What is Article this class is mainly designed to prepare Bengali speaking candidates who are willing to participate in competitive exams (eg BCS preparation, university entrance classes or university entrance preparation classes) in English subject. However, this lesson will also help those who are English grammar learners in other classes. Our lessons will help you improve your English at any moment of your life.
What is Article
An article is a short monosyllabic word that is used to define if the noun is specific or not. Articles are normally used before nouns and since they are used to speak about the noun, they can be considered as adjectives.
Look at how various dictionaries define an article to have a much clearer idea of what they are.
Definition of an Article
An article, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is defined as “any of a small set of words or affixes (such as a, an, and the) used with nouns to limit or give definiteness to the application.” According to the Collins Dictionary, “an article is a kind of determiner. In English, ‘a’ and ‘an’ are called the indefinite article, and ‘the’ is called the definite article.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines an article as “a type of determiner (=word used before a noun) that shows whether you are referring to a particular thing or to a general example of something. The indefinite article is ‘a’ or ‘an’ and the definite article is ‘the’.”
Types of Articles
There are three articles in English – ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’. These articles are divided into two types namely:
- Definite Article
- Indefinite Article
Definite Article
Among the three articles, ‘the’ is said to be the definite article. A definite article is used to determine something that is specific or particular. It is also used before plural nouns and to indicate the superlative degree of comparison. Furthermore, it can be used before collective nouns as well.
For example:
- The Sun sets in the west.
In the above sentence, the nouns ‘Sun’ and ‘west’ are proper nouns and are specific and so the definite article has to be used.
- The children are playing cricket.
In the above sentence, the definite article is used to determine the plural noun, ‘children’.
- This is the world’s longest river.
In the above sentence, the definite article is used to denote the superlative degree of comparison.
- The crowd sang along with the band.
In the above sentence, the definite article is used before the collective nouns, ‘crowd’ and ‘band’.
Indefinite Article
The articles ‘an’ and ‘an’ are termed as indefinite articles. An indefinite article, as the name suggests, is used to indicate something that is not definite or specific. It can also be used before singular nouns.
Among the indefinite articles, ‘an’ is used before singular nouns that start with vowel sounds and ‘a’ is used before singular nouns that begin with consonant sounds.
For example:
- I had an apple for breakfast.
- Do you have an eraser?
- I saw an aeroplane.
- She has a pet dog.
- My father is a doctor.
- My brother gave me a calculator.
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