English Grammar

ARTICLES

Department of English, Dhaka City College

What is an Article?

• An article is an adjective.
• Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.
• Articles are words that appear before nouns
to indicate whether the noun is specific or
general.
Types of Articles

• English language has two types of Articles:

• Indefinite Article: a/an
• Definite Article: the
• A/AN is used before non-specific or non-particular nouns.
• The is used before specific or particular nouns
• Example:

• Let's read a book. (Any book)

• Let's read the book. (Specific book)
• I would like to watch a movie. (It means any movie. There are many movies, and I
want to see any of of them. I don't have a specific one in mind.)

• I watched the movie yesterday. (It means one particular movie. Both the speaker and
the listener know which movie they are talking about.)
Uses of Indefinite
Article (a/an)
• "A" and “AN" are used before
• a singular countable noun that is general or
nonspecific.
• I read a newspaper yesterday.
• Ben is looking at a cat.
• I saw an elephant at the circus.
• The children are going to build an igloo.
• a is used before a singular
noun beginning with a
consonant:
• a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog
• an is used before a
singular noun beginning
with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u)
• an elephant; an egg; an apple; an
idiot; an orphan
• a university or an university?
• Use "A" before words starting with "U" or "EU" that sound
like "Yu“/
• a user, a university; a unicycle; a European; a union,
a euro, a eulogy
• Use "AN" before words starting with "U" that sounds like
“A“/
• an uncle, an umpire, an ultimatum, an upstart
• a one or an one?
• Use "A" before the letter “O” that sounds like “WA“/
• A one-eyed man, A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
• But, an ocean, an ounce, an office, an ostrich
• a hour or an hour?
• Use the ”AN” with words that begin with a silent H.
The silent h sounds like a vowel.
• an hour, an honest man, an heir
• But, a hospital, a horse, a house, a hen
• Indefinite Article + Adjective + Singular, Indefinite,
Countable Noun
• a strong man, a big elephant, an excellent book
• Indefinite Article + Adverb + Adjective + Singular,
Indefinite, Countable Noun
• a really strong man
• an honestly written story
• a universally accepted truth
• indefinite article a precedes
letters with a consonant sound
• He’s a BA Student.
• His name begins with a K.
• indefinite article an precedes
letters with a vowel sound
• He got an F on his test.
• Her name begins with an A.
• He is an MBA
• An MA, An MBA, An FRCS, An
SOS
• A + Number (If the first letter
sounds like consonant)
• They found a 2-dollar bill.
• I have a 12-year old son.

