Dr. T. Jeevan Kumar provides a guide on the usage of articles 'a', 'an' and 'the' in English. He explains that 'a' and 'an' are used before singular countable nouns to indicate 'one', while 'the' is used to indicate that the noun is specific or known. The document also gives several examples of the different contexts in which each article is used through a series of questions and explanations.

1. Prepared by
Dr. T. JEEVAN
KUMAR
M.A. (Gold Medallist), Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
K.H. Government Degree College
Dharmavaram.
Email: dr.tjeevan@gmail.com
Blog: www.drtjeevankumar.blogspot.com

2. 2

3. 3
Two
Indefinite
A
An
Definite The

4. 4
Can you give me a pencil?

5. 5
Is this an yellow colour?

6. 6Please pass me all the blue pencils.

7. 7
 Before singular common nouns beginning with a
consonant sound.
E.g.: a boy, a drama, a table, a history
 Before a vowel having a consonant sound.
i. Words which begin with a ‘y’ sound.
E.g.: a university, a European, a eulogy
ii. Words which begin with a ‘w’ sound.
E.g.: a one-rupee, a one-man, a one-way

8. 8
 Before words beginning with a
vowel sound.
E.g.: an action, an Indian, an elephant
 Before abbreviations that begin with a vowel sound.
E.g.: an MP, an MLA, an STD booth
 Before words beginning with silent ‘h’.
E.g.: an honest, an hour, an honour

9. 9

10. 10
1. Bhoomika is watching _________ movie.
2. Spandana is playing ________ tennikoit.
3. Nandini is studying in ________ university.
4. Devendra eats ________ egg everyday.
5. Naresh is afraid of ________ ant.
6. Chandra wants to become _________ MP.

11. 11
1. In the numerical sense of ‘one’.
E.g.: 1. Please give me a (one) mango.
2. Modi brought a new two-thousand rupee note.
2. Occasionally in the sense of ‘any’ or ‘every.’
E.g.: 1. People should not speak a (any) word in emotion.
2. A (every) child generally likes to play.
3. In the vague sense of ‘a certain.’
E.g.: 1. There was a doctor in the hospital.
2. A boy came for you this morning.

12. 12
4. Before a proper noun to make it a common noun.
E.g.: 1. He is a (an inspired dramatist) Shakespeare.
2. You are a (a millionaire) Bill Gates.
5. Before a singular noun to make the latter represent a whole class.
E.g.: 1. A (all dogs) dog is faithful to his master.
2. A (all parrots) parrot can repeat what you say.
6. Idiomatically with ‘few’ and ‘little.’ ‘A few’ and ‘A little’ means ‘not many/much’
while ‘few’ and ‘little’ denote negative meaning ‘lack.’
E.g.: 1. There is a little water in the bottle. You can have it.
2. There are a few articles in the library on Demonetization.

13. 13
1. Altaf gets a salary of Rs.20,000/- _________ month.
2. Bengaluru is _________ beautiful city.
3. The Merchant of Venice is _______ romantic comedy.
4. Robert Frost is ________ American romantic poet.
5. Ravi’s sister is ________ Engineer.
6. Sekhar’s father is _________ MLA.
7. Could you bring me _______ chalk piece.
8. Sarita found _______ wallet on the road.

14. 14
1. To denote a particular person or thing.
E.g.: 1. The girl who got the first rank is my daughter.
2. The person who cut the cake is Nandesh’s teacher.
2. To represent a whole class.
E.g.: 1. The rose is a lovely flower.
2. The camel is the ship of the desert.
3. Before names of rivers, gulfs, seas, oceans, canals, group of island, group of
countries, mountains, newspapers, musical instruments.
E.g.: The Ganges, the Persian gulf, the Dead Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Suez
canal, the Andaman and Nicobar, the United Kingdom, the Himalayas, the
Times of India.

