Banks Special:  General- English 
 A, an and the are articles.
 Articles are a sort of determiners as
 they convey whether the thing
 being said is about something
 definite or indefinite.
 Accordingly they are divided
 into Indefinite and Definite.
 ARTICLES
 Articles are divided into two types.
     I.  Indefinite articles – A, An
     II. Definite article – The
 Let us first talk about the indefinite articles- a and an. As the name itself indicates, they do not speak about any specific thing. But they are always used before a singular countable noun. A countable noun is one which you can begin to count.
 Give me an orange.
 There is an egg in the nest.
 A dog is a faithful animal.
 An elephant is a big animal.
 It is important to note that an is used before a word starting with a vowel sound.
 an umbrella;    an opportunity;
 an honest boy;
 an honourable person
 In abbreviations, if consonants begin with a vowel sound, they take an before them:
 an M.P. ;     an S.P. ;  an x-ray
 We use a with singular count nouns beginning with a consonant sound:
 a girl;        a map;
 a university;    a union;
 a one-sided affair;
 a one-rupee note
 Note: That the words university, union, and one begin with a vowel but not a vowel sound. University and union begin with the "yoo" sound while one begins with the "w" sound.
 Well-known words which begin with a vowel but take a with them are:
 European;     Uniform;
 Union;    Unit;
 Universal;     Usual;
 Useful
 The letter h in honest and honourable is not sounded. Common words in English which begin with an unsounded h are:
 Heir;        Heiress;
 Honest;     Honorary;
 Honourable;     
 Hour;        Hourly
 But if consonants begin with a consonant sound, they take a before them:
 a Ph.D.     a B.Ed.
 Note the use of a in the following phrases:
 a pity;     a shame;
 a pleasure;     a noise;
 a rage;     a nuisance;
 a headache;     a toothache;
 a bad cold in a whisper;
 in a low voice;     
 in a loud voice;
 to be at a loss
 Uncountable nouns do not generally take an article with them. We do not generally say
 a milk;     a beauty;
 a wisdom
 For milk, beauty, wisdom cannot be counted.
 Use of A and An
 l    The first rule is that they can be used only before a singular countable noun.
     Ex: She purchased a computer.
 l    In making comparisons.
     Ex: My brother is a Kalidas.
 l    To denote the unit rate of something.
     Ex: Petrol is Rs. Seventy five a litre.
 l    Usually before the name of a profession.
     Ex: Manish is a doctor.
 l    To speak generally about some nouns.
     Ex: Mr. John has a Ferrari.
 l    Before single units of dozen, thousand, million, etc.
     Ex: The Arab Sheik donated a million rupees to the orphanage.
 Questions for Practice
 
 Identify the error in the following sentences and correct them.
 1.    The lion is brutal animal by nature.
 2.    Billy Bones was an Buccaneer.
 3.    He is building house.
 4.    You must have bath every day.
 5.    William Wordsworth was great bard in his time.
 6.    There is big banyan tree.
 7.    He has got such kind of ability to do any kind of work.
 8.    This is a abstract of my work.
 9.    Yesterday the patient’s temperature was an abnormal.
 10.    His accent in English is not a good.
 11.    The elephant budged in thick forest.
 12.    Everyone should have an basic knowledge to improve their skills.
 13.    The barbarian people live in the African forests.
 14.    M.K. Gandhi was well known barrister.
 15.    My friend abandoned a habit of smoking.
 16.    The cold storages are abounded with rice to distribute to poor.
 17.    This book is about a birds.
 18.    The rates of vegetables are above an normal rates.
 19.    My son went an abroad for further studies.
 20.    My little brother left the class to avoid an Maths class.
 21.    The ink in pen is absorbed.
 22.    A people in the village abstained to vote to any candidate.
 23.    It is completely absurd what you have seen in an screen today.
 24.    A Rama abused his friend for misbehaving towards his parents.
 25.    The accelerator is not functioning well in the engine.
 26.    An accident occurred near the theatre on the main road.
 27.    You please arrange accommodation for our boss in your city.
 28.    Raju accompanied with his brother.
 29.    My father accorded me to go to excursion along with my classmates.
 30.    The boy is suffering from head ache.
 31.    Ram is an adept person in gold ornaments.
 32.    There are some adjacent lines on the paper.
 33.    He adjusted all the things in a good manner.
 34.    She is a good administrator.
 35.    The girl was admonished by her teacher.
 36.    She adorned an entire dais very nicely.
 
 ANSWERS
 1.    The lion is a brutal animal by nature.
 2.    Billy Bones was a Buccaneer.
 3.    He is building a house.
 4.    You must have a bath every day.
 5.    William Wordsworth was a great bard in his time.
 6.    There is a big banyan tree.
 7.    He has got such a kind of ability to do any kind of work.
 8.    This is an abstract of my work.
 9.    Yesterday the patient’s temperature was abnormal.
 10.    His accent in English is not good.
 11.    The elephant budged in the thick forest.
 12.    Everyone should have the basic knowledge to improve their skills.
 13.    The barbarian people live in the African forests.
 14.    M.K. Gandhi was a well known barrister.
 15.    My friend abandoned the habit of smoking.
 16.    The cold storages are abounded with rice to distribute to the poor.
 17.    This book is about birds.
 18.    The rates of vegetables are above the normal rates.
 19.    My son went abroad for further studies.
 20.    My little brother left the class to avoid the Maths class.
 21.    The ink in the pen is absorbed.
 22.    The people in the village abstained to vote to any candidate.
 23.    It is completely absurd what you have seen in the screen today.
 24.    Rama abused his friend for misbehaving towards his parents.
 25.    The accelerator is not functioning well in the engine.
 26.    An accident occurred near the theatre on the main road.
 27.    You please arrange accommodation for our boss in your city.
 28.    Raju accompanied with his brother.
 29.    My father accorded me to go to excursion along with my classmates.
 30.    The boy is suffering from head ache.
 31.    Ram is an adept person in gold ornaments.
 32.    There are some adjacent lines on the paper.
 33.    He adjusted all the things in a good manner.
 34.    She is a good administrator.
 35.    The girl was admonished by her teacher.
 36.    She adorned the entire dais very nicely.
 
 K. LALITHA BAI
 Associate Professor
 in English, Hyderabad.