Articles

Articles are a part of determiners that are used before nouns to define nouns or give some information about nouns.

Articles are of three types: A, An and The

📙 Article - A/An

• 👉 These two articles are basically used to show the number ‘one’ of something like a chair, an apple, etc.
• 👉 If we have a class of something and we have to choose or pick one/any/each/every from that particular class, we use Article A/An.
• 👉 For example, An apple a day keeps the doctor away. In this sentence an apple ‘refers to any apple and ‘a day’ refers to every day.
• 👉 If I say ‘a student’, I am not referring to any particular student but I am referring to any student from the class ‘student’.
• 👉 ‘A’ is used before the consonant sounds and ‘An’ is used before the vowel sounds. Eg: a boy, a student, an M.P., an honest man, etc.

Note: Usage of A/An has nothing to do with letters of English language. These are used according to the sound with which a word starts.

Rules:

1. A/An is used before singular countable nouns. For example,

   • Twelve inches make a foot.

2. Before a person not known to the speaker. For example,

   • A Mr. Sharma has come to meet you.

3. Before the verbs used as a noun. For example,

   • Have a bath, take a ride, take a walk, etc.

4. ‘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. Few examples,

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

5. Article A/An is not used with uncountable nouns such as advice, accommodation, luggage, information, furniture, equipment, news, hair, etc. For example,

   • I gave him an advice. (remove an)
   • I bought a furniture for my house. (remove a)
   • Exception: There are some uncountable nouns that do not follow the rule given above, such as, noise, lie, etc. Eg: Do not make a noise.

Article – The

*️⃣ ‘The’ is used when a reference is given in the sentence of the noun we are talking about. Eg: This is the book you have given me.

Rules:

1. Before a superlative degree. For example,
   • Chetan is the best player in our team.
2. To show uniqueness, oneness, union or something specific. For example,
   • The Ganga (the river Ganga);
   • The United States of America (America is a union of many states);
   • The Sun (there is only Sun in our solar system);
   • This is the child that was kidnapped the last Sunday.
3. For using a proper noun as a common noun. For example,
   • He is the Virat Kohli of our team.
4. Before adjectives when they represent the whole class. For example,
   • The young should respect the elder.
5. For double comparison. For example,
   • The more you work the better your result will be.
   • The higher you go the lower will be the level of oxygen.
6. To choose one out of two. For example,
   • He is the better of the two brothers.
7. Before common nouns to make them abstract nouns. For example,
   • Let the judge in you decide who is guilty of the crime.
8. Before language to denote nationality. For example,
   • The English defeated the French

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 for 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: 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 re- fer 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 Murray 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.

Practice Questions 🧠

Directions: 💡 Read the sentence to find out whether there is an error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (5). Ignore errors of punctuation, if any.

Question 1:

A hourly rate of Rs.1000 is too much. (1)/ You’re turning education into a business. (2)/ We are supposed to help build these children into world leaders, (3)/ but most of them wouldn’t be able to afford this. (4)/ No error (5)

• A) 1

• B) 2

• C) 3

• D) 4

• E) 5

Correct Option: A

Explanation:

• The error is in (1). An should precede hourly, not A. Hence, Option A is the correct answer.

• ✅ Correct Sentence: “An hourly rate of Rs.1000 is too much. You’re turning education into a business. We are supposed to help build these children into world leaders, but most of them wouldn’t be able to afford this.”

Question 2:

Owing to the emergence of several companies (1)/ such as, the Royal Sundaram, Bajaj Allianz, ICICI Lombard and HDFC in the field of healthcare (2)/, the popularity of health insurance in India(3)/ is on the rise (4)/. No error (5)

• A) 1
• B) 2
• C) 3
• D) 4
• E) 5

Correct Option: B

Explanation:

• No article is used before Proper Nouns, especially before the names of the companies.

• ✅ The correct sentence will be “Owing to the emergence of several companies such as, Royal Sundaram, Bajaj Allianz, ICICI Lombard and HDFC in the field of healthcare, the popularity of health insurance in India is on the rise”.

Question 3:

Finally, poor corporate governance, (1)/ in a form of poor management of conflict of interest, inadequate understanding of key banking risks, (2)/ and poor oversight of the mechanisms for risk management and (3)/ internal audit result in risk management failures and financial instability. (4)/ No error (5)

• A) 1
• B) 2
• C) 3
• D) 4
• E) 5

Correct Option: B

Explanation:

• The article ‘a’ has been incorrectly used in the second part of the sentence. Since it points to a certain form of poor management it should be ’the’.

• ✅ Correct sentence: ‘Finally, poor corporate governance, in the form of poor management of conflict of interest, inadequate understanding of key banking risks, (2) and poor oversight of the mechanisms for risk management and (3) internal audit result in risk management failures and financial instability.’

Question 4:

According to a 2010 Gallup poll, 4.4% of surveyed Mexicans, roughly 6.2 million (1)/ people, say that they would move permanently to the United States if given chance, (2)/ and according to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 37% of (3)/ Mexicans approve of U.S. leadership, with 27% disapproving and 36% uncertain. (4)/ No error (5)

• A) 1
• B) 2
• C) 3
• D) 4
• E) 5

Correct Option: B

Explanation:

The error lies in part 2 of the sentence where the article ’the’ or ‘a’ is needed before the word ‘chance’. Both can fit here. The sentence should read as: ‘…if given a chance’.. or ‘..if given the chance..’

Question 5:

Successive governments of different political (1)/ stripes on either side of the border came to comprehend that our (2)/ two nations played the unique role for each other’s (3)/ well-being that fed into the public narrative regarding the relationship. (4)/ No error (5)

• A) 1
• B) 2
• C) 3
• D) 4
• E) 5

Correct Option: C

Explanation:

• The error lies in part 3 of the sentence where the article ’the’ before the word ‘unique’ is wrong and needs to be replaced with the article ‘a’ to make the sentence correct. It is not something specific but ‘a role’ thus ’the’ is incorrect here. It should read as: ‘..played a unique role for..’

• ✅ Correct sentence: “Successive governments of different political stripes on either side of the border came to comprehend that our two nations played a unique role for each other’s well-being that fed into the public narrative regarding the relationship”