ARTICLES
A, AN and THE are articles.
Use of A/An

A and AN are called indefinite articles.
DO’s
 A / An means one. So we can use a /an only with singular countable nouns.
 A is used before singular nouns beginning with consonant sounds (a pen, a
book, a lion, a city) and An is used before nouns beginning with vowel
sounds. (An engine, an umbrella , an hour, an uncle) Please remember, it is
not the spelling but the pronunciation (sound) that decides the article a or an.
For example, an European is incorrect and it will be a European.
 We also use a/an to mean one with some numbers, fractions, money, weights
– e,g, a hundred, a rupee, a litre, a half etc.
DON’T’s
 A/an is not used with plural nouns, or proper nouns.
 A/an cannot be used with uncountable nouns.
Use of The
The is called the definite article.
DO’s
The can be used with all kinds of nouns. We use the
 at the beginning of a noun or a noun phrase which refers to persons,
events, things already mentioned. (e.g. There is a tree. The tree is very
tall.)
 When the person or thing referred to is quite obvious. (e.g. This is the
street I live in. We lost the match. Open the door. Delhi is the capital of
India).
 With superlative degree of adjectives (e.g. The cheapest, the tallest boy,
the most brilliant boy/girl etc.)
 Before the name of rivers, seas, oceans, villages, mountain ranges, groups
of islands, gulfs, canals, deserts, winds. (e.g. the Ganges, the Indian
Ocean, the Kashmir Valley, the Nilgiri Hills, the Andaman and Nicobrar
Islands, the Persian Gulf, the Panama Canal, the Thar Desert, the
Sahara, the monsoon etc.)
 Before singular common nouns and some adjectives (rich poor, blind,
deaf, dumb, injured) to denote the whole class. (e.g. He was a rich man.
The rich are not always happier than the poor; The lion is a fierce
animal; The owl cannot see well in day light).



Before the names of directions when there is a preposition before them.
(e.g. Kanyakumari is in the south of India; Nepal is to the north of India).
Before the names of great books of religion and literature (e.g. The
Ramayana, the Bible, the Quran, the Granth Sahib etc.)
Before the names of hotels, cinemas, theatres, shops ,museums, stadiums.
airports, banks, when they do not begin with a proper name.
Names without proper name
The Taj Palace
The National stadium
The State Bank of India
The Dum Dum



Names with proper names
Ashoka Hotel
Nehru stadium
Vijaya Bank
Indira Gandhi National Airport
Before the names of countries of states which include words like republic,
union, kingdom, states etc. (eg. The United Kingdom, the United States of
America.)
Before family names (eg. The Banerjees, the Raos, the Mishras etc)
Before nationality adjectives (The English, The Dutch, The Indians, The
Americans etc.)
DON’Ts
We do not use any article before names of:
 Proper nouns (Ram, Shyam, Sita, Gita etc.)
 Continents and counties (Asia, America, Russia etc.)
 Mountains: Mr. Everest, Mt. Abut
 Lakes: Dal Lake, Nainital
 Diseases and illnesses: malaria, cancer, flue, typhoid
 Subjects of study and interest: history, music, physics, painting
 Languages: English, Hindi, Tamil
 Games: football, chess, cricket
 Days of the week, months, festivals: Monday, October, Christmas.