Rules of Articles

Rules for Articles for Definite Article ‘The’

Rule 1: The article ‘the’ must be used before a singular or plural noun, which is
specific and denotes a specific thing or person.
Examples: 1. The girl won the prize.
2.The doctor I visited was rude.
Rule 2: The article ‘the’ is used when the listener understands what the
speaker is saying.
Example: Did you finish all the assignments?
Rule 3: ‘The’ is used to refer to the entire class or group.
Example: The teachers are always helpful.
Rule 4: ‘The’ is used for geographical locations.
Example: The north pole and the south pole remain covered in snow.
Rule 5: ‘The’ is used for the uncountable nouns.
Example: The temperature in the South Pole is freezing.
Rule 6: ‘The’ is used with geographical nouns, such as the names of rivers,
oceans, groups of islands, mountains, lakes, countries with the united states,
etc.
Examples: 1. The Ganges is a sacred river.
2. The English Channel is the longest river channel in the world.
Exceptions:
‘The’ cannot be used as a prefix with nouns, such as
Names of continents, like South America, Africa, etc.
Names of countries, states, or streets like India, London, Sydney, etc.
Names of single mountains, lakes, bays, or islands, like Hudson Bay, etc.
Names of languages like English, French, Hindi, etc.
Names of sports, such as cricket, basketball, etc.
Names of subjects like Maths, Economics, Geography, etc.
Rule 7: ‘The’ must be used when something is unique in the universe.
Example: The Sun, The moon, The planet

Rules for Articles for Indefinite Article ‘A’ and ‘An’

Rule 1: The article ‘a’ is used before a noun with a consonant sound.
Examples: 1. The chair is occupied by a man.
2.She is a student at a university in Delhi.
Similarly, the article ‘an’ is used before the words with a vowel sound.
Examples: 1. She is an artist.
2. He is an innocent man.
Rule 2: ‘A’ or ‘An’ is always used with a singular common noun, whereas a
plural common noun does not need an article or can use ‘the’ if that noun is
specific.
Examples: 1. I ate an apple. (random single apple)
2. I ate apples. (many apples)
3. I ate the apple kept in the fridge. (particular apple)
Rule 3: ‘A’ or ‘An’ is used to change a proper noun to a common noun.
Example: 1. I am an Indian. (India is a proper noun whereas Indian is a common
noun)
Rule 4: ‘A’ or ‘An’ is sometimes used to denote numbers.
Examples: 1. Seema has a doll.
2. Ram walks 5 km in an hour.
Rule 5: ‘A’ or ‘An’ is used before the descriptive adjectives.
Examples: 1. She is a beautiful girl.
2. What an amazing painting!
Rule 6: ‘A’ or ‘An’ is used with the non-specific determiners, such as few, most,
lot, etc.
Examples: 1. There are a few students in the class.
2. Only a little milk is left.
 Questions

1. ...... apple a day keeps the doctor away?

A. An
B. The
C. A
D. No Article

2. .... Bay of Bengal lies in the Indian Ocean.

A. An
B. The
C. A
D. No Article

3. I don't like .... dogs!

A. An
B. The
C. A
D. No Article

4. Please close ..... window. It's cold in here

A. An
B. The
C. A
D. No Article

5. Can you tell me how to get to ..... library?

A. An
B. The
C. A
D. No Article
 Answers

1. A
2. B
3. D
4. B
5. B