Articles

The words a, an and the are called articles.

Articles are of two types:

1. Definite article: The
2. Indefinite article: A, An

Indefinite article a and an tell us about any person or thing.

Definite article the tells us about a particular person or thing.

e.g.

• A copy (any copy)
• Please bring a pen. (any pen)
• The house that we stay in is beautiful. (A particular house)
• The cupboard is next to the door. (A particular cupboard)

As we all know there are 26 letters in all. Out of these a, e, i, o, u are vowels and the rest are called consonants.

A is used before the words that start with a consonant sound.
e.g.

• A girl
• A chair
• A peacock
• A box
• A violin

An is used before words that start with vowels a, e, i, o, u.
e.g.

• An apple
• An umbrella
• An orange
• An elephant
• An insect

We also use an before words that begin that begin with a consonant but have a vowel sound.

e.g.

• An honest man
• An hour

We also use a before words that begin with a vowel but have a consonant sound.

e.g.

• a one-horned deer
• a university 
• a unit

Indefinite articles are used before things that are only one and not more than one. A and An can never be used before things that cannot be counted.

e.g. 

• A boy, A girl, A man, A school, An item - correct
• An umbrellas, A boys, An items, A sugar, A water, A sand - incorrect

Note: Things that cannot be counted do not have an article before them. But if we add some word like a cup of milk. A has been used as a cup is a countable thing.

Definite article the is used before a particular person or thing. The is also used before the names of rivers, seas, oceans, mountains, holy books, newspapers.

e.g. 

• The Taj Mahal
• The Sun
• The Himalayas

Note: No article is used before a proper noun. Bangalore is a beautiful city.

TYPES OF NOUNS: Concrete and Abstract Nouns

 Concrete Noun: names something you can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste.

e.g. 

• The students enjoyed visiting the animal farm last Monday.
• My skin is very dry.
• The car that was involved in the crash has been towed away.
• I cannot find my mobile.
• This ring is precious.

Abstract Noun: names an idea or a quality.

e.g.

• Honesty is the best policy.
• What you do in anger, you'll often regret.
• Your idea was better than mine.
• Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
• I love my family.

TYPES OF NOUNS: Common and Proper Nouns

Common Noun: A word used to name any person, place or thing.

e.g.

• A boy is playing.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil.
• You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.
• We play in the park.
• The red umbrella is nice.

Proper Noun: A word the we use to name common nouns.

e.g.

• I live in Bangalore.
• Sunday is the last day of the week.
• Rohan has a laptop.
• My sister's name is Pooja.
• Kaveri flows through Tamil Nadu.

Remember: A Proper noun starts with a capital letter. MINTS will help you remember.
M - Months, Day, Holidays
I - The name you call yourself
N - Name of people, places, rivers, mountains, buildings etc
T - Titles of books, movies etc.
S - Start of a sentence.