Contents
What are articles in grammar, and what are their uses? We will understand all such things in complete detail in this particular piece of writing to help you all.
Basic understanding of articles
“A/An” and “the” are called articles in the English language, and articles are kept under determiners in the modern English grammar because determiners are those some of the words which are used before nouns, and articles are also used before nouns.
Apart from words of articles, there are other words that come under determiners such as my, our, this, that, these, those, any, some, etc.
There are two types of articles in grammar, the first one is definite, and the second one is indefinite. A/An is called an indefinite article, whereas “the” is called a definite article. This means that there are a total of three articles in the English language, and they are “a,” “an,” and “the.”
A/an is used in the meaning of any or one where “a” is used before a singular noun, which starts with a consonant sound, and “an” is used before a singular noun, which starts with a vowel sound. Article “the” has no literal meaning, but it is used to refer to anything in particular.
We’re in the rhythm of understanding the answer to the question of what are articles in grammar and let’s move with the same rhythm.
What are the uses of articles in grammar?
The general rule is that “A/An” is used for referring to non-specific things, whereas “the” article is used for referring to specific things, but this general rule is not going to end here because many more things in detail are there that we will understand ahead.
As mentioned earlier, it is crucial to note that we care about the sound of a singular noun while using “A/An” article before a particular singular noun. Because many times you may make a mistake just by looking at a vowel or a consonant letter, but all the vowel letters may not sound vowel in all words, and in the same way all the consonant letters may not sound consonant in all the words. So be careful about the sounds of singular nouns before placing “A/An.”
For example:
An hour (It is correct because the sound of the word starts with a vowel, although the word starts with a consonant letter, which is silent here.)
An MLA (It is correct because the sound of the word starts with a vowel although the word starts with a consonant letter)
A University (It is correct because the sound of the word starts with consonant although the word starts with a vowel letter)
An elephant (It is correct because the sound of the word starts with a vowel, and the word also starts with a vowel letter, but the sound is more important than the letter.)
A book (It is correct because the sound of the word starts with a consonant, and the word also starts with a consonant letter, but the sound is more important than the letter.)
What are articles in grammar? I hope that you have comprehended to a great extent. Now, let’s learn some rules of articles.
Rules of an indefinite article
1. We use A/An before a singular countable noun.
For example:
I ate an apple yesterday.
That is an elephant.
2. We also use an indefinite article before the name of the profession.
For example:
He is a teacher.
Rahul is a student.
3. We also use an indefinite article before counting such as hundred, dozen, thousand, million, etc.
For example:
He has a hundred Rupees.
You have a dozen pens.
4. We also use an indefinite article before a proper noun to indicate and refer to the characteristic of a person and not the person directly.
For example:
She is a Lata Mangeshkar.
It means she is not Lata Mangeshkar, but she is so good at singing that she is like Lata Mangeshkar that’s why we are saying that she is a Lata Mangeshkar. But generally, we don’t use articles before the names of persons and places.
When should we not use an indefinite article?
1. We should never use an indefinite article before plural nouns.
2. We should never use an indefinite article before proper nouns like the names of the countries, states, cities, days, and months as well.
It is crucial to note here that in some circumstances, we can use an indefinite article before a proper noun, especially before a name of a particular person who is unknown to the speaker.
For example:
This letter is written by a Rahul.
Here this sentence is correct only in case a person named Rahul is not known to the speaker. But if a person named Rahul is known to the speaker, then using “a” will not be correct in the sentence whether the speaker is using it in spoken form or the written form.
3. We should also not use an indefinite article just before uncountable nouns.
The word knowledge is an uncountable noun, but when it is used with a special meaning, then we can use an indefinite article before it.
For example:
All the students have a good knowledge of their subjects.
A knowledge of language is always going to be beneficial in life.
4. Words like information, furniture, advice, baggage, dust, and luggage are singular uncountable nouns, and we should not use an indefinite article just before any one of these words. We can use some, a little, any, a piece of, etc., to indicate an amount or a number with these words.
For example:
A piece of advice
A piece of information
5. Words like fear, beauty, hope, death, and happiness are considered uncountable nouns, and we generally don’t use an indefinite article before any one of these words, but in some circumstances, an indefinite article is used with special meaning before some of these words.
For example:
Isn’t that place a beauty? (In the meaning of beautiful place)
Many people suffer from a fear of the dark.
Final Point
In this particular piece of writing, we started with the question what are articles in grammar, and we learnt many things, but we haven’t finished it completely because we have talked mainly about “indefinite article” and we have understood only the basic thing about the definite article. In part ll of the article lesson, I will explain for you all about the definite article in great detail to have its understanding, and until that time, you should read and understand the concepts of “indefinite article” mentioned above completely and learn them by heart.
Also Read- Use of The in article: Part II of Article Lesson
Phrasal Verbs With Meaning And Examples
I’m Mohammad Zahid Hussain, a Content Writer, Spoken English, IELTS and PTE Trainer. I’m also a Professional English-Hindi and Hindi-English Translator, Editor and Proofreader. I’m a graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia University, and I’m here to share my articles on a wide range of topics to help you enhance your insights into various things to provide you with factual information and creative analysis.
