Class 5 English Grammar Articles (A, An, The)

What are Articles?

Articles are small words that come before nouns. The words a, an, and the are called articles. They help us understand whether we are talking about something in a general way or a specific way.

Examples:

  • I saw a dog. (Any dog)

  • She ate an apple. (Any apple)

  • The dog is barking loudly. (A specific dog)

Articles are used before nouns (names of people, places, animals, or things).

What are Different Types of Articles?

There are two main types of articles:

  1. Indefinite Articles – A, An

  2. Definite Article – The

What are Indefinite Articles? (A, An)

The articles A and An are called indefinite articles. They are used when we talk about something in a general way or mention something for the first time. They are used only with singular countable nouns.

Using the Article “A”

We use “a” before words that begin with a consonant sound.

Examples:

  1. a boy

  2. a cat

  3. a pen

  4. a house

  5. a teacher

We also use “a” before words that begin with a vowel letter but have a consonant sound:

  • a university

  • a European country

  • a uniform

Using the Article “An”

We use “an” before words that begin with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u sounds).

Examples:

  1. an apple

  2. an elephant

  3. an inkpot

  4. an orange

  5. an umbrella

We also use “an” before words with a silent ‘h’:

  • an hour

  • an honest man

‘A’ and ‘an’ always mean any one thing. They are used before singular, countable nouns. 

What is the Definite Article? (The)

The article “The” is called the definite article. It is used when we talk about a particular or specific person, place, animal, or thing. It can be used with singular, plural, countable and uncountable nouns.

Examples:

  1. The sun rises in the east.

  2. I saw a dog. The dog was brown.

  3. The Taj Mahal is beautiful.

  4. The children are playing in the park.

  5. She is the tallest girl in the class.

Using the Definite Article

We use ‘the before a noun, which has already mentioned once.

  • I got a shirt. The shirt is a gift from my brother.
  • I saw a boy. The boy was thin.

We use ‘the’ when we talk about unique things (the Moon, the Earth).

Example

  • The Sun is a big ball of fire.
  • The Moon shines brightly.
  • The Earth is round.

 We use ‘the’ before some proper nouns like

  • Names of rivers, oceans, seas and mountain ranges (the Ganga, the Pacific Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Himalayas)
  • Names of the famous buildings and monuments (the Taj Mahal, the White House)
  • Names of holy books and newspapers (the Bible, the Times of India)
  • Names of some countries (the United Kingdon, the United States of America)

We use ‘the’ before superlatives (the best, the highest)

  • He is one of the greatest Poets.
  • Joel is the tallest boy in his class.

We use ‘the’ before ordinal numbers and the word ‘last’ when it refers to a position in a series.

  • He was the first to report the incident.
  • I live on the third floor.
  • I am reading the last chapter of the book

We use ‘the’ before musical instruments when referring to them generally or when someone plays them.

    • She can play the piano.
    • The violin is my favorite instrument.

We use ‘the’ with the names of Geographical Place, Religion, Ship/train, Profession, and Historical fact.

  • The Punjab (Specific Geographical Place)
  • The Hindus (Specific Religion)
  • The Indians (Specific Nation)
  • The Titanic, The Rajdhani Express (Specific Ship/train)
  • The Bar Council (Specific Profession)
  • The Sepoy Mutiny (Specific Historical fact)
  • The Fenech Revolution (Specific Historical fact)

We use ‘the’ before names of nationalities or communities.

    • the Indian team, the English, the French

We use ‘the’ before parts of the day.

    • in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening (but: at night, at noon)

Omission of Article (When We Do Not Use Articles)

Sometimes, we do not use any article before a noun. This is called the omission of articles

  1. Before proper nouns when they are used as a general word :

    • Cows are domestic animals.

    • India is a big country.

    • Leo is my friend.

  2. Before material nouns (general meaning):

    • Gold is precious.

    • Water is important.

  3. Before abstract nouns (general meaning):

    • Honesty is the best policy.

    • Health is wealth.

  4. Before plural nouns (general meaning):

    • Children like chocolates.

    • Books are useful.

  5. Before names of meals, languages, and games:

    • We speak English.

    • I play cricket.

    • We had lunch at 1 p.m.

    • All the students of Class 5 did well in Maths.

Fill in the Blanks with A, An or The

  1. I saw ___ elephant in the zoo.

  2. She is ___ honest girl.

  3. ___ sun is very bright today.

  4. He bought ___ new bag.

  5. I ate ___ apple in the morning.

  6. ___ Ganga is a holy river.

  7. She wants to be ___ doctor.

  8. This is ___ best movie I have seen.

  9. He waited for ___ hour.

  10. There is ___ cat under the table.

Answers

  1. an, 2. an. 3. The, 4. a, 5. an, 6. The, 7. a, 8. the, 9. an, 10. a

Passage: Fill in the Blanks with Appropriate Articles

Yesterday, I went to ___ park near my house. It was ___ beautiful evening. I saw ___ old man sitting on ___ bench. He was reading ___ newspaper. Suddenly, ___ dog came running towards him. ___ dog was very friendly. After some time, I saw ___ elephant ride outside ___ park gate. It was truly ___ interesting sight.

Answers

  1. the, 2. a, 3. an, 4. a, 5. a, 6. a, 7. The, 8. an, 9. the, 10. an

Class 5 English Grammar Articles Worksheet (Free PDF With Answers)

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