articles

This is a unique way of communicating with birds.

In the examples given below, ‘an’ is used before ‘MBA’ and ‘hour’ though they are words starting with consonants. This is because the word ‘MBA’ starts with ‘m’ which has a vowel sound (em) in the beginning. Likewise, the ‘h’ in the word ‘hour’ is silent, thus having a vowel sound in the beginning.

I have completed an MBA degree.

It took an hour to reach the airport.

Exceptions

Words starting with a vowel, but use ‘a’ instead of ‘an’:

One

University

Unique

Uniform

Unit

Eucalyptus

Utensil

Euro

UFO

Words starting with a consonant, but use ‘an’ instead of ‘a’.

Hour

Honest

Hourly

MBA

MBBS

MA

MSc

MMR

MCom

MLA

NCC

Honorary

X-ray

Xmas

There are also some cases in which you will have to use the indefinite article ‘the’ before a common noun. Look at the following set of sentences to understand how this works.

Example 1: My brother and I are going for a wedding reception. The reception is held in an open lawn at 7 p.m.

Example 2: I saw a dog at the end of the street. The dog came running to me.

Example 3: Tharun watched a movie yesterday. He felt that the movie was too slow.

Examples of Articles

Let us look at a few more examples to find out how articles can be used.

The English teacher is absent today.

I saw a bird sitting on the tree in front of my house.

Not many know how to use an oven properly.

Tom has a cat.

We are going to buy a dress for our daughter.

Carry an umbrella. I am sure it will rain.

Keren found a puppy on the road.

The parents have been asked to attend a meeting tomorrow.

The committee has decided to bring down the fuel rates.

Due to a hartal, the shops have been closed.