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Article Grammar Rules | Unit 20 | Neb Compulsory English Class 11 by Suraj Bhatt Neb English Support
Article Grammar Rules
The Use of a/an (Indefinite Article)
'A' and 'An" are only used in front of singular countable nouns. They do not refer to any particular person or thing.
If the noun is pronounced from vowel (a, e, i, o, u,), we have to use the article 'an'.
1. If the noun is pronounced from a consonant, we have to use the article 'a'
Examples:
a man, a hat, a university, a European, a one-way street, an apple, an island, an hour, an onion, an egg, an L-plate, an MP, an SOS, an M.A., a B.A., an 'x', an actor, an actress, a woman, a table, a union, an earthquake, a ewe, an insect, an animal, an umbrella, an honest man, an old man, an apple, an engine, a mango, a uniform, a useful book, an L.D.O.
2. 'a' is used in the phrases like........
a lot of, a few, a bit, a number of, a pack of, a plank of, a large number of, a piece of, a cup of, a glass of, an item of, a couple of dozen, a great many, a great deal of, a sack of, a kilo of, a litre of, a little etc.
Examples:
John wants to drink a cup of coffee.
Jack sold a lot of milk.
The Use of Definite Article 'The'
1. The definite article 'The' is used in front of superlative degree and the words like only, first, next, second, fourth, last, capital, morning, evening etc.
Examples:
▪︎ Harry is the tallest boy in the class.
▪︎ Simran is the most beautiful girl in our village.
▪︎ James is the best boy in our group.
▪︎ Delhi is the capital of India.
▪︎ Ebrahim gets up early in the morning.
2. When a noun is mentioned a second time:
Example:
▪︎ He saw a parrot on a tree. You can still see the parrot on the tree.
3. When the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be unique:
Examples:
the earth, the sea, the sky, the universe, the space, the sun, the moon, the world, the stars, the equator
4. Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause:
Examples:
The water in the glass is very hot.
The boy with grey hair is my cousin.
The book on the table is mine.
The house where I live is white.
The place where I met him was beautiful.
5. Before a noun which by reason or locality can represent only one:
Examples:
Jenny is in the garden. (the garden of this house)
Please pass the handkerchief. (the handkerchief on the table)
6. The + singular noun can represent a class of animals or things.
Examples:
The panda is in danger of becoming extinct.
The rose is a kind of thorn plant.
Note: But man, used to represent the human race, has no article.
Example:
Man is a social animal.
7. The + adjective (poor, rich, blind, young, old etc.) represents a class of persons:
Examples:
The old walk slowly.
The poor are helpless.
8. If the subject is 'Noun+ of + noun", we use 'the':
Examples:
The people of this village are so conservative.
The condition of those people was very bad.
9. 'The' is used in front of the name of rivers, seas, groups of islands, chains of mountains, plural names of countries, deserts, musical instruments, newspapers, scientific inventions, famous religious books, famous historical buildings, directions, only one part of our body. Only one particular thing of the house, ships, caste, religion, nationality, canal etc.
Examples:
the Bagmati, the Koshi, the Atlantic, the Thames, the Sahara, the Alps, the Netherlands, the Himalayas, the Pacific Ocean, the guitar, the Madal, the Gita, the Ramayana, the Kuran, the Bible, the Mahabharat, the East, the west, the Kathmandu Post, the Rising Nepal, the telephone, the television, the Taj Mahal, the National Gallery, the Tower of London, the royal palace, the nose, the head, the heart, the Mary Celeste, the Chinese, the Hindus, the Brahmins, the Gandak canal etc.
10. When we visit a certain place for the primary purpose like in school to study, in hospital being sick, in temple to worship etc, we do not use any article in front of those places but if we visit these places for other purposes, we use 'The'.
Examples:
Simon has gone to school. (He is a student)
Primary purpose: student to school: no article before school.
Hale has gone to the school. (He is a farmer)
Secondary purpose: Farmer to school: Article 'the' before school.
David is going to the temple. (He is a Christian)
I went to the hospital. (I wanted to visit my sick friend)
Sita went to hospital. (She was sick)
11. 'The+ plural surname' can be used to mean 'the........Family':
Examples:
The Smiths →Mr and Mrs Smith (and children)
12. We use 'the' before U.S.A., USSR, U.K., U.N.O. etc. and certain other names:
Examples:
the USA, the Sudan, the Yemen, the Hague, the U.K., the Punjab, the Terai
13. We use 'the' before date:
Example:
He was born on the 12th of October.
14. We generally use 'the' before kitchen, floor, door, roof, Hindus, English, king, supreme court
Examples:
He lives on the second floor.
The king visited our village.
15. 'The' is used before the period of history, political party, the names of gardens etc.
Examples:
The Stone Age, the Renaissance, the modern Age, the Nepali Congress, the CPN (UML), the coronation garden, the Hanging garden etc.
16. 'The' is used before names of dance. Two comparatives also take 'the':
Examples:
The classical dance, the disco dance, the sooner the better.
17. 'The' is used before century, decade, date etc.
Examples:
In the 18th century, the twenties, the sixties, on the 12th of October
Omission of Article
We generally do not use the article before the name of the person, country, place, month, year, day, abstract noun, metal, games, meals, relatives, festivals, home, continents etc.
Examples:
▪︎ Ram lives in Nepal which lies in Asia.
▪︎ We live at Tekanpur.
▪︎ We will come to me on Monday.
▪︎ He ate his lunch.
▪︎ He was born in 1998.
▪︎ He is coming at Dashain.
▪︎ He went home.
▪︎ Gold is expensive (gold in general).
▪︎ Water changes into steam (water in general)
But,
▪︎ The water in this bottle is cold.
▪︎ The gold in your ring is bright.
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