COMMON ERRORS OF ARTICLES

      

• Indefinite ( A, An )
• Definite ( The )

Use of An :

1. Vowels is before words begining with (a,e i,o,u ) and other are consonants. i.e  An apple, an egg, an owl.
2. An hour , an honourable man, an honest man.(before word beginning with silent 'h').
3. F, H, L, M, N, R, S, X are letters that are not vowels but begin with vowel sounds e.g 'M' has  the sounds of ' em' . For that reason 'an' is used before abbreviations beginning with vowels or these letters. e.g  an M.L.A, an R.A.F etc.

Use of 'A' :

1.   (i) In the sense of one 

                 e.g. He couldn't speak a work to save himself.

           (ii) With one ( ' one' begins with sounds of 'w') a one -man show, a one rupee note.

     2. A boy, a box, a dog.( before words beginning with consonant sound)

 

     3. With vowel letters having consonant value:

e.g. a university, a unique, a articles, a euphenism, a unit, a European language.( All these begin with consonant sound of 'yu')

     4. With units and rate ( per)

e.g He earns rupee s five hundred a month.

 Rice sells ten rupees a kilo.

     5.  Before  singular countable noun in exclamatory expression

With a pretty girl !

How sunny a day !

 

    6.  When two subjects or article are thought of as a single unit.

He was ready with a cup and saucer.

    7.  With certain expression of quantity :

a dozen, a great deal of, a couple, a lot of.

Use of 'The'

1.  When we speak of particular thing or person 

The boy near the taps is my brother.

I.  When a singular noun represent s a whole class :

Ex. The mango is considered the king among  fruits.

II.  With names of : 

(a) gulfs, river, oceans, islands and mountain s eg the Himalayas, the Indian ocean, the Persian Gulf, the Red sea, the Andaman Islands, the Brahmaputra river.

III.  Certain books :

eg. the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bibel, the Ramacharitmanas.

IV.  Musical instruments :

eg. The flute, the violin, the tabla, the trumpet.

V.  The inventions :

Ex.  The television is a gift of science.

VI.  Parts of body :

Ex.  (i) He was wounded in the leg.

VII.  Religious groups : 

the Sikhs, the Hindus, the Parsers.

VIII.  Names enforcing law : 

the Police, the Navy, the Air Force.

IX.  Political parties : 

The Congress, the Janata Party, the B. J. P

X.  Aeroplanes, ships trains etc

 

XI. Before names of an Empire, dynasty or historical event.

 Eg. The Gupta dynasty, the Old stone age, the first world war

XII.  Clubs, foundations etc.

The Lion's Club, the Ford Foundation

XIII.  Before common nouns denoting unique things:

The Sun, the sky, the earth, the world, the stars.

XIV.  With superlative:

Ex. Prizes would be given for the most outstanding performance s.

XV.  With ordinals

Ex.He lives in the tenth block.

XVI.  Before the comparative degree : 

Ex. He is the cleverer of the disabled.