Use of Articles:

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There are two types of articles in english language.
1-Indefinite 
2-Definite 
 

 Indefinite: 
A and an are the indefinite articles.

A is used before consonant sound.
Examples:
  • I am a doctor.
  • Backbiting is a bad habit.
  • He doesn't have a laptop.
  • We have a cow.
  • I saw a lion at the zoo.
  • His father is a business man.
  • Good health is a blessing.
  • I saw a terrible accident yesterday.

An is used before vowel sound.
Examples:
  • I am an actor.
  • Saba takes an orange juice daily.
  • You saw an elephant at the zoo.
  • Sohail is an honest person.
  • I have an hour for sleeping.
  • She is an excellent teacher.
  • They didn't get an invitation.
  • He likes an eagle. 
  • You are student of an M.A.
  • You will be an Engineer next month.
  • There is an owl on the tree.
  • Can you bring an umbrella?
  • I eat an apple everyday.


Definite: 
The is definite articles.

The is used:
The is used before specific names of person, place and thing.
  • The boy has gone lahore.
  • The doctor is in the hospital.
  • My house is beside the mosque.
  • The room was built only last week.
  • I listen to the radio in the evening.
  • The book is in his room.

The is used when a speaker and a listener both know what they are talking about becomes definite and proper.

  • The house you want has been sold.
  • Let's go to the resturent.
  • The man who we met last sunday, was murdered last night.

The is used before names of famous books.
  • She reads the Holy Quran everyday.
  • The bible is the Holy book of the christians.

The is used before names of newspapers.
  • I forgot the Naw-i-waqat in his room.
  • He is reading the Jang News Paper.

The is used before names of digests.
  • The Qaumi Digest is on the table.

The is used before names of musical instruments
  • The paino
  • The guitar
  • The violin


The is used before names of oceans.
  • The Atlantic Ocean
  • The Indian Ocean

The is used before names of seas.
  • The mediterranean
  • The red sea.

The is used before names of rivers. 
  • The Ganges is in India.
  • The Nile is in Africa.
  • The Rhine river is in Europe.
  • The Ravi is in Asia.

The is used before names of canals.
  • The Panama Canal
  • The suez canal is in Egypt.

The is used before names of gulfs.
  • The Arabian Gulf is famous for pearl fishing.

The is used before names of group of islands.
  • The Bahamas
  • The British Isles
  • The Canaries
  • The maldives islands
  • The west indies

The is used before names of deserts.
  • I will go to visit the sahara desert.
  • The kalahari desert


The is used before names of nations. 
  • The muslims are a brave nation.


The is used before names of directions. 

  • We live in the north.
  • My mother school is located in the south.
  • The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

The is used before names of large areas.
  • The middle east

The is used before names of buildings and monuments.  
  • The Eiffel Tower is in France.
  • The Taj Mahal is in India

The is used before names of plural countries. 
  • The Netherlands
  • The Philippines
  • The United States Of America.

The is used before names of plural mountains. 
  • The Himalayas
  • The Alps is the highest mountain in Europe.
  • The Rocky Mountains
  • The Hindu kush

The is used before earth, sun, sky, moon, stars.
  • The earth is round.
  • The sun is shining.
  • Birds are flying in the sky
  • The moon and the stars add to the beauty of the night.

The is used before an Adjective used as a noun.
  • The rich don't like the poor.
  • The honest, the intelligent and the industrious are respected everywhere.

The is used before Superlatives Adjective.
  • She is the best teacher.
  • She is the most beautiful girl.

The is used before the kingdom.
  • The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The is used before noun when after a noun of is used.
  • The colour of his shirt is blue.
  • The things of his guest are on the bed.

The is used when we use again article in the sentence.
  • I bought a book yesterday. The book it was stolen by somebody.
  • We bought some vegetables. The vegetables are bad.

The is used when a singular noun is meant to represent a whole class.
  • The cow is a useful animal.

Before a proper noun when it is qualified by an adjective. 
  • The immortal Shakespeare

With ordinal (the number designating place in an ordered sequence)
  • The first
  • The second
  • The third

The is used when we talk about Abstract nouns, Material nouns and An uncountable noun in particular.
  • The honesty of her sister must not be doubted.
  • The gold in this necklace is not of good quality

The is used before specific names of meal.
    • The dinner we had yesterday was very delicious. 


    The is used when we talk about particularly activity of school, college, church, table, bed, market, hospital.
    • The school is next to my home.
    • The college is very far from my house.
    • He met me at the church.
    • The bed we bought was very expensive.


    The is not used:
    The is not used for names of boys, girls, children, men and women.
    • Bilal and Ahmad are my cousins.
    • Children are playing from coins.
    • Jinnah university is the first university for women in Pakistan.

    The is not used for names of continents, provinces, states, counties, cities, towns, villages, streets.
    • Pakistan, Iran and China are in Asia.
    • Baghdad is the capital of Iraq.
    • London is the capital of united kingdom.
    • I want go to punjab.
    • He is the governor of California.
    • He lives in Ontario.
    • We live in north karachi.
    • They work at 10 check.
    • Our house is located on main street.
    • We went on yonge street.

    The is not used for names of languages.
    • I speak English.
    • She likes Physics.

     The is not used for names of parks.
    • They are walking in cenral park.
    •  Hyde Park is located in london.

    The is not used for names of individual lakes.
    • Lake ontario is in canada.
    • Karli lake is in Pakistan. or Keenjhar lake is in Pakistan.

    The is not used for names of individual islands.
    • Navarino is in chile.


    The is not used for names of individual mountains.
    • Mount Everest is the highest mountain on earth.
    • K2
    • Mount kilimanjaro

    The is not used before the plural nouns.
    • Boys are studying in the class.
    • Birds fly in the air.

    The is not used before the Abstract nouns, Material nouns and An uncountable nouns.
    • Health is better than wealth.
    • Honesty is the best policy.
    • I am feeling headache.
    • Gold is dearer than silver.
    • Sugar is bad for teeth.

    The is not used before general names of meal.
    • I take breakfast at 7:30.

    The is not used before names of relation.
    • I love my mother.
    • I go to market with father.

    The is not used when we talk about normal activity of school, college, church, table, bed, market, hospital.
    • I learnt a lot of knowledge at school. 
    • We go to college everyday.
    • Saba goes to church every friday.
    • I sleep on bed.
    • My mother go to market every sunday.
    • Nurses work daily in hospital.

    The is not used before names of transport.
    • I go to university by bus.
    • We will go to karachi by train.