മത്സരത്തിലെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് – 2
മത്സരത്തിലെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് – 2
ചൂര്യയി ചന്ദ്രന്‍
The Articles
• Articles come before nouns
• We have two types of articles – definite and indefinite articles.
• a and an are called the indefinite articles
• The is called the definite article.
Use of the indefinite Article.
The indefinite Article is used
1. In its original sense of one
a) He has a WhatsApp group
b) My brother bought a dozen pencils
c) Hari is a friend of mine
2. In the vague sense of a certain (ഏതോ ഒന്ന്/ഒരാള്‍)
a) There was a king.
b) A boy named David opened the door
c) An ugly fellow; I don’t know his name
3. In the sense of any before a singular countable noun which represents its class
Countable – എണ്ണാവുന്നത്
eg – boy, girl, book, orange etc
Uncountable എണ്ണാന്‍ പറ്റാത്ത
Eg – sand, sugar , rice, etc.
a) A fox is a cunning animal
b) A crow is black
c) A dog is faithful
Foxes, crows, dogs എന്നിവക്ക് പകരമാണ്
a fox, a crow, a dog വന്നത്
We use a before the words starting with consonant sound and an before the words
starting with vowel sound.
Vowel letters : a , e , i , o , and u are vowels.
Consonant letters : all other letters are called consonants.
an eye a one rupee note (വണ്‍ ) ‘വ’ വ്യഞ്ജനം
an owl. a lion
an umbrella. a manager
an ass a year
an onion. a university
an ice-cream. a union (യൂണിയന്‍) ‘യ’ വ്യഞ്ജനം
an honest (ഓണസ്റ്റ് ) man ‘ഒ’ സ്വരം (vowel) a European (യൂറോപ്യന്‍)
an hour (അവര്‍) ‘അ’ സ്വരം a useful thing
an hotel (ഓട്ടല്‍) ‘ഓ’ സ്വരം a heretic (അവിശ്വാസി )
an important even (‘ഇം’ സ്വരം ) a hotel (ഹോട്ടല്‍) ‘ഹ’ വ്യഞ്ജനം
an RAF (ആറേഫ്) ‘ആ’ സ്വരം a one – eyed man
an historical novel (ഇസ്റ്റോറിക്കല്‍) a four
an eleven (ഇലവന്‍) (‘ഇ’ സ്വരം ) a three
an idiot. a B.A
an idea a B.Sc.
an heir (അവകാശി) a ruler
an Emperor a king
an Empire a Queen
an umpire a Duke
an M.A a Duchess
an M.Sc an uncle
an aunt an enemy
4. To change a Proper Noun into
a Common Noun
Proper Noun – special name of a person,
place or thing
Tom, Dick, Kannur, Dharmadam,
Common Noun – …………….
eg:. 1) A Shakespeare among Malayalam writers
2) My brother is a Kumba Karna
5. With a Noun complement (Professions and occupations)
Subject ഉം Verb ഉം ചേര്‍ന്നാല്‍ അര്‍ത്ഥം പൂര്‍ണ്ണമാവാത്തിടത്ത്, പൂര്‍ണ്ണതക്ക് വേണ്ടി വരുന്ന word ആണ് complement.
1) He is an Engineer.
Engineer – റെ കൂടാതെ ലെിലേിരല പൂര്‍ണ്ണമാവില്ല. അതുകൊണ്ട് Engineer
complement ആണ്.
2) Susheel is a musician.
6. With numerals like couple, dozen, thousand and million
a couple (one couple ) a thousand (one thousand)
a dozen (one dozen), a million (one million)
7. In such expressions as
a few only a few
a little only a little etc
8. In Exclamations
1) What a stupid fellow!
2) What a pity!
3) Such a waste!
4) What a wonderful sight!
