Articles

Articles are a part of speech and are used before nouns to define the uses of nouns in a sentence. Articles give some information about the nouns.
There are three articles in English language: a, an, the.

A/An:
These two articles are known as indefinite articles.

Uses of indefinite articles:
• With singular nouns and the first time we refer to a person, animal or thing. E.g. a book, a movie, an incident, etc.
• In the sense of ‘per’. E.g. He earns fifty thousand a month.

Note: Article ‘a’ is used before the words beginning with a consonant sound and the article ‘an’ is used before the words beginning with a vowel sound. To use ‘a’ or ‘an’ we need to identify the sound of the word not the spelling. The word should begin with vowel sound, only then we use ‘an’ otherwise we will use ‘a’. For example, the word ‘hour’ begins with the letter ‘h’, but the sound in its pronunciation is of ‘a’. Hence, the article ‘an’ will be used with it.

The:
Article ‘the’ is known as definite article.

Uses of ‘the’:
• When a particular person or thing or one already referred to (that is, when it is clear from the context which one is meant). E.g. I saw the dog that bit you.
• Something that is unique. E.g. the president, the sun, the moon, etc.
• With the names of rivers, deserts, oceans, mountains, etc. E.g. the Ganga, the Thar Desert, the Pacific Ocean, the Himalayas, etc.
• With superlative degrees. E.g. the biggest house, the toughest chapter, etc.
• With the name of musical instruments. E.g. the guitar, the piano, etc.

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the most suitable option.

1. You look very tired. You need _____ holiday.
a. a
b. an
c. the
d. no article needed

2. It’s _____ nice evening. Let’s go for _____ walk.
a. the, a
b. a, an
c. a, a
d. the, the

3. Can you tell me _____ way to _____ city centre?
a. a, a
b. the, a
c. a, an
d. the, the

4. Leo works at ______ bank. His wife hasn’t got _____ job yet.
a. the, the
b. a, a
c. the, a
d. a, the

5. Leo and Kate have got two children; ____ boy and ____ girl.
a. a, a
b. the, a
c. a, the
d. the, the

6. ______ man that you met in the market is _____ very kind man.
a. A, a
b. The, the
c. The, a
d. A, a

7. Shall we go out for ____ meal? I think, that’s ______ good idea.
a. the, the
b. a, a
c. a, the
d. the, a

8. Would you like to have _____ ride?
a. an
b. the
c. a
d. no article needed

9. ______ man and _____ woman were sitting opposite me.
a. A, the
b. The, the
c. The, a
d. A, a

10. Once there was ______ king. _____ king was very cruel.
a. a, The
b. the, The
c. a, A
d. the, A

Answers