Articles are high frequency words. They are peculiarity of English Language. Most of our Indian Languages do not use the words equivalent to articles and it is all right to say 'This is house' but in English Language it will not do. We have to have either 'a' before 'house' if we want to denote it as an indefinite noun and 'the' if we want to denote it as a definite noun. Hence, in English Language, it is correct to say 'This is a house' or 'This is the house where we lived for last twenty years.
Unfortunately, during the beginning sessions the articles are taught on an erroneous note. The students are introduced to the vowel letters 'a e i o u' as the vowels by saying 'If a noun or a qualifier begins with one of these vowel letters, 'an' is used. Let us know that the letters 'a e i o u' are not the vowels but they are vowel letters used singly or in combination, adding 'y' to the list to represent 21 vowel sounds that English Language has. Since articles are governed by the vowel sounds and not by the vowel letters it goes without saying one has to know the vowel sounds to master the use of articles. (The words representing the vowel sounds are given at the end of this book)
If one follows the system of sounds rather than the system of letters the one does not have to face a number of exceptions to the rules that entail the system of proper use of articles.
The traditional rule of the letter system does not cover title letters like, M.P.,M.L.A. etc. nor does it cover the figures like 18th century statue, 9th century statue that requires articles. However in the system governed by the sounds cover most of them and it becomes very simple to follow the rules except for one exception that relates to an aspirated 'h' and requires the knowledge of syllables and accents if one has to face the problem. The book covers this in details in an appropriate place.
The rule based on the system of sounds, that makes mastering articles easy and simple, can be stated as, 'If a noun or a qualifying word begins with one of the 21 vowels sounds and if it is indefinite we use the article 'an' and that if it is definite, we use 'the' which is invariably pronounced as the archaic word 'thee'.'
I acknowledge the help rendered to me in bringing out this much needed 'everything about the articles' book. I am sure some of the teachers will find this book very useful and we dedicate this book to them.
I am glad to bring out this book to help solve the problem of those who would like to achieve mastery in using the articles-peculiarity to the language but as essential competency to achieve.
Unfortunately, during the beginning sessions the articles are taught on an erroneous note. The students are introduced to the vowel letters 'a e i o u' as the vowels by saying 'If a noun or a qualifier begins with one of these vowel letters, 'an' is used. Let us know that the letters 'a e i o u' are not the vowels but they are vowel letters used singly or in combination, adding 'y' to the list to represent 21 vowel sounds that English Language has. Since articles are governed by the vowel sounds and not by the vowel letters it goes without saying one has to know the vowel sounds to master the use of articles. (The words representing the vowel sounds are given at the end of this book)
If one follows the system of sounds rather than the system of letters the one does not have to face a number of exceptions to the rules that entail the system of proper use of articles.
The traditional rule of the letter system does not cover title letters like, M.P.,M.L.A. etc. nor does it cover the figures like 18th century statue, 9th century statue that requires articles. However in the system governed by the sounds cover most of them and it becomes very simple to follow the rules except for one exception that relates to an aspirated 'h' and requires the knowledge of syllables and accents if one has to face the problem. The book covers this in details in an appropriate place.
The rule based on the system of sounds, that makes mastering articles easy and simple, can be stated as, 'If a noun or a qualifying word begins with one of the 21 vowels sounds and if it is indefinite we use the article 'an' and that if it is definite, we use 'the' which is invariably pronounced as the archaic word 'thee'.'
I acknowledge the help rendered to me in bringing out this much needed 'everything about the articles' book. I am sure some of the teachers will find this book very useful and we dedicate this book to them.
I am glad to bring out this book to help solve the problem of those who would like to achieve mastery in using the articles-peculiarity to the language but as essential competency to achieve.
