Tamilnadu State Board Class 10 English Grammar Articles and Determiners
Articles And Determiners (Text Book Page No.: 40, 41)
Articles: (an, a, the)
An article is a word that modifies or describes the Noun.
It is used before the noun to show whether it refers to something specific or not.
So, in a way, articles can also be described as a type of adjectives as they also tell us something about the nouns, like adjectives.
These are of two kinds, namely, Indefinite Articles and Definite Articles.
(i) Indefinite Articles :
Indefinite means something which is not clear, obvious or exact. They are called indefinite because the identity of the thing or person being spoken about is left unclear or indefinite.
The indefinite articles in English are ‘a’ and W. They are Invariable.
We use ‘a’ when the next word starts with a consonant sound.
(Consonant letters in the English alphabet are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z.) or before words that start with u and eu as they sound you’.
Some examples are given below:
a boy, a car, a helicopter, a big elephant, a European, a unit etc.
We use ‘An’ when the next word starts with a Vowel sound (Vowel letters in the English alphabet are A, E, I, O, U.) or with a mute h or with a consonant giving the sound of a vowel.
Some examples are given below:
An apple, an egg, an inkpot, an orange, an umbrella, an hour, an M.L.A, an M.P. an M.A. etc.
Note: We use ‘a’ and a before a singular noun. We can’t use ‘a’ and ‘an’ before a plural noun because ‘a’ or ‘an’ is the weakened form of one.
(ii) Definite Articles :
Definite means to be clear, exact or obvious about something. It is called definite because it is used in relation to a particular thing or person. “The” is the definite article in English, which is used to refer to particular/specific nouns. The speaker talks about a particular thing.
For Example:
The boy sat on the sofa. The lion pounced on him and ran away.
Exercises
Fill in the blanks with an appropriate article, a, an, or the, or leave the space blank if no article is needed.
Question 1.
I want apple from that basket.
(a) a
(b) an
(c) the
(d) no article
Answer:
(b) an
Question 2.
church which we go is newly constructed.
(a) An
(b) A
(c) No article
(d) The
Answer:
(d) The
Question 3.
Miss Anne speaks _______ Chinese.
(a) the
(b) no article
(c) a
(d) an
Answer:
(b) no article
Question 4.
I borrowed _______ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.
(a) no article
(b) an
(c) the
(d) a
Answer:
(d) a
Question 5.
One of the students shouted,” Principal is coming up.”
(a) the
(b) an
(c) no article
(d) a
Answer:
(a) the
Question 6.
Yusuf likes to play _______ volleyball.
(a) a
(b) no article
(c) an
(d) the
Answer:
(b) no article
Question 7.
I bought _______ umbrella to go out in the rain.
(a) an
(b) a
(c) the
(d) no article
Answer:
(a) an
Question 8.
My daughter is learning to play ________ violin at her school.
(a) a
(b) an
(c) the
(d) no article
Answer:
(c) the
Question 9.
Please give me ________ cake that is on display.
(a) an
(b) no article
(c) a
(d) the
Answer:
(d) the
Question 10.
I lived on ________ first Street when I first came to town.
(a) the
(b) a
(c) an
(d) no article
Answer:
(a) the