Andhra Pradesh BIEAP AP Inter 1st Year English Study Material Intermediate 1st Year English Grammar Articles Questions and Answers.
AP Intermediate 1st Year English Grammar Articles
‘A’ or ‘an’ and ‘the’ are called articles. Articles function as adjectives hence, they are not included in Parts of Speech. As adjectives, articles always occur before nouns, ‘a’ or ‘an’ are called ‘Indefinite’ articles because they make the noun indefinite. ‘The’ is called ‘Definite’ article because, it is used before a noun makes the noun definite.
E.g. I saw a girl. The girl was in uniform.
(a girl – unknown girl; the girl that specific girl)
The indefinite articles, ‘a’ or ‘an’ occurs before singular nouns only. They do not occur before plural nouns or uncountable nouns, ‘a’ is used before indefinite singular nouns beginning with a consonant sound whereas ‘an’ is used with indefinite singular nouns beginning with a vowel sound.
While dealing with the use of ‘an’ confusion arises between vowel letters and vowel sounds. All the consonant letters usually (unless silent) produce consonant sounds. But all the vowel letters may not produce vowel sounds. At times vowels produce consonant sounds also.
E.g. The letter ‘u’ in ‘an umbrella’ is pronounced with vowel sound. Hence it will take the article ‘an’. Whereas in the word ‘a university,’ the ‘u’ is pronounced with consonant sound and it will take the article ‘a’. Hence, for writing the indefinite articles the sound should be considered rather than the letter.
E.g.
an umbrella, an accident, an Italian, an eel, an egg,
an eight, an eye, an orient fan, an old man, an owl
Similarly sometimes, a singular noun beginning with a consonant may take ‘an,’ if the consonant is silent as in ‘an hour, ‘an heir’, an honorarium etc. in these examples the letter ‘h’ is a silent letter and is pronounced as ‘Our’ with the Vowel Sound. So they take the article ‘an’ rather than ‘a’.
Note : It is important to note that sometimes, the initial sound of a single letter in a word also decides the indefinite article to be used. Look at the following examples.
E.g : an M.A an OMR sheet, an NGO etc.
Note : If an indefinite singular noun is preceded by an adjective, the sound of the
adjective will decide which indefinite article should precede it.
E.g.: I saw a child.
I saw an untidy child.
Use of ‘A/An’
1. When a singular noun is introduced first time,
a. There lived a king.
2. In the sense of ‘One’.
a. Please give me a hundred.
3. In the sense of ‘Any’, a. Give me a pen.
4. To turn proper nouns into common nouns.
a. He thinks he is a Shakespeare, (a great dramatist)
5. Before a name if the speaker is uncertain about, a. A Mr. Murthy has come for you.
6. Before single units to say rate/price, a. 60 Kms an hour.
Use of The
1. When a noun is repeated.
a. There lived a king. The king had a daughter.
2. When the speaker and the listener know it already.
a. Did you read the book ?
3. When a noun represents a race.
a. The cow is a sacred animal for the Hindus.
4. Before Standard Religious Texts.
a. The Bible; The Gita etc.
5. When a noun is followed by a qualifying clause or phrase.
a. The man who is in white pyjamas is my uncle.
6. The + Language = people of the nationality.
a. The French are fashionable.
7. Before musical instruments.
a. He plays the guitar.
8. The + Adjective = People of that quality.
a. The rich hate the poor.
9. Before superlative degrees.
a. Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist in English.
10. Before Comparative Degree when one of the two is spoken about.
a. Jyothi is the taller of the two sisters.
11. When two comparatives are employed to show relativity.
a. The more you talk, the less I understand.
12. Before Church, Temple, College, Hospital, Prison when visited for other purposes.
a. I went to the prison to meet the officials.
13. The’ occurs before the following :
a. Countries with United/Republic in their names,
i. The USA; The Republic of Chile
b. Group of mountains / islands.
i. The Himalayas ; The Andamans
c. Before Deserts and valleys.
i. The Thar; The Silent Valley
d. Before rivers and oceans.
i. The Godavari; The pacific
e. Before Public Places and designations/Titles.
i. The Town Hall; The Head Master
f. Before ordinal numbers and similar adjectives.
i. The second emperor ; The last king
g. Before directions.
i. The North East; The South West
Articles not used
1. Before ‘God’ in the universal sense.
a. God created the world.
