The document discusses the use of articles and punctuation in the English language. It explains that 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles used before consonant and vowel sounds respectively, while 'the' is a definite article used to refer to specific nouns or when a singular noun represents a whole class. It also outlines the use of various punctuation marks such as periods, commas, semicolons, hyphens, colons, and apostrophes.

1. Articles & Punctuation
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2. Articles
• 'A' and 'An' are indefinite articles.
• 'The' is a definite article.
© 2005 Ma Foi Management

3. Article – ‘A’
• 'A' is placed before consonant sounds:
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A boy
A zebra
A one-rupee coin
A university
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4. Article – ‘An’
• 'An' is placed before vowel sounds:
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An orange
An umbrella
An heir
An honest man
An hour
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5. Article – ‘The’
• When we refer to a particular person or
thing:

I saw the man who sells vegetables.
• When a singular noun is meant to
represent a whole class:

The leopard is the fastest animal
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6. Article – ‘The’
• With names of gulfs, oceans, rivers,
mountains and groups of islands:
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The Indian Ocean
The Ganges
The Himalayas
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7. Article – ‘The’
• With Ordinals:
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The first
The fifteenth
The twentieth
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8. Article – ‘The’
• With Superlatives:
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The fastest boy
The longest river
The most beautiful girl
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9. Article – ‘The’
• Before common nouns which are
unique:
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The earth
The sky
The moon
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10. Article – ‘The’
• Before the names of certain books:
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The Ramayana
The Bible
The Iliad
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11. Punctuation
• A full stop, question mark or
exclamatory mark is used at the end of
sentences:
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The children are studying well.
What are you doing?
This ice-cream tastes great!
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12. Punctuation - Commas
• Used to link sentences with a
conjunction:

The cottage was almost in ruins, but the
garden was lovely.
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13. Punctuation - Commas
• Used after a long introductory word,
phrase or clause:
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First, let us study this lesson.
After finishing the lesson, the students took
the test.
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14. Punctuation - Commas
• Before tags and comments:
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You're wrong, you know.
He is a lovely boy, isn't he?
• In lists:
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Please buy a book, some pencils, a few
erasers and a scale.
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15. Punctuation - Semicolon
• Used to link independent clauses not
joined by a coordinating conjunction:

The situation is hopeful; the storm may lift
soon.
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16. Punctuation - Semicolon
• To separate elements already
punctuated with commas:
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Invitations were mailed to professors,
associate professors and assistant
professors; the head of departments,
secretaries; graduates and
undergraduates.
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17. Punctuation - Semicolon
• Before conjunctive adverbs such as
therefore, moreover, consequently,
indeed etc.
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He fought hard; however, he lost.
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18. Punctuation - Hyphen
• Before a suffix to avoid confusion:
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bull-like
• After a prefix:
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co-pilot
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19. Punctuation - Hyphen
• When the root word begins with a
capital letter:
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un-American
non-European
• When the root word begins with the
same letter as the prefix:
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counter-revolutionary
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20. Punctuation - Hyphen
• To avoid ambiguity.

A Turkish - bath attendant
• Fractions and numbers between 21 and
99.
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Four-fifth
Forty-five thousand and fifty-three
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21. Punctuation - Colon
• After a formal salutation preceding a
message:
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Ladies and gentlemen: It gives me great
pleasure to introduce . .
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22. Punctuation - Colon
• To introduce material that explains,
amplifies or interprets what precedes it:
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They didn't sleep last night: they must be
tired.
It is raining heavily: the roads are flooded.
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23. Punctuation - Colon
• Before quotations in the text of a play.
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Romeo: It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
• With time in American English.
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6:30 am
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24. Punctuation - Colon
• Before lists.
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This is what you'll need to buy: a notebook,
some paper and pens.
• In biblical references, dates and ratios.
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2:3
27:10:2005
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25. Punctuation - Apostrophe
• In contraction:
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They're
Didn't
• To form possessives with singular and
plural nouns:
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The girl's dress
The girls' dresses
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