Maya Angelou

 On the Pulse of the Morning (excerpt)

by Maya Angelou

articles

What are ‘Articles’ in English?  

• Articles are small but important words in the English language.
• Articles are considered adjectives because they modify or help describe nouns.
• Articles always come before or precede the nouns they describe.

There are only three articles in English: a, an  and the.

There are two types of articles indefinite ‘a’ and ‘an’ and definite ‘the’.

Rules of Using Articles with Examples

Definite article or Indefinite article, each of the articles has different uses in different situations.

Using Indefinite Article: a

i)‘A’ is used before words beginning with a consonant sound.

E.g. A usual, a student, a doctor.

 a university, a union, a European, a ewe, a unicorn, a useful article.

because these words (university, union, etc.) begin with a consonant sound, that of yu.

Similarly we say,

A one-dollar note, such a one, a one-eyed man.

because one begins with the consonant sound of w.

ii) Sometimes indefinite articles are used to indicate the number ‘one’/‘each’/‘per’.

E.g.

• I earned a thousand dollar in that job. (One thousand dollar)
• I have a car. (One car)

iii) Indefinite articles often precede descriptive adjectives.

E.g.

• He is a good boy.
• What a nice car!

iv) ‘A’ sometimes comes before determiners, for example,  a few, a little, a lot of, a most, etc. but in the case of many, a or an - comes after.

E.g.

• I have a few friends coming over.
• There is a little milk in the jar.
• Many a fan welcomed the actor.

When to use “an”

The article ‘an’ should be placed before words that begin with a vowel sound.

The initial sound should be a, e, i, o, or u.

E.g. 

  An hour, an elephant, an actor, an ice-cream.

 Notice that the words hour, honest, heir begin with a vowel sound, as the initial

consonant h is not pronounced

Using A vs. An with Acronyms

A Society of Writers member was quoted in the article.

A S.O.W. member was quoted in the article.

An S.O.W. member was quoted in the article.

Omission of articles

i)Before predicative nouns denoting a unique position, i.e., a position that is normally

held at one time by one person only,

E.g.

He was elected chairman of the Board.

Mr. John became Principal of the College in 1995.

ii) In certain phrases consisting of a transitive verb followed by its object; as,

to catch fire, to take breath, to give battle, to cast anchor, to send word, to bring word, to

give ear, to lay siege, to set sail, to lose heart, to set foot, to leave home, to strike root, to

take offence.

iii)  In certain phrases consisting of a preposition followed by its object; as,

at home, in hand, in debt, by day, by night, at daybreak, at sunrise, at noon, at sunset, at

night, at anchor, at sight, on demand, at interest, on earth, by land, by water, by river, by

train, by steamer, by name, on horseback, on foot, on deck, in jest.

iv) Plural Nouns
    E.g.
Boys like soccer- This sentence is ok because we are talking to boys in general (all boys).

Exception
"The Boys in my school like soccer." - This is ok because we are talking about specific boys (the ones in my school).

v )Uncountable Nouns
E.g.

She has got long hair
Pollution is a problem. - Pollution is an uncountable noun (a mass noun).

Exception

The pollution in my town is a problem." - This is ok because we are talking about a specific location.

"There is some pollution in my town." - This is ok because some tells us about the amount of pollution.

Let’s check it out. Fill in the blanks with suitable articles, if required.

1. _____ idiot

2._____used fork

3.______uncle

4. I want _____ apple from the basket

5. I borrowed ______  pencil from you.

6. I bought ­­­­______umbrella to go out in the rain.

7. Our neighbors have ___ cat and____ dog

8. My mother is _____English teacher. I am____student. When I get home from school, I watch ____programs on TV. That’s  ____-best part of my day.  ____programs I watch are for ____children. I am _____child, so I think they are funny.

I’m ______little excited because it’s _____ Friday. There are ____lot of good shows on TV today. ___ one  I usually watch is at 3:30. It’s about  _____animals. Also, I’m excited today because my mother is making ______ rice for dinner.

Later, after eating dinner and doing my homework, I go to my room and read _______ book for 30 minutes. Then I turn off _____light and go to _____ bed.

Using Definite Article: the

i) ‘The’ is used to indicate a particular person(s) or thing(s) in the case of common nouns. Proper nouns generally do not take an article.

E.g.

• The man is running. (A particular man)
• I saw the boy stealing.
• Where is the pen I gave you last year?
• I gave him a ball, but he lost the ball. (‘a ball’ became ‘the ball’ in the second clause because that ball was not a random ball anymore.)

ii) Sometimes ‘the’ is used to generalize a group/whole class.

E.g.

• The dog is a faithful animal. (Refers to the whole species of dog.)
• The English are industrious. (Refers to the people of England as a nation)
• The honest are respected. (The+adjectives = plural noun)
• The poor are not always dishonest. (The+adjectives = plural noun)

iii)  To particularise a non-count noun ‘the’ is required before it.