2. Before ‘man’ in the sense of ‘humanity’.
a. Man is a social animal.
3. Before sports/games and diseases.
a. I play chess.
b. He died of cancer.
4. Before breakfast, dinner, lunch etc. in the usual sense.
a. I take breakfast at 8. a.m.
5. Before uncountable nouns/Plural nouns used in general sense.
a. Gold is precious.
b. Children are innocent.
6. Before names of people and countries.
a. I met Raju.
b. I love India.
7. Before Languages.
a. English is an international language.
8. Before Church, Temple, College, Hospital, Prison when visited for main purpose,
a. Christians go to church.
Task : Fill in the blanks with articles wherever necessary: (Passage from the Text)
Should you not, instead of your flattery, have taught me somewhat of that point so important to ….1….. king, which is, what …..2….. reciprocal duties are …..3…… of sovereign to his subjects and those of subjects to their sovereigns; and ought not you to have considered that one day I should be obliged with ….4….. sword to dispute my life and my crown with my brothers ? Have you ever taken any care to make me learn what is to
besiege …..5….. town, or to set ….6….. army in array ? For these things I am obliged to others, not at all to you.
Answers:
1. the
2. the
3. a
4. the
5. a
6. an
Exercises 1
Fill in the blanks with ’a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’.
1. Arunima Sinha is …….. first indian amputee to climb Mt. Everest.
Answer:
the
2. I told him …….. thousand times not to repeat the mistake.
Answer:
a
3. Can you find me ……… small house for rent ?
Answer:
a
4. Rohit is ……. IAS officer.
Answer:
an
5. He feels as if he were …….. kalidasa.
Answer:
a
6. …….. police have been informed about the accident.
Answer:
the
7. They sell oil at Rs. 60 ……. litre.
Answer:
a
8. Mummy is in ……. kitchen.
Answer:
the
9. Here is ……. pen you lost yesterday.
Answer:
the
10. …….. Bengal Tiger is on extinction.
Answer:
the
11. Christians believe in ……… Trinity.
Answer:
the
12. Hindus read ……. Gita.
Answer:
the
13. …… lady standing at the Principal’s room is my teacher.
Answer:
the
14. ………. dinner I had at Anand Vihar is very heavy.
Answer:
the
15. Many freedom fighters used English to fight ……… English men.
Answer:
the
16. ……… Japanese are very intelligent.
Answer:
the
17. ……… flute and the tabla make a wonderful combination.
Answer:
the
18. Do you know where I left ……. book.
Answer:
the
19. For me breakfast is ……… best meal of the day.
Answer:
the
20. We skip …….. dinner on Saturdays.
Answer:
the
21. My father came to …….. college to enquire about my performance.
Answer:
the
22. ………. US and England are allies.
Answer:
the
23. The airplane belongs to ……. people’s Republic of China.
Answer:
the
24. ……. Himalayas are in the north of India.
Answer:
the
25. ……… Maldives and the Andamans are in the East.
Answer:
the
26. ……… Rishi valley is in A.P.
Answer:
the
27. ……… Thar desert is also called Great Indian Desert.
Answer:
the
28. ……. AP Govt, has successfully connected both the rivers.
Answer:
the
29. They held …….. meeting in the Central Library.
Answer:
a
30. God created ……… man.
Answer:
the
31. Akbar is ………. second greatest emperor among Mughals.
Answer:
the
32. Babar is ………. first Mughal king in India.
Answer:
the
33. Hockey is ……… interesting game.
Answer:
an
34. ……… higher we go the cooler the weather turns.
Answer:
the
35. This is …… better of the two saries.
Answer:
the
36. Tripura is in ……… North East of India.
Answer:
the
37. One day, they will find medicine for ……. AIDS.
Answer:
the
38. …… apples are good for health.
Answer:
the
39. The apples of Kashmir are ………. best.
Answer:
the
40. Telugu is called ……… Italian of the East.
Answer:
the