Article (Part 1) - English Grammar Teaching Notes | EduRev

‘‘An  article is a word or a letter which is used before noun and tells about the certainity of that noun’’.
There are two kinds of article :
(i) Indefinite article  —A/An
(ii) Definite article —The

(i) Indefinite Article

A or An is called the Indefinite article because, it leaves indefinite mark on the person or thing spoken of.
As,
A boy means any boy.
A teacher means any teacher.

USE OF ‘A’

1. If consonant is the first letter of a countable singular common noun, we use ‘A’ before it.
As,
Sakshi has book —wrong
Sakshi has a book —correct
I met girl there —wrong
I met a girl there —correct

2. ‘A’ is used before some indefinite numbers.
As,
a lot of a number of
a great deal of a half of
a large number of a quarter of

3. ‘A’ can be used before some indefinite collective numbers.

As,
a team of           a gang of
a flock of           a heard of
a swarm of        a panel of
a bunch of

4. If an adjective is followed by a singular noun, we use ‘A’ before that adjective.
As,
    Madhuri is beautiful girl    —wrong
    Madhuri is a beautiful girl    —correct
                          ↓            ↓
                       Adjective  Noun
    But,
    Reema has a good health    —wrong
    Reema has good health    —correct
                            ↓         ↓
                   Adjective  Adjective
    So,
    Whenever a noun is not used after adjective we do not use article before it.
    As,
            A proper respect
                    ↓            ↓
            Adjective  Adjective
            A proper respect
                    ↓           ↓
              Adjective    Adjective
            In a fit
                   ↓
            Adjective
            In a temper
                       ↓
               Adjective
     

 The above examples are all correct.

 5. ‘A’ is used at the place of ‘per’.

Petrol is found twenty-five a litre.

6. To show the whole class of common noun we can use ‘A’ before a common noun.
As,
A bird has two wings.
A monkey has a tail.
i.e.,    All birds has two wings.
All monkey has a tail.
But, common noun like Man and Woman do not follow the above rule.
As,
A man is mortal.    —wrong
Man is mortal.    —correct

7. Sometimes at the place of ‘on’ we can use article ‘A’

As,

Sita was seen a bed.
                        ↓
                       on
Kumar went a hunting.
                          ↓
                        on

8. If we put article ‘A’ before plural number, the forthcoming noun becomes singular.
As,
A five day match.
A ten mile walk.
A fifteen man committee.
But,
Five days match.
Ten miles walk.
Fifteen men committee.

9. ‘A‘ is used before these words because, they have the sound of consonant in their first letter.

As,
A university.              A union.
A unique film.           A European.
A one-rupee note.    A one-eyed person.
A one-act play.        A one-sided decision.
  

10. If noun is placed after such, quite, rather, how etc., we use ‘A’ before that noun.

As,
I have never seen such girl in my life.     —wrong
I have never seen such a girl in my life.    —correct
Roma is quite dull girl.    —wrong
Roma is quite a dull girl.    —correct

11. If these words are used in singular, we use ‘A’ before them.

Noise, Lie, Hole, Headache etc.

As,
The pupil makes noise in the class.    —wrong
The pupil makes a noise in the class.    —correct
Joydeb always tells lie.    —wrong
Joydeb always tells a lie.    —correct