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- Indefinite article ---- A / An
- Definite article ---- The
What's the difference?
If you want to say about ANY item, you should use the articles A / An. If you want to say about a SPECIFIC item, you should use the article THE.Confused? Lets see an example. Assume that you've selected for a Bank Exam. You have a stupid friend like me. So obviously She will ask you a party.
Suppose if She says
- Lets go to a Restaurant, that means She doesn't have any specific restaurant in Her mind. So you can give her party in ANY cheap restaurant. But,
- If she says Lets go to THE restaurant, that means She has some SPECIFICATIONS. I mean she have a specific restaurant in her mind. So you cant escape ;)
Well, this is the basic difference between A/An and The. There are so many differences and usages of these articles. We shall discuss them later.
Ok, lets discuss about the Indefinite articles first.
Indefinite Articles :
A : The indefinite article 'a' is used before singular countable nouns that start with a Consonant sound.
An : The indefinite article 'an" is used before singular countable nouns that start with a Vowel sound.
Wow, Nice definitions. No?
Have a look at some examples,
Now tell me, what should I use before the words European, One-Eyed Beggar, University, Useful Website?
Can I say, Guide4BankExams is an Useful site to know about Banking Exams?
NO
why ?
Please Re-Read the definitions. Here we are talking about Vowel and Consonant SOUNDS. Not the Letters. People often confuse with this. They blindly put A before a word, if it starts with a Vowel letter (A, E, I, O, U) and put An before the word which starts with the consonant letter.
Consider the SOUND, not the LETTER.
Confusing? Lets see a short cut for this.
- If a word starts with a SWAR (Any of the Indian Language) sound, then we should use An before it.
- If a word starts with a Vyanjan (An of the Indian Language) sound, then we should use A before it.
Have a look at this picture,
so, now see these examples,
A :
- A European
- A One-Eyed beggar
- A University
- A Useful Website
An:
- An hour
- An Honest Man
- An honourable person
Thats it.
Now lets see some more TRICKY examples in English.
Suppose , if you want to say about the Member of Parliament, you can say a Member of Parliament, But if you use shorter form as M.P, Then you should say, He is an M.P
Lets see another example, He is an NRI but He is a Non Resident Indian
Lets see another example, He is an NRI but He is a Non Resident Indian
Thats all for now friends, tomorrow we shall discuss about the article THE.
Good Day
Read more English Shortcuts Here >>
hi , i can understand the swar n vyanjan sound coz i dono hindi
ReplyDeleteOk tell me which is your mother tongue... We'll explain.
Deletemam i can't understand swar n vyanjan sound plz explain.........
DeleteTell me which is your mother tongue (local language), I will explain in that language....
Deletetamil
DeleteOk, for the letters starting with the sound of "Uyir ezhluthu" you should use "An"
Deleteand for the letters starting with the sound of "Uyirmei ezhuthu" you should use "A"
shivani mam,thank u soo much.....
Deletereally your doing very well job madam...thank u
Deletemadam i cant understand swar and vyanjan....my mother tongue is telugu.
Deletekannada
Deletegreat blog help me lots to preparing ibps 2012 thanx shivani mam
ReplyDeletekeep it up
wow...nice tips...maam...u r great...
ReplyDeletefaboulous style mam...its really easy way to explain articles...
ReplyDeletemam explain swar and vyanjan in tamil...
ReplyDeleteExplained above.. plz do check
DeleteVery much useful mam,especially uyir eluthu and uyirmai eluthu
Deleteplease provide pdf files to download.....
ReplyDeletewhich is the best location in india
ReplyDeletePlz upload pdf files of english lessons
ReplyDeletePlz provide pdf files of english lessons to easy to read
ReplyDeleteif u want to download the pdf then press ctrl+p then in left corner a option called destination choose save as pdf then click on save ..........................
DeleteThanx mam
ReplyDeletePlz gives pdf file
Swar and vyanjan sounds in TELUGU
ReplyDeleteNice One
ReplyDeletegr8 its reallyyy useful
ReplyDeleteshivani mam great job mam!!! keep going!!!
ReplyDeletethanks a lot shivani ma'am.. u have made understanding english much more easier..
ReplyDeleteshivani mam, can u tell me the swar and vyanjan sounds in telugu. i am little bit confused about where to put a and an. thank you in advance
ReplyDeleteSwar means Achhulu... Vyanjan means Hallulu...
DeleteAchhulu vaste An
Hallulu vaste A..
hope it helped :)
what a talent u have mam u r awesome .......what ever language people are asking u r telling....u r extraordinary...by the way thanks a lot to whole of gr8ambitionz
DeleteGr8 tips fr studnts n easy to remembr n recognize....
ReplyDeletekindly send english shortcuts as pdf to sreyathanu@gmail.com
ReplyDeletema'am u r doing a gr888 job...I like the way u explain d things.... u make it so easy to understand... :) :)
ReplyDeleteThank u so much... :)
mam kindly send english shortcut pdf to sankareswaribca@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteMam my mothertongue is bengali.i can't understand swar & vyanjan.pls explain it
ReplyDeleteSwar is nothing but shôrobôrno Anindya.
DeleteVyanjan means bênjonbôrno.
Hope you got it now :)
mem i am bengali,, now i am understand shoroborno and benjonborno,, thank u...
Deletemam your explanation power is too good...thank u very much :)
ReplyDeletehi mam
ReplyDeletewhat do you mean by sound,i cant get it
plz explain me
can u explain me in telugu
ReplyDeletethank you very much. now I understood that I was wrong many times
ReplyDeleteSimply Awesome ...I regret why didnt i find this website earlier .
