Definite Article 'The'
Definite Article (the) points out a particular person, animal, thing or place. 'The' is used before a noun beginning with a consonant or a vowel sound.
- This is the boy who came first in the race.
- The Quran is a holy book of the Muslim.
In the above given sentences, 'the' has been used before boy, race, Quran and Muslim (all nouns) which are definite or particular person or thing. These particular person or thing may begin with both sounds - consonant or vowel,
Uses of definite Article 'The'
'The' is used before the following:
- Before a class of noun. E.g. the man is a social animal.
- Before the superlative degrees of Adjective. E.g. The best
- Before a noun which has been mentioned earlier. Saurav saw a bird. The bird was beautiful.
- Before the names of national, religion and caste. Eg. The Hindu, the Indian.
- Before the names of famous building - The Red Fort.
- Before the names of sea, river or valley. E.g. The pacific, The Ganga, The Bay of Bengal
- Before the names of few countries. E.g. The U.S.A., The UK
- Before the names of religious book. E.g. the Ramayana.
'The' is used before the names of holy books, rivers, oceans, mountains, monuments, newspapers, heavenly bodies, etc.
- The Ramayana, The Geeta, The Bible, The Quran.
- The Ganga, The Yamuna, The Nile.
- The Indian Ocean, The Pacific Ocean.
- The Himalayas, The Alps.
- The Taj Mahal, The Victoria Memorial, The Red fort.
- The Times of India, The Hindustan times, The Hindu.
- The Sun, The Moon, The Sky, The Earth, The Star.
Fill in the blanks with suitable article:
________ Geeta is a holy book of Hindu.
(A) A
(B) The
(C) An
(D) All of these
(E) None of these
Answer: (B)
Explanation : 'The' is used before the names of holy book.
____________Sun gives light in the sky.
(A) The
(B) A
(C) An
(D) All of these
(E) None of these
Answer: (A)
Explanation: 'The' is used before the names of heavenly bodies.
- A is used before a noun beginning with a consonant sound.
- An is used before a noun beginning with a vowel sound.
- The is used before a noun beginning with a consonant or a vowel sound but these nouns refer to definite or particular nouns.
- The is used before the names of holy books, rivers, oceans, mountains, monuments, newspapers, heavenly bodies, etc.
- Indefinite articles are not used with uncountable nouns.
- Article is not used before the names of games. Such as - He plays hockey.
- Article is not used before some diseases like cholera, malaria, fever, typhoid etc.
- Article is not used before the names of festival.
- Article is not used before Plural Countable Nouns when they indicate a class.
- No article is used before the names of language.
- No article is used before Proper Noun, Material Noun and Abstract Noun.
