ERRORS IN THE USE OF ARTICLES – 4

08. (W) What kind of a pen do you want?

( R) What kind of pen do you want?

Note:- The Indefinite Article is not used after the phrase ‘kind of’ or ‘sort of’.

09. (W) What sort of a man is he?

( R) What sort of man is he?

10. (W) Bravery of the spartans was renowned.

( R) The Bravery of the Spartans was renowned.

Note:- If abstract nouns are used in a particular sense,they require the use of the

definite article. But if abstract nouns are used in a general sense, they cannot take

‘the’.

11. (W) The gold is a precious metal.

( R) Gold is a precious metal.

Note:- Material nouns, if used in a general sense, are used without any article.

12. (W) Gold of South Africa is exported to many countries.

( R) The Gold of South Africa isexported to many countries.

Note:- If material nouns are used in a particular sense, the definite article is required.

13. (W) My brother goes to the school.

( R) My brother goes to school.

Note:- ‘To go to school’ means to be a student, while ‘to go to the school’ means to

visit the school. Similarly, ‘to leave school’ means ‘to go away the school premises’.

14. (W) On Sunday, we go to the church.

( R) On Sunday, we go to church.

15. (W) He found a work at the bank.

( R) He found work at the bank.

Note:- The Indefinite Article should not be used before such words as work, fun,

health, permission.

16. (W) They made great noise when they were playing in the garden.

( R) They make a great noise when they were playing in the garden.

Note:- We say ‘make a noise’, ‘make a mistake’, ‘make a promise’, ‘make an

impression’, ‘make a reputation’.

17. (W) He has headache.

( R) He had a headache.

Note:- The correct phrases are: ‘have (run) a temperature’, ‘have a cold’, ‘have a

severe pain’.

18. (W) We shall see him after the lunch.

( R ) We shall see him after lunch.

Note:- The definite article is not used before the names of the meals: supper, dinner,

lunch, breakfast. “The” is omitted before Abstract nouns, plural nouns, proper

nouns, names of Materials, Meals and Colours, When used in a general sense.

19. (W) He was tired of the life, but as he loves the travel, he crossed the Atlantic to

United States and stayed in the New York.

( R) He was tired of life, but as he loves travel, he crossed the Atlantic to the United

States and stayed in New York.

20. (W) Bible is a sacred book of the Christians.

( R) The Bible is a sacred book of the christians.

Note:- As a general rule, the should not precede a proper noun. But names of holy

books and certain well-known books are preceded by the, when the author’s name is

not prefixed.

e.g. I read the Ramayana. (correct)

He read Vyasa’s Mahabharata. (correct)

ERRORS IN THE USE OF ARTICLES - 3

ERRORS IN THE USE OF ARTICLES - 3

(q) The is used with a particular person or thing is meant.

E.g. Joanna is in the garden. (i.e. the garden of her house)

I went to the Post Office. (i.e the post office where I usually go)

(r) The is used before a proper Noun as a Common Noun.

E.g. Kalidasa is the Shakespeare of India.

Mumbai is the Manchester of India.

(s) The is used before the names of Newspapers (the Hindu, the Hindustan Times,

the Indian Express),

names of noted public places and important events (the High Court, the Senate

House, the French Revolution, the Reformation),

Ordinal numbers (George the Fifth, Chapter the Second),

names of trains (the Brindavan Express, the Circar Express),

names of museums and certain buildings (the British Museum, the Salarjung

Museum, the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange),

common nouns as a substitute for the Possessive Adjectives (I struck him on the

(his)head. He stared in the (my) face.

Note:- The is omitted befre Abstract Nouns, Plural Nouns, Proper Nouns, Names of

Materials, Meals and Colours when they are used in a general sense.

SOME EXERCISES

01. (W) The both industrious students sat up the half night.

( R) Both the industrious students sat up half the night.

Note:- Here the position of the definite article is wrong.

We should not put “the” before : all, half, double or both. It must follow them.

02. (W) I received a letter on April the 21st.

( R) I received a letter on April 21st. (or)

I received a letter on April the twenty-first.

Note:- The correct usage is April 21st or Aqpril the twenty-first. Similarly with Kings:

Charles II or Charles the Second.

03. (W) She drives her car at 60 miles each hour.

( R) She drives her car at 60 miles as hour.

Note:- The distributive use of Indefinite Article should be correct. We have to replace

each, every, one, per or the by a or an in ordinary distributive use.

04. (W) I play violin, but not piano.

( R) I play the violin, but not the piano.

Note:- The definite article should be used before the names of musical instruments.

05. (W) English are fond of sports.

( R) The English are fond of sports.

Note:- The definite article must be placed before the names of nationalities,

describing a people collectively; as, the British, the French, the Dutch, the Swiss, etc.

Exception:- Plural nouns standing for the people of a particular country, however, are

not preceded by the , if the people question are thought of individually.

E.g. Indians have dark skins.

Russians drink Vodka.

06. (W) He is not teacher, he is student.

( R) He is not a teacher, he is a student.

Note:- The Indefinite Article a or an must be used to express a singular

noun-complement of the verb “to be”.

07. (W) He gave me a good advice.

( R) He gavbe me good advice.

Note:- The Indefinite Article is not used before singular nouns that are not used in

the plural,

such as advice, information, work, furniture, bread.