• AN + Number (If the first letter

sounds like vowel)
• She got an 18 out of 20 on her quiz.
• I saw an 80-year old man feeding pigeons.
• Use a/an when Proper noun is used as Common noun
• I see you are a Rabindranath.
• Nelson Mandela is an Abraham Lincoln in his ideals.
• When Abstract Noun is used as Common Noun-
• Helen is a beauty.
• To express somebody’s profession-
• He is a doctor.
• She is a teacher.
• To single out individual as the representative of a class-
• A student should obey his/her teacher.
• A driver must follow the traffic rules.
• To describe someone/something-
• She’s a nice person.
• That was a lovely evening.
• A + few, little, good many, lot of, great many, good deal
• A few more dollars, A lot of money, He has a good deal of experience.
• A + couple, dozen, score (20), hundred, thousand, million
• A couple of days ago. I bought a dozen mangoes. A hundred taka note.
• In exclamatory sentences: What/such + a/an
• What a fine apartment it is!
• Such a lovely weather.
• A Few and Few: Used with Countable nouns
• A Little and Little: Used with Uncountable
nouns
• A Few/ A Little= a small number/amount, but
with a positive tone—
• Few/Little= a small number/amount, but with
a negative tone—suggesting insufficiency or
lack.
• I have a few books to lend you. (A manageable or sufficient number.)
• She has few friends to rely on. (Not enough friends.)
• There is a little water in the bottle. (Some water, which is enough)
• There is little water left in the bottle. (Not enough; almost empty.)
Omission of A/AN
• Do not use a/an before plural or uncountable noun.
• John collects stamps
• Our garden needs water.
• But, I need a glass of water.
• Do not use a/an before material or abstract noun.
• Gold is a precious metal.
• Kindness is a great virtue.
• But, the gold of this ring is pure.
• Do not use a/an before the name of meal- breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.
• We had breakfast.
• But, we had a good breakfast.
Uses of Definite
Article (the)
• Use ‘the’ before a noun that is specific or particular, when the
listener or the reader knows which particular person or thing
they are talking about.
• Have you seen the football match?
• I bought the book we talked about yesterday.
• My teacher gave me some homework. The homework was hard.
• Before the noun we have mentioned before.
• I saw an apple on the table. The apple was big.
• A man and a woman were sitting opposite me. The man was American,
but I think the woman was British.
• To say about a specific type of something/ or represent a
whole class-
• The cow is a useful animal.
• The bicycle is an excellent means of transport.
• The dollar is the currency.
• Use ‘the’ with the things that exist as only one-
• The sun, the moon, the earth, the universe etc.
• With superlative form-
• I’m the oldest in my class.
• Before date if the date is written in ordinal number
• On the 25th of March 2025
• But, On 25 March 2025
• With Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
• The seventh page
• The fifth chapter
• Use ‘the’ before-
• Names of rivers, oceans, seas and bays: the Nile, the Pacific, the bay of Bengal
• Deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black
Forest, the Iberian Peninsula
• Mountain groups (Not with single mountain): the Himalayas
• Island groups (Not with single island): : the West Indies, the Andamans
• Newspapers and Magazines: the Times, the daily Prothom Alo
• Holy Books: the Quran. The Bible, the Gita
• Ships: the Titanic
• Nationalities: The English, the Chinese, the French
• The + adjective (indicates a group of people)
• The poor, the rich, the old, the young, the unemployed.
• In comparative degree to compare between the two-
• He is better of the two boys.
• To indicate the quality of a particular person or thing-
• The courage of Richard is known to all.
• The gold of this ring is pure.
• When common noun is used as abstract noun-
• The mother rose in her.
• To compare between the two persons of two same quality-
• Nazrul is the Shelley of Bengal.
• Use the definite article with morning, afternoon, and evening.
• I go to school in the morning.
• A lot of people surf the Internet in the evening.
• Do not use the definite article with night.
• Astronomers have to work at night.
• Use the definite article in specially created names and formal titles.
• Elizabeth the Second, Henry the Eighth, Edward the Magnificent, Peter the Hermit,
William the Conqueror
• Use the definite article with double comparatives.
• The earlier, the better.
The longer you stay up, the more tired you get.
• Before the name of musical instrument-
• Can you play the guitar?
• Use ‘the’ if the name of the place ends with Republic, Kingdom,
States or if the name is plural, contains an adjective, or includes "of".
• The United Kingdom, The United States of America, The Czech Republic, The
Netherlands, The Philippines
• Use ‘the’ before army, navy, police, military, air force etc. when
