Articles in English Grammar: Use of A, An, The with Worksheet

Articles in English Grammar: Definitions, Uses and Examples

What article should be used with countable nouns?

Which article is to be used with names of professions?

These are a few questions regarding articles that some of us have wondered at one time or the other. We understand that grammar rules can be confusing and therefore to refresh your memory we have curated a concise lesson on the usage of articles.

What is an article?

An article is a word that comes before a noun to show whether it’s specific or general. For example, in the sentence – “Deepak bought a car,” the article “a” indicates that the word “car” is a noun.

Often, a sentence needs an article before a noun to make grammatical sense. For example,

❌ Incorrect: I have bag.

✅ Correct: I have a bag.

❌ Incorrect: She opened drawer.

✅ Correct: She opened the drawer.

❌ Incorrect: French is spoken by French.

✅ Correct: French is spoken by the French.

In English, there are three articles: “a,” “an,” and “the“:

 

A and An (Indefinite Articles)

These are indefinite articles. They are used before singular countable nouns that are general or non-specific.

Example 1– I want a book.

• A is used before nouns that start with a consonant sound – B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y and Z.
• The usage is as follows – a boy; a car; a bike; a book; a

Example 2 – I ate an apple.

• An is used before nouns that start with a vowel sound – A, I, E, O and U.
• The usage is as follows – an elephant; an egg; an apple; an umbrella; an

 

The (Definite Article)

This is the definite article. It is used before both singular and plural nouns. It is also used with both countable and uncountable nouns that are specific.

Examples-

• This is the longest river in India.
• She must tell the truth in the court.
• You are the tallest person in our class.
• This is the third time I have called you today.
• The movie that I saw last night was great.

Worksheet to Check Your Understanding of Articles

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate article: a, an, the, or nil.

1. ___ yellow dog that belongs to my brother is ______ old dog.
2. Does Rahul drive ________ truck or _______ car?
3. My sister works at _____ restaurant across ______ school.
4. My new watch is made of _____ gold.
5. When Seema heard _______ terrible news, she was filled with ______ sadness.
6. _________ women generally live longer than _________ men.
7. Will you take ______ picture of us?
8. The teacher said, “You may take _____ break if you have finished _____ rest of _____ test.”
9. I’m going to _____ market on _____ Hill Street. Can I get you anything?
10. After ________  Thanksgiving weekend, you would probably agree that ____ football is ___________ most popular sport in _____ North America.
11. I hope to get ______ degree in computer science by ______ end of this year.
12. What is more important to you—_________  good health or ______ money?
13. If _____ telephone in the kitchen rings, will you pick it up?
14. ________ Parliament House is situated in ______  New Delhi.
15. ______ national flower of India is white in colour.

 

Answer keys-

Q1. The, an

Q2. a, a

Q3. the, the

Q4. Nil

Q5. the, nil

Q6. The, the

Q7. a

Q8. a, the, the

Q9. the, the

Q10. the, the, the, the

Q11. a, the

Q12. Nil, nil

Q13. the

Q14. The, nil

Q15. The

We hope this was a fun read for you and that we’ve helped you grasp how to use articles in your day-to-day conversations. Keep visiting our blogs for more interesting articles on English grammar tips and concepts!

See you soon!