A. Read the following passage and mark the words in italics:

Rajshahi is an old city. It stands on the Padma. In a village called Bausa in Rajshahi there is a man who is recognized as a book lover. He is Polan Sarker. Polan Sarker is an old man. He buys books with his own money. He lends villagers books. The villagers become delighted with books they borrow from Sarker. They have found that reading is a good habit.

These words are Articles.

They take their positions in front of nouns or noun equivalent words. They are used before nouns to show whether the noun is definite or indefinite. Definite words take 'the' and indefinite words take 'a'/ 'an' in front of them. So, 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles and 'the' is a definite article.

B. Different uses of 'a' / 'an':

i) Observe the following words that have taken 'a' before them:

The words that begin with a consonant sound take the article 'a' in front of them.

ii) Guess why the following words have taken 'an' before them:

'An' is used before the words that begin with a vowel sound.

iii) Observe the following words that have taken 'an' before them:

In the above box, there are some words that begin with consonants, but those consonants have a vowel sound.

Therefore, they take 'an' before them instead of 'a'.

iv) Why do the following words take 'a' before them?

Though the words in the above box begin with a vowel, they are pronounced like a consonant sound.

So, instead of 'an', 'a' is used before those words.

v) What about the following words?

'a one-eyed man'

Here 'o' sounds like 'w'; therefore, 'a' is placed before this word, not 'an'.

vi) Generalized use of the article 'a'/'an':

A student should respect their teachers.
An idle brain is the devil's workshop.

Here 'a'/ 'an' has been used to generalize 'student' and 'idle brain'. 'A student' and 'an idle brain' respectively imply 'all students' and 'all idle brains'.

vii) Why do the following names/designations have an indefinite article before them?

A Mr. Dipak Roy came to see you.
An Imran Khan is waiting for you in the lounge.
Names of unknown persons or their designations take 'a'/ 'an' to mean 'someone'.

viii) 'A'/ 'an' in some exclamatory sentences:
What an honest man he is!
What a splendid picture you have drawn!

'a'/ 'an' is used in certain exclamatory sentences that begin with 'what' to determine the noun of that sentence.

ix) Some phrases have 'a'/ 'an':
in a hurry, at a great speed, at an early date, in a temper.
The article 'a'/ 'an' is used in a number of phrases.

x) Why do the following names have indefinite articles before them?
She is a Begum Rokeya, I see.
He is a Shelley of Bangladesh.

He is an Ernest Hemingway of India.

The article 'a'/ 'an' has been used to denote likeness. Here the proper noun has been used as a common noun.