Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Grammer-When we use articles

Articles

Look at the following words. We use ‘a’, an indefinite article before nouns beginning with a consonant sound.

a European             a Japanese            a Martian
a hangar                  a nest                    a feather
a one o’ clock          a chef                    a car

Look at the following words. Though they begin with a vowel letter, all the three begin with a consonant sound.

a university                              a European                     a one-way street

We use ‘an’, another indefinite article, before nouns beginning with a vowel sound.

an Indian           an Airplane                  an M.Sc.,            an hour ago


The form ‘an’ is used before nouns beginning with a mute ‘h’:

e.g. an honest man          an hour


The form ‘an’ is used before individual letters spoken with a vowel sound.

e.g. an M L A         an MP         an L-board         an ‘X’


Note: It is not the letter but the sound (vowel or consonant) that decides whether a word takes the article ‘a’ or ‘an’.


In the following cases, a/an must be omitted
(i) Before plural nouns
e.g. dogs, books, eggs

(ii) Before uncountable nouns
e.g. oil, hay, breakfast, water, jam

Task 1 : Fill in the blanks with indefinite articles ‘a’ or ‘an’. Mark ‘X’ where there isn’t any article.
1. …… empty vessel makes ……. lot of noise.

2. ……. idle mind is …… devil’s workshop.

3. …… apple ……day keeps the doctor away.

4. Make …. hay while the sun shines.

5. …… birds of …. feather flock together.

6. …… stitch in time saves nine.

7. …… little learning is …. dang’rous thing.

8. Hope is …… good breakfast but …. bad supper.

9. Don’t pour ….. oil on troubled waters.

10. …… beggars can’t be …. choosers.


Task 2: Fill in the blanks with ‘a’ or ‘an’.
…….. union of animals
When I stood under ………. eucalyptus tree, I saw – ……. amazing ant, ………. busy bee,
……. crazy cat, …….. one – horned deer, ……. envious elephant, ……… funny fox, ……. gentle giraffe, ……… honest hare, ……. idle insect, ……….. joyous jackal, ……. unique kangaroo, ……. angry lion, ……. interesting monkey, …….. naughty nightingale, ……. one-eyed owl, ……… proud peacock, ……. elegant quail, ……… red rabbit, ……. anxious sparrow, …….. tame tiger, ……. uniformed unicorn, ……. ambitious viper, ……. handsome whale, ……… ‘X’, ……. young yak and …….. checked zebra driving…… ‘L’ board car. Then they stopped at the airport and stood for ……… hour to buy ……… one-way ticket to go to ………… university in Siberia.



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