9. In the sense of every
eg: 1) Twenty rupees a dozen
2) Sixty kilometres an hour
10. To specify a special kind of thing
1) a black coffee
2) a Kancheepuram saree
Omission of the indefinite Article
a , anഇവ ഉപയോഗിക്കാന്‍ പാടില്ലാത്ത സ്ഥലം.The indefinite Article is not used
1. Before uncountable nouns
eg: advice, information, bread, scenery, equipment, furniture, luggage, machinery, news
2. Before names of materials like gold, paper, wood, glass, etc.
Platinum is a precious metal
3. Before abstract Nouns like beauty, hope, goodness, fear, honesty, joy, happiness, sorrow, etc.
abstract noun – ഗുണനാമം. എടുക്കാനോ, തൊടാനോ, അളക്കാനോ പറ്റാത്ത സത്യം, നന്മ, വെണ്മ, ധര്‍മ്മം മുതലായ ഗുണനാമങ്ങള്‍ക്കൊപ്പം വരില്ല.
a) Honesty is the best policy
Uses of the Definite Article
The is used
1. Before a noun already referred to
There was a crow, the crow was thirsty
2. When a singular noun represents a whole class
a) The cow gives milk
b) The rose is the sweetest of all flowers.
3. Before some proper names like
Oceans : the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean
Seas. : the Arabian sea
Rivers : the Ganga, the Kaveri, the Krishna
Canals : the Suez canal
Deserts: the Sahara
Gulfs. : the Persian gulf
Chain of islands : the Andaman- Nicobar islands
Chains of mountain : the Himalayas, the Alps, the Vindhia, the SathaPura
Plateau: the Deccan plateau
4. Before the names of religious books and epics
The Mahabharata
The Ramayana The Quaran
The Odyssey The Gurugrantha Sahib
The Bible The Thirukural
5. Before the names of only one phenomena in the world
The Sun The Ocean
The Sky The Moon The Weather
The Earth The North
6. Before a noun which has been made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause
eg : 1) The place where he was born is not known
2) The man on duty was kidnapped.
7. Before Superlatives
eg: a) He is the most industrious fellow.
b) Geetha is the youngest Grama Panchayat President.
8. Before ordinal numbers
Cardinal numbers : one, two, three, etc
Ordinal numbers : first, second, third etc
eg: a) Nehru was the first prime minister of India.
b) The fifth chapter reveals the truth
9. Before proper nouns which are qualified by adjectives or adjective clauses
eg: a) who hasn’t heard of the the Mahatma Gandhi
b) The immortal Shakespeare.
10. Before the names of musical instruments
eg: He plays the violin
His sister played the piano
11. Before an adjective used instead of a plural noun to represent a whole class
eg: 1) At present you do not say anything about the rich
2) We have to consider the conditions of the poor
12. With the structure ‘ the more……the more……’
eg: 1) The more you give, the more they demand.
2) The higher you go, the cooler you feel
3) The earlier you start, the sooner you reach
13. Before ‘only’ used as an adjective
eg: It was the only incident I remember
14. Before the names of federated states.
eg: The U.S.A
The U.A.E
The U.K
Omission of the Definite Article
‘The’ is omitted
(1) Before Proper Nouns
eg: The India ? India ?
The Kerala ? Kerala ?
The Nehru ? Nehru ?
(2) Before material nouns
eg: 1. Platinum is costlier than gold
2. Glass is brittle
(3) Before abstract nouns used in a general sense.
Honesty is the best policy
(4) Before the names of languages
eg: The British speak English
(5) Before such words as father, mother, cook, nurse etc
a) Mother is not well
b) Uncle comes at 10.30 am
(6) Before predicative nouns denoting a unique position that is normally held at one
time by one person only
eg: The president appointed him Secretary (zero article)
Mr. David was elected President of the Board of Directors. (zero article)
(7) Before nouns in certain fixed prepositional phrases.
at day break at night on horse back
by day by bus In debt
(8) Before names of meals.
eg: He has breakfast at nine, and lunch at one p.m.
‘The’ is used in special cases
eg: The lunch given on his birthday was a magnificent affair
(9) Before the word ‘home’ when it is used alone, without a description word to modify
it.
1) I went home directly from market.
2) I went to the home of a friend
(10) Before abstract nouns used in general sense
Honesty is the best policy
Beauty can defeat even gold
One day truth will come out, but slowly
(11) Before dining table, bed, school, college, church, hospital, court, market, prison,
etc. when these things and places are used and visited for their primary purpose or
common purpose
eg:. 1) Moly went to Church to pray (common purpose)
A police inspector went to the church for an enquiry ( a special purpose)
2) Students have reached school ( common purpose of the school)
Electricians and painters are going to the school (special purpose)
3) He is in hospital with fever.
Health minister visited the hospital yesterday.
NB: The nouns theatre, office, cinema, and cathedral require definite article ‘the’