Article on English gramar

The words A, An, The are called Articles.
A\An is called the indefinite Article, because it usually leaves
indefinite the person or thing spoken of; as A doctor (any doctor)..
AN
The choice between A & An is determined by sound.
 Before a word beginning with a vowel sound (a,e,i,o,u) An is
used.
EX: An ass, As enemy, An inkpad, An orange, An umbrella, An hour, An MLA,
(It will be noticed that the words hour, honest, heir begin with a vowel sound, as
the initial consonant H is not pronounced.)
 Before words starts with F,H,L,M,N,R,S,X.(vowel sounds)
EX: He is an MLA.
A
Before a word beginning with constant sound A is used, as
EX: A Boy, A women, A horse, A hole…
With vowel letters having constant value.
A University, A union, A European, A ewe, A unicorn (these words
begin with a constant sound that of YU.
With One
A One-rupee note, A one, A one-eyed man (One begins with
consonant sound of W.
In the sense of one:
He could not speak a word to save himself.
With units and rate (per):
 He earns rupees 500 a month
 Give me a meter length of cloth.
In its original numerical sense of one:
 Twelve inches makes a foot
 A word to the wise is sufficient
In exclamatory expressions before singular countable nouns.
 What a pretty girl!
 How sunny a day!
When 2 subjects\articles are thought of as a single unit:
 He was ready with a cup and saucer
 A cigarette is mad of a paper and tobacco.
With a persons name to indicate that the person is perhaps
unknown to the person addressed.
A Mr.Roy is at the door.
In the vague sense of certain:
1) A kishore Kumar (a certain person named kishore Kumar) is
suspected by police.
2) One evening a beggar came to my door.
In the sense of any, to single out an individual as the representative
of a class; as
 A pupil should obey his teacher
 A cow is useful animal
With a special meal (to celebrate something/in someone’s honor)
 I called my friends to a lunch to celebrate my success
 A dinner was arranged to welcome principal
To make a common noun of a proper noun
This man is a second Newton.
THE
The is called definite article, because it normally points out some
particular person or thing as; he saw the doctor; meaning some
particular doctor
The book you want is out of print (which book? The one you want)
When singular noun is meant to represent a whole class;
The cow is useful animal
The horse is a noble animal
Before some proper names:
Oceans and seas, e.g.: The pacific, The Black Sea,
Rivers: The Ganga, The Nile
Canals: The Suez Canal
Deserts: The Sahara,
Groups of Islands: The west Indies
Mountain-Ranges: The Himalayas, The Alps
Before names of certain Books: The Vedas, The puranas, The
Ramayana,
Before names of things unique of their kind; as. The Sun, The Sky,
The Ocean, The Earth,
Before a proper noun when it is qualified with by an adjective or a
defining adjectival clause as
The great Caesar, The immortal Shakespeare.
With superlatives
The darkest cloud has a silver lining
This is the best book of elementary chemistry.
With ordinals
He was the first man to arrive
The ninth chapter of the book is very interesting
Before musical instruments:
He can play the flute
Before an adjective when the noun is understood
The poor are always with us
When we speak of a particular person\thing already referred.
I dislike the follow.
The boy near the taps is my brother.
OMISSION OF THE ARTICLES
Before names of substances and abstract nouns (i.e., uncountable
nouns) used in a general sense as;
 Sugar is bad for your teeth.
 Gold is precious metal
 Honesty is the best policy
Before plural countable nouns:
 Children like chocolates
 Computers are used in many offices
Before most proper nouns, namely names of people (e.g Gopal, Krishna), names
of continents, countries, cities, etc(
Europe, Pakistan, Nagpur), names of individual mountains (Mount
Everest), individual islands, lakes, hills etc.
Before names of meals:
 Dinner is ready.
We can use A when there is an adjective before breakfast, lunch, dinner
We use THE when we specify.
I had a lat lunch today
Before languages:
We are studying English.
Before school, college, university, church, bed, hospital, prison, when
these places are visited or used for their primary purposes;
 I learnt French at school.
 We go to temple on Tuesday
 My uncle is still in hospital.
“The” is used with these words when we refer to them as definite
place, building or object rather than to the normal activity that goes
on there;
 The school is very near my house
 I went to the hospital to see my uncle
Before names of relations, like “father, mother, aunt, uncle”, and also
“cook, nurse”,
 Father has returned
 Cook has given notice.
Before predicative nouns denoting a unique position, i.e., a position
that is normally held at one time by one person only.,
He was elected chairman of the Board.
REPETITION OF ARTICLES
When two or more adjectives qualify the same noun the article is
used before the first adjective only, but when they qualify different
nouns, the article used before each adjective.
 I have a black and white dog
 Means dog is partly black and partly white.
I have a black and a white dog.
Two dogs one black and one white.
COMPARE:
 The secretary and Treasurer is absent.
 The secretary and the Treasurer are absent.
The third and the fourth chapter
The third and fourth chapters.
In expressing a comparison, if two nouns refer to the same
person\thing the article is used before the first noun only;
 He is a better mechanic than clerk
 He is a better poet than novelist.
But if they refer to different persons or things, the articles must be used with
each noun;
He is a better mechanic than a clerk.