Today we will study three very small but important words in English language: a,an and the. We use these words in almost every Sentence that we speak or write. They are known as article.

Articles

An article is a word that is used to point out or refer to a noun.

👩‍🏫Example--->

👉Our neighbour has a dog and a cat.

👉The earth revolves around the sun 🌞.

👉 My uncle gifted an umbrella.

Kinds Of Articles

Articles are of two kinds:

#Indefinite articles

#Definite articles

‌Indefinite articles.    

A and an are called indefinite articles since they donot refer to any particular person or thing.

⚫We use a before a singular (countable) noun that begins with a consonant sound.

Example. a book,. a girl,. a school 

⚫We use 'an' before a singular noun that begins with a Vowel sound.

Example. an elephant, an inkpot, an egg

⭐ Remember

We use a before the following words

a uniform, a university, a European, a unicorn

👉We use a because we find that the opening sound is that of a consonant,Yu even though they begin with a vowel.so we pronounce them as YUniform,YUniversity etc.

👉We use an before words that begin with a silent 'h' as in :

An honest man , an honour, an hour

👉 We use an because we find that the opening sound of these words begin with a vowel sound 'a' and 'au'

A and an goes only with the singular noun.

‌Definite articles:  

The is called definite articles because it indicates something or someone specific.

Examples The Earth, The Sharma, The UK.

Notes 

💁 Article the can be used before singular and plural nouns

Example 

The car under the tree is belongs to me.

💁 Article the can also be used with non count nouns.

 Example 

1.She fell into the water.

2.The milk in the glass is not fresh.

Use of The

We use definite article -The

1. Before a noun only one of its kind

Example. The earth revolves around the sun.

The Moon is very bright tonight.

2. Before superlative adjectives.

Example: Russia is the largest country in the world.

2. It is the oldest temple in the city.

3. Before only one in that place.

Example: We live in a house near the supermarket.

Look at the lady with pink dress , she is my aunt.

4. Before nouns already mentioned.

Example: The cow is sleeping under a tree, the cow is sick

Please give me a pen. The Pen should be blue.

5 Before nouns referring to the class.

Example: The Penguins 🐧 are not found in India🇮🇳.

Life can be hard for the poor.

6. Before the musical instrument.

Example: I am learning the piano🎹.

He plays the tabla very well.

7. Before a system or service

Example I heard it on the radio

 you should tell the doctor 👨‍⚕️.

8. We do not normally use the definite articles before names. 

But we used it before the names of:

👉 the countries that include the words Kingdom States Republic or have plural names, for example, the United Kingdom, the United state ,the Republic of China etc.

👉 geographical features for example the Himalayas, the Atlantic, the Amazon, the Panama canal.

👉 newspapers and some religious books for example The statesman, the Hindustan times, the Bible.

👉 well known buildings or works of art for example the India gate, the mona Lisa.

👉 Organisations for example the United Nations

👉 Hotels and restaurants for example the dominos ,the pizza hut.

👉 Families for example the a

Ambanis, the tatas, the obamas.



Let's practice a little now guys....