Chapter 3- Article

ARTICLE

A, an and the are called Article. Article are of two types:

• Indefinite Article(a, an)
• Definite Article(the)

IMPORTANT RULES

1- An is used before a word, beginning with a vowel sound.

Incorrect: The English were a enemy of the French.

Correct: The English were an enemy of the French.

2- A is used before a word, beginning with a consonant sound.

Incorrect: An girl is waiting for me.

Correct: A girl is waiting for me.

3- Use of A/An

• A/An is used before indefinite singular countable nouns.
• A/An is used before singular countable nouns which means that can be counted.
• A/An is used in exclamatory sentences. A/An is used after ‘what’ and ‘how’.
• A/An is used in the sense of each, every and per.
• A/An is used in the original numerical sense of one.
• A/An is used in the vague sense of a certain.
• A/An is used to make a common noun of a proper noun.
• A is used with the few words that denote the number of countable nouns such as ‘hundred’, ‘thousand’, ‘dozen’, ‘couple’, ‘million’, etc.
• A is used before fractions and half/fractions.
• A/An is used when a verb is used as a noun. It takes article a/an before it. 

4- Use of ‘The’

• ‘The’ is used before definite nouns that are pointed out.
• When a person or place is mentioned in a sentence for comparative purpose, ‘the’ comes before the proper noun.
• ‘The’ comes before the names of a few places like ‘the great Britain’, ‘the Hague’, etc.
• ‘The’ does not come with the names of states. 

Exception* – ‘the Punjab’.

• ‘The’ is not used with the names of the countries, however, if Union, Kingdom, Republic, United, etc comes with the names of the countries, ‘the’ is used. Eg: The U.S.A, The French Republic, The United Kingdoms, etc.
• ‘The’ comes before the names of mountain ranges. Eg: The Himalayas, the Alps, etc.

 NOTE– ‘Aravali’ is not a mountain range. Hence, ‘the’ doesn’t come before it.

• ‘The’ doesn’t come before the names of mountain peaks. Eg: Mt. Everest, Mt. Abu, etc.
• ‘The’ comes before ‘nationality’ but not with the names of any ‘language’.

 Eg: The English defeated the French.

 Eg:The English speak English.

• The article does not come before the name of any disease. 

Exception*–  The Mumps, The Measles, The Plague, The Flu, The Rickets.

• ‘The’ comes before space only when it means ‘room’

Eg: He tried to park his van but space was not enough. (Incorrect)

Eg: He tried to park his van but the space was not enough. (Correct)

• ‘The’ is used before the directions like ‘the East’, ‘the West’, etc.
• The article does not come before Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western as they are adjectives and will not take any article unless followed by a suitable noun.
• ‘The’ is used before the names of holy books like ‘The Gita’, The Bible’, etc.
• ‘The’ is used before the names of movements like ‘The Quit India Movement’, ‘The Swadeshi Movement, etc.
• ‘Articles’ are used before the names of posts.

‘The’ is used with the following proper nouns:

• Names of Rivers– The Ganga, The Ravi, etc.
• Names of Seas– The Arabian sea, The Caribbean sea, etc.
• Names of Hotels– The Lalit, The Taj Hotel, etc
• Names of Planets– The Earth, The Venus, The Mars, etc.
• Dates– 10th of June, 16th of July, etc.
• Army/Police– The Army, The police, etc.
• Names of Trophies/Cups– The World Cup, The Ranji Trophy, etc.
• Names of Inventions– The Electric bulb, The telephone, etc.
• Names of Union– The U.N, The Soviet Union, etc.
• Names of Oceans– The Indian Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, etc.
• Names of Bays– The bay of Bengal, etc.
• Names of Deserts– The Thar, The Sahara, etc.
• Names of Canals– The Suez Canal, The Panama Canal, etc.
• Names of Newspapers– The Times of India, The Hindu, etc.
• Names of Musical Instruments– The Guitar, The Tabla, The Flute, etc.
• Names of Clubs– The Lions Club, The Tigers Club, etc.
• Names of Dynasties– The Marathas, The Peshwas, etc.
• Names of Religion– The Hindus, The Muslims, The Sikhs, etc.
• Names of Statutes/Acts– The Executive, The legislature, The IPC, etc.
• Names of Airways/Trains– The Spicejet, The Jet Airways, The Rajdhani Express, etc.
• Names of Political Parties– The BJP, The Congress, The AAP, etc.
• Names of Era/Wars/Revolutions– The Middle age, The French Revolution, The World War, etc.
• Names of things that are Unique– The Sun, The Universe, The Environment, etc.

5- With some of the phrases A/An is used:

In a fix, a short while ago, at a loss, take a fancy to,  take an interest in, a pity, tell a lie, take a liking, make a noise, keep a secret, make a foot, as a rule, at a stone’s throw, in a hurry, in a nutshell, etc.

