ARTICLES (A, AN & THE)

An article refers to or points out a noun (a person, thing, place, feeling, an animal or an idea) in a sentence.
There are three articles in English Language which are ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’.

Kinds of Articles
Articles can be divided into two categories.

Indefinite Definite
(‘A’, ‘An’) (‘The’)
 Speaks of a person/thing for the first time  Names of specific publications, buildings and
Ex: I saw a play yesterday. works of art.
Rahul is a boy. Ex: The Ramayana is an epic.
I had an orange for breakfast The Qutab Minar is in New Delhi.
 Indicates one in number. My parents read The Times of India everyday.
Ex: May I have a napkin?  Nouns that speak a class or group of people or
I can lend you an umbrella? things.
 Talks about a thing or person that is not specific, Ex: The society service centre is for the elderly.
that we don’t know, or whose specificity doesn’t The poor are deprived of many facilities.
matter.  Names of nationalities, country names that are
Ex: Let’s watch a movie after lunch. plural or countries with republic, kingdom or
Have an apple if you are hungry. states in their name.
Ex: The United Kingdom consists of a group of
islands.
The Philippines is officially called the Republic of
the Philippines.
The United States of America consists of 50 states.
 The names of hotels, restaurants and
organizations.
Ex: The Taj Palace is an iconic hotel.
The UN promotes international co operation.
The BJP is a political party in India.
 Names of some natural features such as mountain
ranges, seas, canals and chains of islands.
Ex: The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the
world.
The Nile is the largest river in Africa.
The Suez canal stretches 101 miles from the
Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
 Superlatives and ordinal numbers
Ex: Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the
world.
Who is the last person to enter the class?
 Surnames, when used in the plural to talk about a
family group.
Ex: Have you met the Guptas?
The Tondons came for dinner.
 Compass directions, when referring to a specific
location or if it follows a preposition.
Ex: The sun rises in the east.
Jammu lies to the north of Delhi.
 Placement of ‘a’ and ‘an’

‘A’ – It is usually put before the words starting with consonants.

Ex: a boy, a dog, a ball

But there is an exception to the above rule. Sometimes, a word starting with vowel takes ‘a’ before it. This is
because either the first letter has the sound of ‘w’ (just as the sound of ‘w’ in ‘wolf’, ‘won’) and sound of
‘u’.

Ex: A one rupee note (sound of ‘w’)

A union (sound of ‘u’)
A European (sound of ‘u’)

‘An’ – It is usually put before the words starting vowels.

Ex: an umbrella, an elephant, an inkpot

But there is an exception to the above rule. Sometimes, a word starting with consonant takes ‘an’ before it.
This is because the first letter is silent and the next letter is either vowel or has the sound of a vowel.

Ex: An honest man (here ‘h’ is silent)

An hour (here ‘h’ is silent)
An M.A (sound of ‘A’ in ‘M’)

Solved Exercises:
A: Fill in the blanks with suitable indefinite articles.

1. Madhav is an honest man.

2. Iron is a metal.
3. He is studying to be an engineer.
4. Charles Dickens was a great novelist.
5. Do we need to take an umbrella?

B: Complete the passage with a, an or the put a (x) where no article is needed.

The capital of a country is the seat of its government. X New Delhi is the capital of X India. X Paris is the
capital of X France. X Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States of America. Can you name the
capital of X Uganda?

Worksheet
Fill in the blanks with suitable articles. Put a (x) if no article is needed.

1. From _______ March to _____ October, special phenomenon is observed in _____ town of ______
Broome, _______ Australia.
2. As _________ moon rises, its light reflects off ________ mudflats in ________ bay, creating
_______ optical illusion of _______ staircase leading up to ________ moon.
3. __________Broome is ________ beach town in ___________ north-west of ___________Australia.
4. ___________ rhinoceros is __________ endangered species of _________ five species of rhinoceros
on __________ planet, at least two are critically endangered. They are named after ____________
magnificent horn on their nose, which is also why they are hunted. These beautiful ____________
giants love to sleep in ________ shade of trees or wallow in _______ muddy pools. They eat
__________ grass and _________ plants.