How to use ‘the’:
1. ‘The’ is prefixed to the word which is to be stressed upon.
Eg.: The book belongs to Shweta.
Ex.: In the above example, to stress upon word book, ‘the’ is prefixed.
2. ‘The’, when put before a word, denotes that, that particular thing (word) is special or holds importance with reference to the sentence.
Eg.: I want the pen.
Ex.: In the above example ‘the’ is prefixed to pen, which means a particular or special
pen and not any pen.
3. ‘The’ also denotes, that the item before it is placed, is single in number (i.e. singular) or not more than one (i.e. not plural).
Eg.: The doll is beautiful.
Ex.: In the above sentence ‘the’ is prefixed to doll which tells that doll is single and
is not more than one in number( though at the same time that it is the special or
particular doll about which description is given.).
4. ‘The’ is pronounced as ‘thee’ when it is prefixed to a word which starts with a vowel or produces sound like vowel (even if the word does not starts with a vowel).
Eg.: The (pronunciation: thee) animal is in the jungle.
Ex.: In the above example the is pronounced as thee because it is prefixed to animal
which is starting with a vowel ‘a’.
5. ‘The’ is also pronounced as “thee” when it is prefixed to a word which needs to be emphasized or stressed upon, irrespective of the word it is starting with (weather the starting letter of the word is a vowel or a consonant.).
Eg.: Rahul is the best student of the class.
Ex.: In the above example word best starts with letter ‘b’ which is not a vowel but a
consonant, yet, ‘the’ prefixed to it is pronounce as ‘thee’ since word “best” is
being stressed upon.
6. ‘The’ is pronounced as ‘the’ when it is prefixed to a word which starts with a consonant or produces sound like consonant (and the word does not starts with a consonant but with a vowel) and at the same time, the word which is suffixed to ‘the’, need not to be stressed upon .
Eg.: The cake is delicious.
Ex.: In the above example ‘the’ is prefixed to the word cake. The word ‘cake’ starts
with a letter ‘c’ which is a consonant and at the same time sounds like consonant
and it need not to be stressed upon.
Therefore it is pronounced as ‘the’.
Eg.: He is the European citizen.
Ex.: In the above example, though, word ‘Europe’ starts with the letter ‘e’ which is a
vowel but pronunciation of Europe starts with letter ‘y’, which is a consonant, therefore the word ‘the’ (द) which is prefixed to European is pronounced as ‘the’(दी).
How to use ‘a’:
1. ‘A’, when put before a word, denotes that, that particular thing (word) is general or common or not special with reference to the sentence.
Eg.: I want a pen.
Ex.: In the above example ‘a’ is prefixed to pen, which means any pen, and not a
special or particular pen.
2. ‘A’ also denotes, that the item before it is placed, is single in number (i.e.
singular) or not more than one (i.e. not plural).
Eg.: She has a ball.
Ex.: In the above sentence ‘a’ is prefixed to ball which tells that ball is single and
is not more than one in number ( though at the same time it also tells us that it is not a specific or particular or important ball about which description is given.).
3. ‘A’ is prefixed to a word which starts with consonant or pronunciation of the
word starts with a consonant, even if the word starts with a vowel.
Eg.: I have a bat.
Ex.: In the above example word ‘bat’ starts with a letter ‘b’ which is a consonant.
Eg.: He is a European.
Ex.: In the above example word European starts with a letter ‘e’ which is a vowel
but the pronunciation of the word starts with ‘y’ and hence instead of ‘an’, ‘a’ is
put before European.
How to use ‘an’:
1. ‘An’, when put before a word, denotes that, that particular thing (word) is general or common or not special with reference to the sentence.
Eg.: I want an apple.
Ex.: In the above example ‘an’ is prefixed to apple, which means any apple, and not a
special or particular apple.
2. ‘An’ also denotes, that the item before it is placed, is single in number (i.e.
singular) or not more than one (i.e. not plural).
Eg.: She has an umbrella.
Ex.: In the above sentence ‘an’ is prefixed to umbrella which tells that the umbrella
is single and is not more than one in number ( though, at the same time it also
tells us that it is not a specific or particular or an important umbrella about
which description is given.).
3. ‘An’ is prefixed to a word which starts with vowel only.
Eg.: I have an apple.
Ex.: In the above example word ‘apple’ starts with a letter ‘a’ which is a vowel.
4. ‘An’ is prefixed to the word which has a pronunciation starting with vowel even
if the first letter of the word is not a vowel.
Eg.: The train arrived on the station an hour before time.
Ex.: In the above sentence, word hour starts with consonant ‘h’ but the
pronunciation of the word starts with ‘a’.
