Lesson Planning of Articles /Determiners (Rules for use of “a”, “an” and “the” in Speech and Writing)
Subject English
Grade VI
Students` Learning Outcomes
- Recall and apply rules for use of “a” and “an” in speech and writing.
- Demonstrate use of Definite Article “the” when noun is particularized.
Information for Teachers
- The words “a”, “an”, and “the’ are called article (Determiners). They come before nouns as;
- An apple (means to say any apple)
- A boat (means to say any boat)
- The book (means to say any book)
Kinds of Articles (Determiners)
- These articles (Determiners) are divided into two kinds, as;
- “A” denotes a singular noun beginning with a consonant and is known as the Indefinite Article, as;
- A ball (means to say any ball)
- A pencil (means to say any pencil)
- A computer (means to say any computer)
- “An” is used when the word begins with a vowel sound, as; an umbrella
- An owl (means to say any owl)
- An optician (means to say any optician)
- An octopus (means to say any octopus)
- An ant (means to say any ant)
- “The’ is used when we refer to a specific object (noun). It is called the Definite Article, as;
- The books in the library (The Books means to say some particular books)
- The road in front of my house (The road mean to say any specific road)
Use of “a” and “an”:
- Before a word, beginning with a vowel sound “an” is used, as;
- An apple
- An enemy
- An orange
- An ink-pot
- An umbrella,
- Etc.
- It will be noticed that the words hour, honest, heir begin with a vowel sound, as the initial consonant ‘h’ is not pronounced, as;
- An hour
- An heir
- An honest man
- Etc.
- Before a word beginning with a consonant sound ‘a’ is used, as;
- A boy
- A one rupee note
- A goat
- Etc.
- It will be noticed that the words, which begins with a vowel but give a consonant sound, always take ‘a’ at their beginning, as;
- A European
- A union
- A university
- A useful thing
- Etc.
Use of “the”:
- When a singular noun is meant to represent a whole class, as;
- The dog is a faithful animal.
- Before some proper nouns e.g. the names of canals, rivers, seas, gulfs, groups of islands and mountain ranges, as;
- The Indus is the biggest rive of Pakistan.
- Before the names of certain books, newspaper and magazines, as;
- Do you have the Family magazine?
- Before superlatives degree of adjectives, as;
- Ali is the best student in his class.
- Before the names of provinces and some countries, as;
- The Sindh
- The United Kingdom
- Before the names of nations, as;
- The Hindus worship idols.
- Before the title, when it is used without mentioning name, as;
- The Father of Nation
- It is used after ‘both’ and ‘all’ and is used before ‘whole’, as;
- All the guests have gone.
- Both the boys are not good.
- The whole meal is stale.
With ordinal, as;
- Salma has got the second position.
- I can play the drum.
- When two or more adjectives qualify the same noun, ‘the’ article is used before the first adjective only; but when they qualify different nouns, expressed or understood, ‘the’ article is normally used before adjective, as;
- The headmaster and the teacher are absent.
- The headmaster and teacher are absent.
The Omission of ‘Articles’:
- ‘The’ is not used before proper nouns, as;
- My name is Sahrish Mehmood.
- Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was our leader.
- ‘The’ is not used before material nouns, as;
- This table is made of glass.
- I have a diamond ring.
- Iron is a very hard metal.
- ‘The’ is not used before abstract nouns, as;
- Wrath is not good for health.
- ‘The’ is not put before languages, as;
- I can speak Urdu, English and Saraiki.
- ‘The’ is not used before the names of subjects and branches of knowledge, as;
- Saleem is an excellent student of Arts.
- There is no teacher of Chemistry.
- ‘The’ is not used before the names of days, months or seasons, as;
- I want to thank you for coming to my birthday party on Sunday.
- When the word ‘man’ represents the whole mankind, ‘the’ is not used before it, as;
- Man can err.
- Man is mortal.
- Before names of relations, like father, mother, aunt, uncle, etc. as;
- Mother is cooking food.
- Uncle Kareem has died.
Material / Resources
Writing board, chalk/marker, duster, and textbook
Introduction
- Explain the rules to use definite and indefinite articles with the help of information given in the information for the teachers.
Development
Activity 1 |
Conclusion / Sum up
Conclude the lesson by repeating all the main points of the lesson.
Assessment
- Ask the students:
- What is the difference between the indefinite and Definite Articles?
- What at least five sentences using articles “a”, “an’ and ‘the’.
- When will an indefinite Article be changed to a Definite Article?
Follow up
- Give the class five sets of words (pair of nouns) ass starters, as;
- Boy cycle
- Cat ball
- Girl doll
- Home car
- Cat tree
- Ask one student to make a sentence using both the words (as given in the example).
- Instruct them to use indefinite articles only.
- Ask another student to make another sentence changing the Indefinite Article to Definite Article, as;
- I saw sitting under a tee.
- The cat was sitting comfortably under the tree.