ERRORS IN THE USE OF ARTICLES-2

3. The is used

(a) To point out a person or thing known or already referred to.

E.g. This is the dog I have seen there.


(b) Before singular nouns of which only one exists.

E.g. the sun, the earth, the sky, the moon, the sea, the weather, the east, the year

1939, the universe.

(c) Before the names of rivers, oceans, bays, gulfs, canals, seas etc.

E.g.The Godavary, the Ganges, the Pacific Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the Persian Gulf,

the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Dead Sea.

(d) Before a singualr noun indicating a class.

E.g. The Cuckoo is a lazy bird. (i.e. all cuckoo birds are lazy birds.)

The ant is industrious.

The camel is a very ugly animal.

The cow is very useful.

The dog is faithful animal.

(e) Before the names of some well-known books.

E.g. The Bible, the Koran, the Ramayana, the Vedas, the Iliad, the Odyssey.

(f) Before a noun if it is modified by a phrase of clause that makes it unique.

E.g. The back of the house, the top of the blackboard, the right side of the road, the

books I have on my desk.

(g) Before as adjective in the superlative degree.

E.g. He is the wisest man.

She is the most beautiful woman.

(h) Before an adjective used as a noun.

E.g. The rich should help the poor.

The young should respect the old.

The valiant never taste death but one.

(i) Adverbially in sentences like the following:

The more, the merrier.

The larger the number, the greater the strength.

The more common a thing is, the less we think of it.

The more he has, the more he wants.

The more he reads, the less he understands.

The older you grow, the wiser you become.

(j) Before the names of ranges of mountains:

The Himalayas, the Alps.

(k) Before the names of groups of islands:

The Andamans, the Nicobar Islands, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the West

Indies.

Note:- The is not used before the names of single islands, individual peaks and

mountains.

E.g. Ceylon, Mount Everest, Mount Etna, Knchaen Ganga.

(l) When the initials are used, The must be retained.

E.g. the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R., the U.N.O., the W.H.O., the I.A.S., the U.P.P.S.C., the

S.R., the C.R., the N.C.C., the Sudan, the Punjab, the Cango, the Sahara, but South

Africa, South India, etc.

(m) When we think of a thing as the best of its kind, the may be used.

E.g. This is the book on the subject.

He is the man for the job.

(n) The is used with the names of ships.

E.g. the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabethan, the I.A.S. Mysore.

(o) The is used with an adjective equivalent to an abstract noun.

E.g.the sublime and the beautiful (sublimity and beauty).

(p) The is also used with the names of inventions.

E.g. The Telephone is a most useful invention.

We do not know who invented the Wheel.

(p) The is used with nouns expressing a unit.

E.g.This car goes thirty miles to the gallon (i.e.) to each gallon of petrol.

Our gardener is paid by the hour (i.e) so much for each for each hour’s work.

ERRORS IN THE USE OF ARTICLES

Points To Note:


(1) Errors in the use of the English articles are very common in India. They are

difficult words to use correctly, out many errors occur because people do not

understand the purpose of the words, and the thought which they express.

There are two articles in English, the definite article(the) and the indefinite article (a

or an). (These are essentially DemonstrativeAdjectives).

(2) The purpose of the definite article (the) is to show that the speaker is thinking one

of the particular thing or one particular group of things as separate from all other

things of the same kind.


For example, the tiger which killed Mr. Stone ran away.


Of all the tigers in the world, only one tigher killed him. Therefore, we think of it as

separate from all other tigers. It is particularised.


(3) The purpose of the Indefinite Article (a or an) is to show that the speaker is

thinking of one thing of a certain kind, without troubling which particular one it is.


For example, we might begin a story by saying “A tiger sprang out of the jungle and

killed Mr. Stone.”

We being with a tiger, not the tiger, because we have not yet separated that tigher

from all others by saying what it did. But as soon as we have said what it did then we

think of that tiger as separate from all other tighers.


We might go on by saying: “Then men plural mouns, proper Nouns, names of

Materials, Meals, and colours, when used in a general sense.

But “the” is used before the names of rivers, seas, oceans and ships, ranges of

mountains, countries with plural names, names of hotels and museums and certain

buildings, names of families (in the plural).


NOTES OF ARTICLES

A, an and the are called articles. They are used as adjectives. A or an is called the

Indefinite article. It points to any person or thing. The is called the definite article. It

points to some particular person or thing.

A and an are used before nouns in the singular number only: The is used before both

singular and plural nouns.

1. A is used before a word beginning with a consonantal sound or a vowel sounded

like a consonant:

e.g. She is a girl.

It is a chair.

This is useful thing.

There is a university.

He is a European.

He is a young man.

It took a year for me to do it.

It is a ewe.

It is a unit.

There is a union.

His words are a eulogy.

He is a one-eyed man.

I have a one rupee coin.

We want a yard of cloth.

It is a unicorn.

It is a horse.

There is a hole.

2. An is used before words words beginning with a vowel sound.

E.g. an egg, an elephant, an apple, an actor, an actress, an umbrella, as ass, an ant, an

army, an Alsatian, an ulcer, an ink-bottle, an arm-chair, an ox, etc.

An is also used before words beginning with a silent h.

e.g an honourable man, An hour, an honest man, an heir, an heirloom, an M.A., an

M.D., an historical novel etc.