ReplyDeleteplease upload the last 6 months current affairs like 2012 dec, nov and oct months, for IBPS PO'S
ReplyDeletegr8 job mam
ReplyDeletereally gr8 job
ReplyDeletei i cant understand swar & vyajan bec i dont know hindi, pl explain as per tamil language
ReplyDeletethis is is very useful for all who prepare for competitive exams......well explained..also add g.k,currrent affairs,social,science,history ,geography,letter writing,essay writing,resume,cv writing etc as u wish....
ReplyDeleteNice job mam thanks
ReplyDeleteonly one word wowwww
ReplyDeletemam..is der any mistake in ur explanation about the 'sounds' in the above para.(Here we are talking about vowel and consonant sounds.Not the Letters.......this para..)
ReplyDeletethankss...for post...really helpful....
ReplyDeletemam thankss for the post....really helpful...
ReplyDeleteMAM PLEASE UPLOAD SERIES FOR TESTING CALCULATION ASAP
ReplyDeletethis is very help full, thank you so much
ReplyDeletethis is very helpful thank you so much
ReplyDeleteSo nice
ReplyDeleteMam. ..swar like ri..sounds like Ri...a consonant R...then how can we put "an" article before it???...kindly ans mam...
ReplyDeletereally u r doing a great job
ReplyDeletemam i cant understand y A B4 EUROPEAN, eventhough vowel sound E is sounding while spekin
ReplyDelete,,,,,,
mam i cant understand y A b4 EUROPEAN,, eventhough Vowel sound E is soundin while pronouncing
ReplyDeleteactually Vasu, if you carefully listen the pronounciation of EUROPEAN, it's "yuropean" and not "eyuropean".
ReplyDeleteSo there is no sound of 'E'.
actually Vasu, if you carefully listen the pronounciation of EUROPEAN, it's "yuropean" and not "eyuropean".
ReplyDeleteSo there is no sound of 'E'.
thank you mam for this gr8 work
ReplyDeletethankyou sir it is so much useful for me
ReplyDeleteTHANKS
ReplyDeletecan u plz explain swar and vyanjan in kannada
ReplyDeletei a, not getting exact ..jo swar se sound hoota hai uske liye"AN" use karna hai
ReplyDeleteaur jo vanjam ..sa sound hoo raha hai uske liye "A" ko use karna hai ...plz tell me mam?
please anyone clarify for 'a one-eyed beggar"
ReplyDeletethanks mem
ReplyDeletehello mam,
ReplyDeleteim kindly requesting you to send english grammar pdf files to alladi.srikanthyadav@gmail.com
This is very best thing u have define in this website.
ReplyDeleteI salute u bro.
Thanks alot.
Hello Mam,
ReplyDeleteyou have define all the thing very well.
I salute you.
Thanks alot.
4 more notes on article go to :http://www.campusgate.co.in/2014/03/rules-pertaining-to-usage-of-articles.html
ReplyDeleteSO CLEARLY IT IS EXPLAINED SIR.......... THANK U FOR THAT.. BUT IN EXAM SOME KIND OF CONFUSION AM GETTIN... I THINK I HV TO PRACTICE,,
ReplyDeleteSIR I DNT KNOW HW PEOPLE R GIVING DER NAME HER................
ReplyDeleteIn telugu how can be differentiated
ReplyDeletegood afternoon mam first of all thank you for this great job your doing.could you help me in finding any website or any audio topics for pronounciation in english since as a telugu medium student i cannot know how to pronounce so many words properly.i want to improve it and crack bank jobs thank you in advance.
ReplyDeletehi shivani maam ,I read ur artcle and its very useful
ReplyDeleteI have some doubts can u please tell me where is the in the sentences given below.
1) of the two,solutions the second was,definitely better.
2) I have been, informed that,mr.clinton visits rajasthan,following month
3) whatever little, milk left in the bottle , was drunk by your cat
Thank you mam for teaching me concept of 'a' and 'an' artical.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much ...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much it's wonder full explanation...:D
ReplyDeletethnkyu mam
ReplyDeletehello mam.. kya ye aapke 8 lesson competative exam ke liye enough hai ,, ya aur kuch padhna padega...
ReplyDeletegood job shivani mam ,very useful thanx a lot:-)
ReplyDeletemadam explain that sounds in telugu please....urgent as i am going to attend the postal assistant exam sooon
ReplyDeletemadam please explain the article sounds in telugu in urgent...as i am going to attend the postal exam soooon
ReplyDeleteWell explained! But, I'm not clear with these sentences They blindly put A before a word, if it starts with a Vowel letter (A, E, I, O, U) and put An before the word which starts with the consonant letter.
ReplyDeleteDinesh babu: emina word atchu sound vaste an vastundi, hallu sound vaste a vastundi.
ReplyDeleteఅఆఇఈఉఊఎఏఐఒఓఔఅం lu atchulu.
కఖగఘఙచఛజఝఞటఠడఢణతథదధనపఫబభమయరలవశషసహ lu hallu lu.
Mam super mam especially uyir ezhuluthu n uyirmei ezhuthu,How did u learn tamil??,its somewhat difficult to learn the grammar of tamil
ReplyDeleteWell explained blog
ReplyDeletethank you mam
ReplyDeleteyou have explained very well.
Man i dnt knw hindi ....plz explain the words SWAR and YAN... in KANNDA plz mam
ReplyDeletePlease remove the mouse lock from this site.
ReplyDeletegr8 mem...very nice
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't understand swar and vyanjan part. Pls explain me mam. My mother tongue is bangla
ReplyDelete