Watch video: https://youtu.be/8DnX6IE-S38 This lecture teaches about the articles (a, an, the) and their usages.

1. Articles
Lecture No. 7 (i)
Zafar Ullah, Lecturer in English at CUST, Islamabad
zafarullah76@gmail.com

2. Types of Articles
• Indefinite Article (a, an)
• Definite Article (the)
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3. IPA
• International Phonetic Association is present
in London, United Kingdom
• Henry Sweet
• International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
• 44 sounds
• Why did he make 44 sounds?
• 26 letters. 44 sounds
• Less letters, more sounds
• One letter gives multiple sounds
• One sound is represented by several letters
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4. Listen IPA Chart,
https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-ia.htm
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5. Unlearn Old Concept
• Do not follow letters.
• Follow vowel and consonant sounds.
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6. Vowel Letters and Vowel Sounds
• 5 Vowel Letters: a, e, i, o, u
• 20 Vowel sounds: ALIF sound in Urdu
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7. Consonant Letters and Consonant
Sounds
• 21 Consonant Letters: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l,
m, n, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
24 Consonant Sounds:
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8. Use of “a”
• If a noun starts with a consonant sound,
use “a”.
• i. It gives meaning of ONE.
• He bought a gift.
• She wears a facemask.
• This is a wallet.
• The policeman carries a gun.
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9. Use of “an”
• If a noun starts with a vowel sound, use
“an” before it. It gives meaning of ONE.
• She ate an apple.
• He bought an egg.
• It is an inkpot.
• It is an owl.
• I used an umbrella in sunshine.
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10. Examples of a, an
• He is a matric student.
• He is an FA student.
• He is a BA student.
• He is an MA student.
• He is an Mphil student.
• He is a PhD student.
• She is an honest woman.
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11. Cont…
• Wait for an hour.
• I got a European visa.
• She is a university student.
• I bought an umbrella.
• He is an MPA/ MNA.
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12. Definite Article “the” with Common
Noun
i. To make something particular
I saw a cat. The cat ran after a rat. The rat
entered a hole.
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13. Cont…
• ii. To represent the whole class.
• The donkey is the beast of burden.
• The red rose is th
• e symbol of love.
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14. Use of “the” with Adjectives
i. To change positive degree into a class.
Rich, richer, richest; poor, poorer, poorest
The rich hate the poor.
The wise avoid foolish debates.
(Athena, the god of wisdom)
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15. cont,…
• ii. Two things increase or decrease with
the same proportion.
The higher you go, the cooler you find.
The lesser you study, the duncer you
become.
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16. Cont…
iii. Picking, not Comparison
Who is the abler of the two boys?
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17. Cont…
• Iv. Use “the” before superlative degree.
Bill Gates is the richest person in the world.
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18. Use of “the” before Proper Nouns
• Usually, we don not add “the” before
proper nouns except the following places.
• i. Attributes of Allah
• The Omnipresent, The Omnipotent
• Ii. The Revealed Books
• The Holy Quran,
The Torah, The Bible, The Psalm,
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19. Cont…
• Iii. All heavenly bodies
• The earth, the Mars, the Sun
• Iv. Poles
• The North Pole, The South Pole
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20. Cont…
• V. Mountain Tops
• The Alps, The K-2,
• Vi. Mountain ranges
The Hindu Kush, The Himalaya
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21. Cont…
• Vii. Unique buildings
• The Pyramids, The Taj Mahal
• Viii. Unique institutions
The UNO, The UNESCO
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22. Cont…
• Viii. Unique Books
• The Republic, The Dewan-e-Ghalib,
• The Shahnama-e-Firdousi
• Ix. All newspaper names
• The Dawn, The News, The Jang
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23. Cont…
• X. All water sources
• The Atlantic Ocean, The Arabian Sea, The
River Chenab,
• XI. Titles (not related with land)
• The Quaid-e-Azam, The Madr-e. Millat,
Lion of Bengal,
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24. Cont…
• Xii. Official names of countries
• The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, The
USA;
• Pakistan, America
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25. Thanks
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26. Question Answers
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