Article

An Article is used to define / modify a noun in a sentence.

There are two kinds of "Article".

1. Indefinite

2. Definite

Indefinite Article  ( A / An )

An indefinite article is used before a singular countable noun which is not unique / specific.
Indefinite article has two members in its family. These are "A" and "An".

Use of Indefinite Article ( A / An )

( It will become easy if you have learnt about "Alphabet" )

Click here to learn "Alphabet"

Use of A

(i). It is used before a noun / thing beginning with a consonant sound.

      e. g. :- a boy, a dog, a beautiful girl, a doctor, a union etc.

Use of An

(i). It is used before a noun / thing beginning with a vowel sound.

      e. g. :- an apple, an honest boy, an umbrella, an idea etc.

Definite Article  ( The )

Definite article is used to indicate a unique / specific noun. Sometimes it refers to a noun that both the speaker and the listener have idea about it.

Definite article has only one member in its family. ( The )

Use of  The

(i).   It is used before the noun that are unique.

        e. g. :- the Sun, the Moon, the Earth

(ii). It is used before the name of a group of mountains , an ocean, a sea, a river, a group of islands and a holy book.
e. g. :- the Himalayas, the Apls, the Indian ocean, the Red sea, the Ganga, the East Indies, the Ramayana, the Quran etc

(iii). It is used before the name of musical instruments.

        e. g. :- the tabla, the xylophone, the shehnai, the flute etc

(iv). It is used before the words in the superlative degree of comparison.
        e. g. :- the best, the highest, the oldest etc

(v). It is used before the name of a historical building.
       e. g. :- the Taj mahal, the Red fort etc 

(vi). It it used before definite person, thing or space.
       e. g. :- This is the book I bought yesterday. 

(vii). It is used to indicate the whole class of a thing.
          e. g. :- The dog is a faithful animal.  (The dog = Dogs) etc

(viii). It is used before an adjective when the noun is understood.

          e. g. :- The rich should help the poor.
          ( The rich = rich men ), ( The poor = poor men ).

(ix). It is used before the name of geographical points on the globe.
         e. g. :- the south pole, the north pole etc

(x). It is used before the name of a news paper.

         e. g. :- the Times of India, the Prabhat Khabar etc

Omission of the Article

(i) No article is used before a Proper Noun.

     e. g. :- The Delhi is the capital of India. —     Incorrect
                 Delhi is the capital of India. —             Correct

(i) No article is used for a noun that is attached with "Possessive Adjective","Numeric Adjective" and "Distributive Adjective".

     e. g. :- my car, your pen etc, each student, every cat, She had one pen,
                  He has three cars etc
                 

(iii) In general no article is used before Uncountable Noun and Plural Noun.

     e. g. :- The Gold is used for making ornaments. — incorrect

                 Gold is used for making ornaments.        — correct 

Article Exercise (MCQ)