Eg: Twelve inches make a foot.

Eg: Never tell a lie.

6- With some of the phrases A/An is not used:

To lose heart, to give ear, to set foot, last but not least, to catch fire, in hand, set on fire, to take heart, in danger, by mistake, at home, by bus/car etc.

Eg: Seena’s house was set on fire.

Eg: Ishaan goes to college by bus.

7- If many/ rather/ quite/ such, take a singular noun after them. A/An is used before the noun.

Eg: Many a citizen would welcome such a reform.

Eg: It was such a foolish decision.

8- Omission of A/An

• A/An should not be used before plural nouns.
• Articles are not used before the nouns or in the sentences starting with ‘what kind of’, ‘what type of’, ‘ what variety of’, ‘what sort of’, etc.

Eg: What sort of a man he is! (Incorrect)

Eg: What sort of man he is! (Correct)

• A/An is not used with uncountable nouns like Advice, luggage, news, permission, progress, scenery, knowledge, wine, weather, traffic, music, information, postage, equipment, poetry, hair, business, bread, crockery, wastage, work, money, evidence, breakage, jewellery, stationery, baggage, etc.

Eg: Sohan will buy a furniture today. (Incorrect)

Eg: Sohan will buy furniture today. (Correct)

9- If an object is already known to both the speaker and the listener, ‘The’ is used before it.

Incorrect: Kindly return book that I gave you.

Correct: Kindly return the book that I gave you.

10- If an article comes before a singular common noun, it represents the entire species.

Eg: A dog is a faithful animal.

11- When we talk about a personality present inside a person, the article comes with the name of that personality.

Eg: The judge in him prevailed upon the father and he sentenced his son to death.

12- If schools, colleges, temples are denoted in reference to their primary purpose, the article is not used.

Eg: I go to temple every morning.

13- An article is used if school, college, temple, etc denotes a place or a building and not its primary purpose.

Eg: My house is behind a temple.

14- No article is generally used with abstract nouns. They are uncountable nouns hence A/An cannot be used with them.

Eg: Honesty is the best policy.

NOTE: If nouns are followed by ‘of’ an article precedes the noun.

Article + Noun + of + …..

Eg: The honesty of this girl is liked by all.

15- ‘The’ is often used before a superlative degree. 

Eg: She is the most beautiful girl in the town.

Eg: This is the most useful book needed for competitive exams.

16- ‘The’ is used before the comparative degree when two comparative degrees are shown to be directly or inversely proportional to each other.

Eg: The higher you rise, the greater is the fall.

17- If one out of two is chosen, a comparative degree is used, preceded by ‘the’ and followed by ‘of’.

Eg: He is the stronger of the two wrestlers.

18- If one out of many is chosen, a superlative degree is used, preceded by ‘the’ and followed by ‘of’.

Eg: She is the best of all the players.

19- When ‘The’ is used before adjectives like honest, rich, meek, poor, etc. It denotes the entire class and becomes a plural common noun. Such nouns take plural verbs.

Eg: The honest are always rewarded.

20- When any adjective or a noun qualifies as a proper noun, article ‘the’ is used with the proper noun.

Eg: Ashoka, the great; Napoleon, the warrior, etc.

21- ‘The’ is used before Ordinal numbers(first, second, third, etc). Cardinal numbers(one, two, three, etc) do not take any article before them.

Eg: Chapter two of this book is very easy.

Eg: The second chapter of this book is very difficult.

22- ‘The’ is used before the adjectives ‘same’ and ‘whole’ and after ‘all’ and ‘both’.

Eg: She is the same girl that met me in the park.

Eg: All the girls are dressed beautifully.

23- If so, as, too, how and quite are used before adjectives, A/An is used if the noun that follows the adjective is singular.

Eg: Ronit is not as big a businessman as you think.

Eg: It is too heavy a box for me to carry.

24- If an article is placed just before the 1st subject, it means the person/thing is the same for which two nouns are used. Hence, singular verbs will be used.

Eg: A white and black gown was bought by her.

25- If an article is used before every subject, it refers to different people/things. Hence, plural verbs will be used.

Eg: The director and the producer have come.

26- Articles do not come with the following:

• Names of Games– Hockey, football, Cricket, Swimming, etc
• Names of Days– Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
• Names of Months– June, July, August, September, etc.
• Names of subjects– Maths, Biology, Physics, etc.
• Names of Hobbies– Singing, Dancing, Gardening, etc.
• Names of Roads– Mall road, M.K road. K.K marg, etc.
• Names of Meals– Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, etc.
• Names of Languages– Hindi, Konkani, Marathi, Urdu, etc.
• Before noun complement– appoint, select, make, elect, etc.
• Before ‘Heaven’, ‘Hell’, ‘God’, ‘Parliament’, etc.