Grammar --Articles

Types Of Articles :

1) Indefinite article : 'a '  /  'an' 

    Used before the countable 

singular  common noun

2) Definite article    :  ' the '

'a '  is used before :

1)used before the singular countable common noun beginning with consonant.

Example: a man , a book ,a pen , a one rupee note, a university ,a useful thing, a union, etc.

2) 'an ' is used before:

    '  an ' is used before a singular countable common noun beginning with vowel sounds .

Vowels : 'a', 'e', 'i,' 'o','u'

Example:

an hour, an egg, an apple, an umbrella,an honourable man, etc.

'a' ,'an' is not used before :

1) before plural noun: dogs, books

2) before uncountable noun : 

     advice , information ....

3) before abstract noun :

    beautiful , fear, honesty....

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        ' the ' is used before :

1) The names of unique objects, directions, geographical phenomena, group of nations , nationalities, musical instruments, superlatives,ordinal numbers, holy books, etc.

Examples:

Unique objects: the sun, the earth, the sky, the south pole, etc.

geographical phenomena :

the Indian Ocean, the U.S.A., the Ganges,the  Arabian sea,the Himalayas,etc.

Holy books :

the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Bible, the Geeta, etc.

Superlatives:

the highest,  the tallest, the largest,etc

Religion :

the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Muslims

Musical instruments :

the flute, the harp, the pipe, the guitars,etc.

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        Articles not used in

1) before material nouns : Gold, silver, milk  wheat, etc.

2)before the name of disease: headache, fever,

3) before meal : dinner,lunch, breakfast, etc

4) before the names of  Days,months,seasons: Sunday, June,winter

5) before the names of language or subject names: Marathi,Hindi,History Geography, etc.

6) If the designation comes before the name : king Ram, General Malik, karmaveer Bhaurao  patil,etc.

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Exercise:

1) Long ago , in Japan , there lived ........great prince. He was .....rich and powerful,and his people were good and loyal, yet ..... prince was......... unhappy man.

Ans:a, no article, the , an

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