Determiners: Article a, an, the

Determiners	VerbsList	Tense
Voice	Narration	Preposition

DETERMINERS: Article a, an, the

Do you know what a determiner is? Well, the word ‘determiner’ means a person or thing that determines something. Some of the determiners are some, any, much, few, a few, the few, little, a little, the little, each, every and so on. Articles a, an, the are also determiners. We will discuss them all in a step-by-step process with examples and exercises.

Table of Contents

• Articles A and AN
  
• Article The
  
• Few, a few, the few
  
• Little, a little, the little
  
• Much, many, some, any
  
• Each, every
  
• Either, neither
  
• Less, fewer

Determiners Article a, an, the

Articles – a, an, the

Vowels – a, e, i, o, u

We all have been hearing about vowels since early days in school. And we know that there are just five vowels and they are a, e, i, o, u. What they actually do? What is their purpose? How to use them?

Well, vowels help us pronounce a word. For example, just write ‘pt’ in a piece of paper. Can you pronounce it? No. So, here comes the real usage of vowels. Now, put vowel ‘e’ in between ‘p and t’ and it becomes ‘pet,’ right? You can also put vowel ‘a’ and it becomes pat. Some more examples are red, play, bite, cat, dog and so on. So easy, isn’t it?

ARTICLES A AND AN

Vowels are closely linked to Articles a and an. Articles a and an are used to refer to nouns.

Consider the following examples--

1. Rita can see a man standing outside her house.
2. While asleep, Rita was visited by an elf.
3. Rita saw a little girl on the street holding an umbrella.
4. Rita handed the boy an envelope which contained a letter.
5. “An ant donated blood to an injured elephant.” – On hearing this, Rita burst out into laughter.

In the above examples, we have noticed the use of a and an before a singular countable noun. Also, we have noticed the use of an before a singular countable noun that begins with a vowel.
Now that we have learned how to use vowels a and an, it is time that we apply our knowledge to practice and implement these in sentences.

Before we begin to practice, make sure you use a before words beginning with a consonant and an before words beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).

Exercise: Fill in the blanks with a or an as may be suitable.

Quick Tip: Look at the first character of the word after the blank; if it is a vowel, put an, else a.

.
1. Rita’s brother Tom was crying, so she gave him _____ apple.
2. There was _____ cow, _____ ox, and _____ donkey in the field and Tom started playing with them.
3. Tears were rolling over Rita’s face as she was cutting _____ onion.
4. There was _____ garden in front of Rita’s house with varieties of flowers blooming.
5. Tom’s father gave him _____ video game, _____ pack of chocolates, and _____ envelope containing a secret on this birthday.

Answers:
1. an
2. a, an, a
3. an
4. a
5. a, a, an

Above exercise was pretty easy, isn’t it? But wait. There are some exceptions in which we put a before a vowel and an before a consonant. Just read through the following examples.

EXAMPLES:

1. Copper is a useful metal.
2. Mr. Wilson is an honest man.

Let us discuss how we put a before a word beginning with a vowel and an before a word beginning with a consonant.

• If at the beginning of a word, vowel is pronounced as Yu, then we use a (and not an).
  
  Examples:
  He is a university student.
  Iron is a useful metal.
  
  
• When a silent h is at the beginning of a word, then we use an before that word.
  
  Examples:
  His parents want to see him as an honest man and not a liar.
  Maya arrived at the station but the train had left an hour earlier.
  
  
• Use a before the word ‘one’ even though it starts with a vowel.
  
  Examples:
  It’s only a one-time opportunity, don’t miss it.
  The picture shows a one-horned rhino grazing in an open field.
  
  
• Use an when consonants in abbreviations have vowel sound.
  
  Examples:
  He is an MA.
  Tom is an NCC cadet.

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ARTICLE THE

Let us discuss how we use article the.

• We use the to refer to some particular person or thing.
  
  Examples:
  The boys are practising football for the upcoming match.
  The book you are holding is mine.
  
  
• We use the to indicate a whole class.
  
  Examples:
  The rose is called the queen of flowers.
  The dog is a faithful animal.
  
  
• We use the before names of rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges, groups of islands and so son.
  
  Examples:
  The Ganges, the Thames, the Black Sea, the Atlantic Ocean.
  
  
• We use the before the names of sacred books and newspapers.
  
  Examples:
  The Bible, the Quran, the Mahabharata, The Times of India, The New York Times.
  
  
• We use the before the things that are unique.
  
  Examples:
  The earth, the moon, the sun and so on.
  
  
• We use the before the names of races.
  
  Examples:
  The Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus and so on.

In this lesson, we have learned about determiners and articles a, an, the. If you have any doubts, feel free to comment below.


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Determiners	VerbsList	Tense
Voice	Narration	Preposition

TODAY'S QUESTION

Fill the blanks with appropriate determiners (a, an, the):

She was writing the letter with _____ ink pen, but later she threw _____ ink pen as it made her fingers dirty.

Post your answer below in the comment box.