3rd Class English Articles Articles, Prepositions and Conjunctions

Articles, Prepositions and Conjunctions

 

Articles: 'A, 'an' and 'the' are called articles.

Use of 'A'

 

1.                Before any singular noun that starts with a consonant.

For example: A cat, a boy, a car, etc.

2.                Before any singular noun that starts with a vowel but produces the sound of a consonant.

For example: A uniform, a European, a university, etc.

 

Use of 'An'

 

1.                Before any singular noun that starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).

For example: An apple, an elephant, an umbrella, etc.

2.                Before any singular noun that starts with a consonant but produces the sound of a vowel.

For example: An engineer, an honest man, an hour, etc.

 

Use of 'The'

 

1.                Before the names of planets and stars.

For example: The Sun, The Earth, etc.

 

2.               Before the names of direction.

For example: The Sun rises in the East.

 

3.                Before the names of ships, trains, seas, oceans, canals, lakes, rivers, dams and deserts.

For example: The Frontier mail.

 

4.                Before the names of a few countries.

For example: The U.S.A, the U.K., etc.

 

5.               Before the names of books, newspapers, magazines.

For example: The Gita, The Times of India, etc.

 

6.                Before the names of religions and castes.

For example: The Hindu, the Muslim, etc.

 

7.               Before the names of historical places and monuments.              

For example: The Taj Mahal, the Qutub Minar, etc.

 

Preposition

 

A preposition is a word which shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun with another word in a sentence.

Read the following sentences:

 

1.            He is fond of tea.

2.            I walk to school daily.

3.            They reached home at ten o' clock.

4.            He looked through the window.

5.            I bought it for rupees ten.

6.            We were walking along the road.

7.            Mary put the cup on the shelf.

8.            The cat jumped off the chair.       

                      

The words of, to, at, through, along, for, on, off are prepositions.

Use of in, on, at

IN

Study the following examples:

 

1.            He works in a shop.

2.            He lives in Jalandhar.

3.            What do you have in your bag?

4.            Children are playing in the garden.

5.            The snow falls in winter.

6.            He was born in September in 1975.

7.            We were back in a few minutes.

 

We also use 'in' in the following expressions:

In the street, in the city, in a country, in April, in 1982, in the evening, in a month, in a week, in bed, in the bus, in a car, in my pocket, in the sky, in the middle of, in the field, in the room.

 

AT

Study the following examples:

 

1.            I met him at the bus stop.

2.            Who 'is standing at the door?

3.            He lives at 27/3 Nehru Nagar, Delhi.

4.            The rain came at night.                                                                             

5.            She is coming home at the weekend.

6.            There is a garden at the backyard.

7.            The train reached at 5 o' clock.

 

We also use 'at' in the following expressions:

At the moment, at home, at the Hotel Taj, at school, at party, at the front, at lunch time, at six, at noon, at Railway Station, at a hotel, at the age of sixteen.

ON

Study the following examples:

 

1.            There is a picture on the wall.

2.            The books are on the table.

3.            His birthday falls on Monday.

4.            We congratulated him on his birthday.

                        

We also use 'on' m the following expressions:

on the right, on the bed, on a form, on the chair, on a scooter, on March 5th, on Monday morning, on the first floor, on the left.

Use of from, to, by, for

Study the following examples:

 

1.             He works from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2.             We have lived in this house for six years.

3.             The building will be ready by Monday

4.             We stayed at Shimla for a week.

5.             You must finish this work by 4 o' clock.

 

We also use 'by and for' in the following expressions:

By sunset, by March, by weekend, for a month, for six days, for a year, for a few days, by next year, by next month.

 

 

Conjunction

Conjunctions are joining words. They join two words, phrases, clauses and sentences together.

For example:

(1) Sachin is a good batsman but Pathan is an all-rounder.

(2) Two and three make five.                                          

You have seen in the above given two sentences 'but? and 'and' are used as conjunctions.

The following words are used as conjunction:

For example: And, but, for, or, nor, also, either or, neither nor, only, still, that, unless, after, while, then, etc.

 

•            Example

 

1.            You will not succeed unless you work hard.

 

2.            He was sorry after he realised his mistake.

 

3.            Birds fly and fish swim.

 

4.            Ram arrived but Sohan did not reach.

 

5.            Either he or you will suffer.

 

6.            I will play after doing my homework.

 

7.            He is neither in Bombay nor in Delhi.

 

8.            He is taller than me.

 

9.            I like you, better than he.

 

10.          He will not pay unless he is compelled.