓ Mount Everest

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❌ He is engineer.

✓ He is an engineer.

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❌ the Mathematics

✓ Mathematics

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❌ I play the cricket.

✓ I play cricket.

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❌ Sun rises in east.

✓ The Sun rises in the east.

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GOLDEN FORMULA FOR STUDENTS

Before any noun, ask three questions:

Question 1

Am I talking about ONE non-specific thing?

→ Use A/AN

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Question 2

Am I talking about a specific thing?

→ Use THE

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Question 3

Am I talking generally about languages, subjects, meals, games, countries?

→ Usually NO ARTICLE

अंग्रेजी आसान होती है बस इसको भार लेकर पढ़ना बंद कर दो _ Alamin Sir