Brief Notes On Articles For Competitive Exams

Articles :

Articles are of two types :

1.Indefinite Articles : A/An

2.Definite Articles : The

If you want to say about ANY item,you should use the article A/An,if you want to say about specific item ,you should use the article THE.

Indefinite Articles :

A : The indefinite article 'a' is used before singular countable nouns that start with a Consonant sound

An : The indefinite article 'an\" is used before singular countable nouns that start with a Vowel sound

Using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word.

-a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog

-an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan

-a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle

-an + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour

-a + nouns starting with a pronounced "h": a horse

Examples :

A : A Bat , A Cat , A Rat , A Jug ,

An : An Apple , An Egg, AN Ink-Bottle , An Orange , An Umbrella

Definite Articles :

The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns.The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group.

Do not use the before:

-names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States

-names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami

-names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St.

-names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes

-names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn

-names of continents (Asia, Europe)

-names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands

Do use the before:

-names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific

-points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole

-geographical areas: the Middle East, the West