referring to them as institution.
• The army was deployed to control the situation.
• The police arrested the suspect.
• Repetition of Article:
• See the difference:
• I have a red shirt and white shirt (Single shirt)
• I have a red shirt and a white shirt. (Two shirts, one is red and other one is
white)
• The headmaster and secretary is present. (Same person)
• The headmaster and the secretary are present. (Different person)
Omission of THE
• DO NOT use ‘THE’ in the following cases:
• Names of countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia;
• But, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the
United States
• Names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
• Names of streets, roads, squares, parks: Washington Blvd., Main
St, Hyde Park, Times Square, Queens Road.
• Names of single lake and bay: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie
• Names of single mountain: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji
• Names of single island: Easter Island, Maui, Key West
• Names of Languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian
• Names of Academic subjects: mathematics, biology, history,
computer science
• Names of Disease and Illness: Appendicitis, toothache,
headache, cholera
• But, the flu, the measles, the mumps, the gout.
• I had a headache last night. The headache was terrible. (one
specific headache.)
• Do not use ‘the’ before noun + number-
• Our train leaves from Platform 5.
• I went to room 26.
• Names that have first word as the name of a person or place-
• Victoria Station
• Cambridge University (but the University of Cambridge)
• Buckingham Palace
• Name of a Season
• We love the weather in Spring.
• But, if it is particular, use ‘the’
• The summer of last year was very hot.
• School
• College • Do not use ‘THE’ when these places are visited or
used for their primary purpose or focus is on the
• University activity or lifestyle associated with them.
• Prison
• I went to college at 10 am. (as a student)
• Hospital
• My father went to the college at 11 am. (for other purpose)
• Church
• Normally I go to bed at 11 pm. (to sleep)
• Mosque
• I was studying on the bed. (Used for other purpose)
• Court
• Bed • He is at sea most of the time. (as a sailor)
• Dining table • We went to the sea to watch the sunset. (for leisure or
other purposes.)
• Sea etc.
Exercise on Article
 Exercise 01
• Use articles where necessary. Put a cross (x) mark where an article is
not needed:
• I have a) ___ uncle who has just retired from b) ___ army. He used to be c)
___ FBI agent, everybody says he has been an honest man all his life. As a
child, I loved him for his stories. He once told me that he met d) ___ one-
eyed alien from e) ___ space. f) ___ alien did not need any oxygen. And it
did not have g) ___ nose. I now understand that it was h) ___ hard story to
believe. I am not sure he was telling me i) ___ truth. May be he is not so j)
___ honest, after all.
 Exercise 02
• Use articles where necessary. Put a cross (x) mark where an article is
not needed:
• One day I met (a) ___ lame man. After talking for a while he showed me
(b) ___ identity card. Seeing (c) ___ identity card I came to know that he
was (d) ___ university student. After completing his (e) ___ study he
joined (f) ___ army. During the Liberation War he fought (g) ___ bravely
against (h) ___ occupied army of the then West Pakistan. But it is (i) ___
irony of fate that a bullet of (j) ___ enemies hit on his leg. Thus he lost his
leg.
 Exercise 03
• Use articles where necessary. Put a cross (x) mark where an article is
not needed:
• (a) ___ ant is (b) ___ industrious insect. No other insect is as industrious as
(c) ___ ant. If we open (d) ___ pages of history, we shall see that (e) ___
men who have become great were (f) ___ industrious. (g) ___ industrious
are liked by all. On (h) ___ other hand (i) ___ idle are hated by all. So
industry is (j) ___ must to prosper in life.
 Exercise 04
• Use articles where necessary. Put a cross (x) mark where an article is
not needed:
• (a) ___ idle man and (b) ___ active man cannot be equal. We know (c) ___
story of (d) ___ ant and (e) ___ grasshopper. (f) ___ ant was industrious.
On the other hand, the grasshopper was really (g) ___ lazy. The ant knew
that (h) ___ industrious shine. On (i) ___ contrary, (j) ___ lazy suffer in life.
 Exercise 05
• Use articles where necessary. Put a cross (x) mark where an article is
not needed:
• Michael Madhusudan Dutt was (a) ___ popular 19th century Bengali poet
and dramatist. He was born in (b) ___ Sagardari on (c) ___ bank of (d) ___
Kopotaksho river, (e) ___ village in Keshobpur Upazilla under Jessore
district. From (f) ___ early age, Dutt aspired to be (g) ___ Englishman in
form and manner. Though he was born in (h) ___ sophisticated Hindu
family, he took Christianity arousing (i) ___ anger of his family. He
contributed much to (j) ___ development of Bengali literature.