Class 4 English Grammar Chapter 11 Articles

We know that ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are called Articles. The articles are generally used to point out people or things. They are used before a noun. We can classify articles into two types:

• 1. Indefinite articles
• 2. Definite articles

‘A’ and ‘An’ are indefinite articles and they do not refer to any particular person, place or thing. They are used with singular nouns.
Apple is fruit. Wrong
An apple is a fruit. Correct
Ass is animal. Wrong
An ass is an animal. Correct
Umbrella is useful thing. Wrong
An umbrella is useful thing. Correct
Thus we see how a sentence becomes wrong without the use of an article.

a book, a cat, a doll, a fan, a girl, a hat, a jug, a kite, a lion, a man, a pen, a queen, a rat, a swan, a tiger, a van, a watch, a xylophone, a yak, a zebra.

an umbrella, an owl, an egg, an eagle, an ant, an apple, an orange, an engineer, an elephant, an ox.

Note: We use a university, a ewe, a unicorn, a European, a union, a one rupee note, a one-eyed man, a useful thing; because these words begin with a consonant sound, though their spellings begin with a vowel.
We use an hour, an honest man, an heir, an MA, an MBA, an X-mas tree, an S.C., an S.T. because these words begin with a vowel sound though their spellings begin with ‘h’ or ‘m’ or ‘x’ or ‘s’ – a consonant.

A. Fill in the blanks with a or an:
1. I saw ________ eagle flying.
2. Iron is ________ useful metal.
3. He will return within ________ hour.
4. My mother is ________ MA in English.
5. It is raining. Carry ________ umbrella.
6. Give me ________ one rupee note.
7. He is ________ European but his wife is ________ Indian.

8. Ramu is ________ honest man.
9. ________ old man is wiser than ________young man.
10. ________ owl and ________ bat were friends.
11. She gave me ________ inkpot and ________ pen.
12. ________ empty bottle was lying on the table.
13. ________year and ________month later his wife also died.
14. He looks as stupid as ________ owl.

‘The’ is called definite article and it refers to a particular person, place or thing. It can be used with singular and plural noun.

1. When we talk about a particular person or a thing or one already referred to.
This is the pen you are looking for. (Which pen? The particular one you are looking for.)
A boy once followed a path through a forest and came across a bridge over a river. He crossed the bridge over the river and left behind the path through the forest. (Which bridge? Which river? Which path? Which forest? The ones already referred to in the first sentence.)

2. A noun when it is only one of something or is unique of its kind:
Examples:
The sun, the moon, the earth, the sky, the ocean, the river, the sea.

3. The Superlatives
Examples:
The richest, the strongest, the coldest, the longest, the smallest, the best.

4. The noun that represents the whole class:

• (a) The lion is the king of the animals.
• (b) The rose is a beautiful flower.
• (c) The dog is a faithful animal.
• (d) The cow gives us milk.
• (e) The cat drinks milk.
• (f) The horse is a noble animal.

5. The numerical positions
Examples:
The first, the last, the second, the next, the third, the fourth, the middle, the second last, the thousandth, etc.
Note: We mostly do not use an article before proper nouns, but a few use the before them.

6. The names of seas, rivers, mountain ranges, deserts, canals, group of islands, books, trains, ships and monument.
Examples:
The Himalayas, the Indian Ocean, The Ganga, The Times of India, The Taj Mahal, The Arabian Sea, The Suez canal, The Sahara, The West Indies, The Rajdhani Express, The Vedas, The Geeta, The Ramayana. The name of a very few countries which include words like republic, United Kingdom, The United States of America, The United Kingdom, The Irish Republic, The United Arab Emirates, The Netherlands, The Hague.

1. This is _______ red dress dress is mine.
2. Here is _______ apple _______ apple is sweet.
3. The soldier lost_______eye in the war. It was _______ left eye.
4. In Baroda we lived in _______ big house_______ house faced the sea.
5. Have you seen_______ Qutub Minar? It is _______magnificent tower.
6. We were invited to_______ party yesterday. But we could not attend _______ party.
7. Give me _______cake_______ cake should be _______ honey cake.
8. _______ earth revolves round _______sun.

9. _______richest man of the world, Bill Gates, is _______very simple man.
10. _______Ganga falls in _______ Bay of Bengal.
11. I ordered _______ plate of chilly chicken, but _______chicken was not tasty.
12. _______ sun rises in _______east and sets in _______ west.
13. _______ boy fell off _______bicycle and_______cycle broke.
14. ___________ monkey and _____________ crocodile were good friends _________ monkey was clever but_______crocodile was_________ Fool.
15. _______ boy is playing_______mouth organ_______ boy is my brother.

1. Mohit is nice boy.
2. Sita goes to convent school.
3. You should carry umbrella when you go out in rain.
4. Sun rises in east and sets in west.
5. Cross road carefully.

6. Dog is man’s friend.
7. Man is selfish animal.
8. I bought watch from market.
9. Jeet brought nice gift for me.
10. I went to shop and asked for pen.