Page 28 - Ai Book - 10

Indefinite Articles (a or an)

‘A’ and ‘an’ are called indefinite articles because they do not point out any particular person or thing.

u a man—points out any man u an atlas—points out any atlas
Use of ‘A’

The use of ‘a’ is based on the pronunciation of singular countable nouns.
‘A’ is used before singular nouns that begin with a consonant sound.
For example:

u a boy, a dog, a house, a doctor, a book, a shop
‘A’ is also used before nouns that begin with a vowel but have a long consonant sound.
For example:

u a university, a unique person, a uniform, a useful book
In the above words, the letter u is pronounced as you, which begins with the consonant y.
We also say, a one-rupee note, a one-eyed man.
In the above words, the letter o, in one, is pronounced as w in won, which is a consonant sound.

Use of ‘An’

The use of ‘an’ is based on the pronunciation of singular countable nouns.
An is used before nouns that begin with a vowel sound.
For example:

u an egg, an umbrella, an ox, an apple, an army
‘An’ is also used before nouns that begin with a consonant that is silent. Such words have a vowel sound:
For example:

u an hour, an honest man, an heir, an honourable man
u The letter h is silent in the words given above.

Definite Article (the)
‘The’ is called the definite article because it points out a particular person or thing.

u the man—points out a particular man u the atlas—points out a particular atlas
Use of ‘The’

‘The’ is used before nouns in different ways.

When a person or thing comes first time in a sentence or a paragraph, we use ‘a’ or ‘an’ before it. If the same
person or thing comes again, we use ‘the’ before it.

For example:
u I met an old man. (Here, old man comes first time in a sentence)

u The old man was honest. (Here, the same old man comes again)
‘The’ is used before things which are unique or one of a kind.
For example:

u the Earth, the Sky, the Moon, the Sun

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