Articles: Fill in the Blanks

What is an article?

In general, an article is an adjective used to modify a noun based on if its specific or non-specific entity. These are used to stress on the given noun. There are two types of articles ;

• Definite article
• Indefinite article

Definite Article

A definite article is a word ‘the’ which is used to address the stress on the specific noun.

A few examples are given below;

• The fish in the pond.
• The sunset is so beautiful.
• The cruise ship is in the harbour.

In the above examples, the article used in front of a noun to be stressed is direct, i.e., fish, sunset, cruise.

Indefinite Article

Indefinite articles are ‘a’ or ‘an’. These are not used to stress on a specific noun; it is a generalized nouns.

A few examples are given below 

• A cup of coffee
• An unbelievable incident
• An advertisement 

Given below are some examples to show how ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are used according to a scenario.

1. Mom doesn’t want a fridge in our house (any fridge)

The fridge is in our kitchen (a specific fridge)

A fridge is commonly seen in every house. (Generalized term, so no article.)

2. I have a cat. (One cat)

The cat sleeps on our sofa. (The cat mentioned earlier)

Some cats are aggressive. (Cats in general)

3.We are going to see the leaning tower of Pisa this Saturday. (Only one leaning tower of Pisa)

Choosing ‘a’ or ‘an’

There is one important thing to be noted while choosing ‘a’ and ‘an’, like we know from earlier knowledge and is used when there is a vowel (i.e., a, e, I, o, u). but there are a few exceptions in this general rule being followed.

For instance, let’s take a look at this example

• My sister is an honest lady. INCORRECT
• My sister is an honest lady. CORRECT

As you can see, ‘h’ is not a vowel, but still, the right way of expressing this sentence is by using ‘an’. Because he might not be a vowel, but the word ‘honour’ has a vowel sound when pronounced. We can say that honour is a consonant.

Similarly, if a word has a consonant sound, then use ‘a’ even if the word starts with a vowel.

• She is a United States Senator. INCORRECT
• She is a United States Senator. CORRECT

So these were the main important things to be prioritised while using an article.

An article should always be added in every sentence we use as they are critical and give the sentences the appropriate meaning and correctness. The words ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are the main articles we use in English and the very majority of our sentences while writing or speaking have these articles. But we never noticed it and realised hope it makes a sentence sound more proper and how each noun should be expressed with how much stress. Interesting, isn’t it. 

The more interesting stuff is, have you noticed how many times these articles are used in this article? 

Solved Exercise

FILL IN THE BLANKS 

1.Let’s play ___ chess.

Ans: no article

2. He hopes to join ___ university soon.

Ans: a

3.She wants to become ___ engineer. 

Ans: an

4.This is ___ car I bought yesterday.

Ans: The

5.Please, open ___ the door.

Ans: The

6. Lisa wants ___ burger.

Ans: a

7. He is ___ honest guy. 

Ans: an

8. Let’s go to ___ mall. 

Ans: The

9. Is it cap ___ he was talking about?

Ans: The

 10. Is that ___ chicken?

Ans: a

 11. Is the Taj Mahal built of ___ marble?

Ans: no article

Conclusion

We can conclude by saying that. It is very important to know the significance of what we speak. It is not necessary that you speak English but it is important to speak proper English so for that you need to improve your grammar and from this article now you know what an ‘article’ is and solving the above questions now we know how to correct a sentence.