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.

A. Different uses of 'the'

i) Do you understand the use of 'the' in the sentences below?

'The' is used before the above singular common nouns to represent the whole classes of these common nouns.

ii) 'The' is used to denote the name of a nation:

iii) 'The' is used before adjectives to mean the whole of a particular class.

iv) 'The' is used before the singular existing nouns:

v) 'The' is placed before the superlative degree-words:

vi) 'The' is placed before an ordinal number:

vii) What do you think about the collective nouns? Do they take any article?

Collective nouns take 'the' before them when they represent a definite group of people or things.

viii) 'The' is placed before adjectives to mean the particular part of things.

ix) Usually Proper Nouns do not take 'the' before them, but 'the' is placed in the following exceptions:

a) Before the names of the mountain ranges:
the Himalayas, the Alps.
b) Before the names of the holy books:
The holy Quran, The Geeta, The Bible.
c) Before the name of a newspaper:
The Daily Star, The Guardian, The Herald Tribune.
d) Before the name of an ocean:
The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean.
e) Before the name of a group of islands:
The Andamans, the Philippines, the West Indies.

B.

i. Fill in the gaps with a/an or the and put a cross (X) where no article is needed:

A: Have you taken ___________ appointment with Dr. Ehtesham?

B: Oh, yes. I have taken ________ appointment for tomorrow

A: Is ________ doctor not coming today?

B: No. __________ doctor comes to this hospital thrice _______ week.

A: When should we visit him tomorrow?

B: At 6:30p.m. I hope he will give us _________ best advice for proper diagnosis.

A: Tomorrow is _________ first day of the week. We have to start for ______ doctor earlier to avoid traffic congestion.

B: We shall reach the hospital before _________ sun sets.

ii. S: Good morning, teacher. How are you?

T: Good morning. Can you write __________ paragraph on Begum Rokeya?

S: Yes, I can.

T: What was she?

S: She was ________ social worker. She lived in undivided Bengal in _________ early 20th century.

T: She was ________ writer also. She wrote ________ number of books.

S: Yes, teacher. I can mention the name of _______ book written by her. "Sultana's Dream" is __________ book written by her.

T: Where was she from?

S: She was from ________ Rangpur.

iii. F: Anupom, what is __________ largest continent?

S: _________ Asia.

F: Give an example of _______ mangrove forest.

S: __________ Sunderbans.

F: Who is Stephen Hawkings?

S: He is ________ scientist. He is ________ English.

F: What was the objective of _______ language movement?

S: We demanded _______ Bangla to be declared as the state language.