usage, omission of articles A, An, The

USAGE OF 'A' AND 'AN'
A : Words starting with a consonant sound
Eg: A bottle, A chair.

AN : Words starting with a vowel sound
Eg: An elephant, An ink-pot.

USAGE OF 'THE'
1) Great and sacred books; Eg: The Bible, The Mahabaratha
2) Single universal objects:
Eg: The Earth, The Sun
3) Mountain ranges, oceans, seas, plains, straits, canals, rivers, group of Islands, well known trains, historical constructions, ships, roads.
Eg: The Himalayas, The Godavari, The Tajmahal
4) News papers and magazines:
Eg: The Hindu, The Week
5) Physical position:
Eg: The top, The east.
6) Musical instrument:
Eg: The violin, The flute.
7) Parts of body:
Eg: The leg, The heart.
8) Government office and departments:
Eg: The educational department, The general post office.
9) Descriptive names of countries and initials:
Eg: The U.S.A, The U.N.O.
10) Ordinals:
Eg: The First, The third.
11) Historical events, movements or periods:
Eg: The Moghal empire, The quit India movement.
12) Political parties
Eg: The B.J.P, The Congress.
13) Museums and libraries:
Eg: The British Library, The Salarjung Museum.
14) Superlative Adjectives:
Eg: The Best, The Highest.
15) Particular Noun:
Eg: The boy, The doctor.

OMISSION OF THE ARTICLE
The article is omitted
1) Before the names of substances and abstract nouns
Eg: Rice, Silver, Cleanliness.
2) Before plural countable nouns in general sense
Eg: People, Computers.
3) Before Proper nouns. - Eg: Ravi, Nagapur.
4) Before the names of the meals.
Eg: Lunch, Dinner.
5) Before languages - Eg: Arabic, French
6) Before Schools, college, university, church, bed, hospital, prison.
7) Before the names of relation.
Eg: Father, Aunt.
8) Before nouns denoting a unique position.
Eg: Chairman, Vice chancellor.
9) In certain phrases consisting of a transitive verb followed by object.
Eg: to take leave, to send a word.
10) In certain phrases consisting of a preposition followed by its object.
Eg: at home, in bank

Fill in the blank with a suitable article:

1. He is ______ doctor. (a, an, the, none)
   Answer: a
   
2. He is ____doctor who saved the lives of many. (a, an, the, none)
   Answer: the
   
3. I have _____ apple daily.(a, an, the, none)
   Answer: an
   
4. We are planning to go to ______ Andamans next month. (a, an, the, none)
   Answer: the
   
5. It is raining. Take _____ umbrella.(a, an, the, none)
   Answer: an
   
6. I have been reading _______ Hindu for the past 20 years. (a, an, the, none)
   Answer: the
   
7. He is studying in____ university abroad. (a, an, the, none)
   Answer: a
   
8. I am planning to go there in ____ evening. (a, an, the, none)
   Answer: the
   
9. I met ____ european when I had been to Agra. (a, an, the, none)
   Answer: a
   
10. I waited almost for ______ hour. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: an
    
11. His brother has joined _______ army. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
12. As far as I know, he is ______ honest person. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: an
    
13. This is ______ best movie that I ever watched. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
14. I bought _____ book yesterday.(a, an, the, none)
    Answer: a
    
15. ______ Godavari is considered a holy river. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
16. She reads ______ Bible daily in the morning. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
17. ______ earth goes around the sun. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
18. He is going to___ USA on some project work. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
19. ______ apple which you gave me was rotten.(a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
20. My uncle was _____ union leader.(a, an, the, none)
    Answer: a
    
21. He got _______ first rank in the class. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
22. When is _______ next train to Guntur? (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
23. This bangle is made of ______ gold. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
24. They came to ____ India to visit the sight seeing places here. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
25. His father is _____ chairman of that company. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
26. He is ___ MBA student. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: an
    
27. ______ honest boy handed over the money to the near by police station.(a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
28. She knows how to play ______ violin. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
29. Today is _______ last day to pay the fee. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
30. I went to _______ hospital yesterday. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
31. He was born on ______ 16th of December. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
32. We generally have______ lunch at 2 o'clock. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
33. People in ______ north speak Hindi. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
34. Iron is ___ useful metal.(a, an, the, none)
    Answer: a
    
35. I have ___ SBI account. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: an
    
36. ______ Andhra Pradesh has developed a lot. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
37. The boy who is at ______ back is the leader. (a, an, the. none)
    Answer: the
    
38. Do you have _____ one rupee coin? (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: a
    
39. ______ NTR was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
40. The old man who lives on _____ top floor met with an accident.(a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
41. His father is ___ M.L.A. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: an
    
42. I have _______ few stamps left. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: a
    
43. In ______ past people used pigeons to send messages.(a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
44. It is believed that those who sin go to ___ hell. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
45. He has _______ headache. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: a
    
46. He had an injury on ______ head. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
47. I bought ______ dozen apples. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: a
    
48. ______ Everest is the highest peak in the Himalayas. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
49. She is working as a clerk in _____ education department. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the
    
50. I play ______ cricket in the weekends. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: none
    
51. Many tourists visit ______ Salarjung museum every year. (a, an, the, none)
    Answer: the

Published date : 12 Jan 2011 04:27PM