15. 15
4. Before the names of well-known books.
E.g.: The Holy Bible, the Quran, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Iliad.
5. Before Superlative degrees.
E.g.: 1. Morning is the best time for walking.
2. Mahesh is the most handsome Telugu hero.
3. Anushka is the tallest heroine in Tollywood.
6. Before a proper noun only when it is used as an adjective.
E.g.: 1. Kalidasa is the Shakespeare of India.
2. Einstein is the Newton of our age.

16. 16
7. To refer common nouns that are unique in the sense.
E.g.: The Sun, the earth, the moon, the sky, the scriptures.
8. Before adjectives to represent a class of person.
E.g.: 1. The rich must help the poor.
2. The educated should teach the illiterate.
9. Used as an adverb with comparatives.
E.g.: 1. The more they speak, the less they understand.
2. The harder you work, the greater are your chances of success.

17. 17
10. Before the epithet attached to a personal proper name.
E.g.: Alexander, the great, Edward, the eighth,
11. Before surnames.
E.g.: 1. Yesterday, I visited the Talanki’s family.
2. They spend amount like the Birla’s family.

18. 18
1. Before two common nouns ‘man’ and ‘woman.’
E.g.: 1. Man is mortal. 2. Women are beautiful.
2. Before names of materials.
E.g.: 1. Gold is a precious metal. 2. Wool is imported to India.
3. Before abstract nouns.
E.g.: 1. Honesty is the best policy. 2. Knowledge is divine.
4. Before uncountable nouns.
E.g.: 1. Water is scarce in many countries.
2. Oil prices are increasing day-by-day.

19. 19
5. Before languages.
E.g.: 1. We speak English.
2. Latin is a dead language.
6. Before names of relatives, father, mother, aunt, uncle.
E.g.: 1. Uncle is leaving for America.
2. Mother is getting ready to go to Chennai.
7. Before plural nouns.
E.g.: 1. Books are the best company for young minds.
2. Birds of same feather flock together.

20. 20
1. _____________ peacock is in danger of extinction.
2. Could you get me ________ kilogram of Horlicks.
3. There is _______ European and ________ Eskimo among the tourists.
4. Amaravati is __________ capital of Andhra Pradesh.
5. Copper is ___________ useful material.
6. __________ sun rises in _____________ East.
7. One should help ______________ poor.
8. Abdul Kalam is ________ honest man.
9. I met Jiddesh _________ year ago.
10. Dr. Jeevan wrote ________ article for _________ Deccan Chronicle.

21. 21

22. 22
1. Is this __________ classroom?
2. Is this __________ I B.A. classroom?
3. These days women love watching ___________ serials.
4. I saw ________ movie that you told me.
5. Lavanya bought ___________ new car.
6. Mohammad Rafi is __________ best singer.
7. ______ apple _______ day keeps _______ doctor away.
8. Saheena can speak _________ Telugu and ___________ English.
9. Prathyusha is good at playing ___________ violin.
10. Ravi has ______ cat and ________ dog in his house.

23. 23
1. _________ sun will be at his peak in Summer.
2. _________ Ganga river is highly polluted due to dumping of harmful waste.
3. Prerana loves reading ________ history books.
4. Hima Das is _______ first Indian woman to win gold in World Jr. Athletics.
5. Man knows no finer task than to help ___________ poor.
6. Helen of Troy is _________ most beautiful woman in the world.
7. I will be visiting ____________ Shaik’s family within a day.
8. __________ Water will become costly in the coming years.
9. _________ father is the head of the family.
10. Have _________ meal at the right time.

24. 24
1. AP government has introduced ________ IAMS App to monitor attendance.
2. Amazon.in is __________ e-commerce website.
3. Raj Kumar spent _________ hour in the library.
4. _____, ______, and ______ are Articles.
5. God is immortal and __________ man is mortal.
6. Pen drive is _________ USB device.
7. Sailesh will join the match in _________ minute.
8. ________ more you speak, _________ better will be your pronunciation.
9. Students’ life is __________ most important one in one’s own career.
10. I year Semester I students of KH GDC are regular to _______ English class.