Noncount nouns are those which usually cannot be counted. Following are some common examples:

◊ Certain food and drink items: bacon, beef, bread, broccoli, butter, cabbage, candy, cauliflower, celery, cereal, cheese, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn, cream, fish, flour, fruit, ice cream, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water, wine, yogurt, etc.

◊ Certain nonfood substances: air, cement, coal, dirt, gasoline, gold, paper, petroleum, plastic, rain, silver, snow, soap, steel, wood, wool, etc.

◊ Most abstract nouns: advice, anger, beauty, confidence, courage, employment, fun, happiness, health, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, love, poverty, satisfaction, truth, wealth

◊ Areas of study: history, math, biology, etc.

◊ Sports: soccer, football, baseball, hockey, etc.

◊ Languages: Chinese, Spanish, Russian, English, etc.

◊ Other: clothing, equipment, furniture, homework, jewelry, luggage, lumber, machinery, mail, money, news, poetry, pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, work

E.g.

• The water of the Arctic ocean is freezing.
• Please return the money I lent you last year.

iv) ‘The’ is mandatory before a thing which is only one of a kind in the universe.

E.g.

• The moon is shining tonight.
• The earth is revolving around the sun.

 Use of ‘the’ before geographical places

 v)  Using ‘the’ with geographical nouns generally depends on the size and plurality of the things those nouns refer to. ‘The’ is generally used everywhere except some cases. So, it’s better to know those exceptions first.

‘The’ must not precede:

• Names of continents: Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, North America, Antarctica.
• Names of countries: India, Australia, Bolivia, England, France, Spain, etc.
• Names of states, cities, or towns: Los Angeles, Alaska, Sydney, London,
• Names of streets: George street, Albion Street, New town street,
• Names of singular lakes and bays: Lake Carey, Lake Eyre, Lake Hillier, Shark Bay,
• Names of single mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Solitary, Mount Bindo, Mount Fuji, etc.
• Names of single islands: Easter Island, Bare Island, Bird Island, Fatima Island,
• Names of languages: Spanish, Russian, English,  (When ‘the’ precedes these nouns, they refer to the population of those languages.)
• Names of sports: cricket, football, basketball,
• Names of discipline/subject of studies: biology, history, computer science, mathematics,  

Note:

‘The’ is a widely used article in English. Except for the list mentioned above and proper nouns, ‘the’ is used before almost all the nouns which mean something definite/particular. The above list has some opposite factors also. Those factors are explained in the following list:     

‘The’ must precede:

• Names of oceans, gulfs, seas, and rivers: the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Coral Sea, the Timor Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Nile, the Cauvery River, the Darling River, etc.
• Names of countries with united states or islands: the United States of America (the USA), the UK, the UAE, the Philippines, etc.
• Names of great lakes: the Great Lakes, the African Great Lakes
• Names of mountain ranges: the Himalayas, the Alps, the Andes, etc.
• Names of a group of Islands: the West Indies, the Andamans, etc.

Not to Use an English Article (No Article)

1. We usually use no article to talk about things in general. Eg. Milk is good for you.
2. We do not use an article when talking about sports and games. Eg. Lets go and paly basketball.
3. Do not use article before the names of countries unless the name suggests that the country is made up of smaller units or constituent parts.
Use the – the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the Irish Republic… (Kingdom, state, republic and union are nouns, so they need an article.)
4. Do not use article before the name of languages. Eg. We are learning English.
5. Do not use article before the names of meals if they refer to the meals generally, as a part of the daily routine. Eg. He invited his friends for dinner.
6. Do not use article before noun + number. Eg. The laboratory is in room no. 6 on the 3^rd floor.

Let’s Check it out. Fill in the blanks with suitable articles, if required.

1.     Man is  ____mortal.

2.    I am ____ university student.

3.    She goes to temple in  _____mornings.

4.    Kiran is _____ best student in the class.

5.    ___ camel is the ship of the desert.

6.    This book has won ____ Booker prize.

7.    Harishchandra was ____honest king.

8.    I am fond of______ classical music.

9.    I met ____ boy in the store.

10.   Gold is  ____precious metal.

11.   She returned after ____ hour.

12.   There is ___ institution for ____ blind in this city.

13.   One of the students said, “_____ professor is late today.”

14.  Most people in ______ small town belong to ____ club or two. One of __clubs is likely to be _____ social and benevolent organization, such as _______ Rotary or      Business people are likely to belong, also to either ______  club or _____ Lions. Such business people’s organizations may meet as often as once a week in one of ______ private dining rooms of _________ town’s leading hotels for lunch.

15.  Ms. Parrot ____  most famous detective of_21^st century, was born in____  U.K in ____ 

1960s since then, she has been to many countries, including____ Portugal, Singapore and

Australia and  has lived in ___northern hemisphere and_____ southern hemisphere as

well as on _ equator. She has never been to _____ Philippines or______ United states,

but she speaks____ English, French and Portuguese. Like Sherlock Holmes, _____

famous detective, She plays____ violin ,and sometimes practice up to five times___ day.

She also___ only person in____ world to have performed Tchaikovsky’s1812  overture

in one breath on _____ recorder.