[English Notes] on Omission of Article Pdf for Exam

Many sentences in the English language contain articles. However, there are certain circumstances where an article is not used. 

Rules

1. Articles are not used in front of Proper nouns.

2. Articles are not used before languages

• I learned Japanese within a year.

• Mandarin is the most difficult language.

• English is essential for travelling anywhere in the world.

• I travelled to France, without knowing French.

3. Before a common noun used in its commonest sense-

4. We do not use articles in front of the name of the subjects, such as Maths, Biology, economics, etc.

• I hate the fact that Mathematics is his favourite subject.

• Economics as a subject is very interesting.

• I was asked to opt for computers by my teachers.

5. We omit articles when words like Nature, Science, Death, Life, etc are used in the General Sense.

• Nature has its own rules and it follows them effortlessly.

• The saint explained that death is inevitable.

• Science does not have all the answers to nature’s mysteries. 

6. We do not use articles before the names of a meal like lunch, dinner, etc. 

7. We do not use articles in front of seasons, festivals, names of days, and months.

• She will reach the town on Sunday.

• Summer is the best season for swimming. 

• Christmas is celebrated in December.

8. When words like school, college, church, hospital, prison, temple, etc are used for their primary purpose –

• Rudra goes to university daily.

• She goes to school in the morning. 

• We all go to Church on Sunday.

• Criminals are sent to prison in Albuquerque. 

9. Sometimes we form certain phrases which are just prepositions and nouns. Such as, at school, in bed, at noon, etc.                 

• He is in bed. 

• We checked the building from top to bottom.

• The principal stayed back at school.   

• Listening to the travel plans, I was automatically on board. 

    

10. We avoid using articles in certain phrases consisting of a transitive verb and its object. Such as, set sail, take heart, send word, catch fire, take offence, leave office, etc.

11. When a common noun is written in pairs, we omit articles from it.

12. We don’t use articles before plural nouns used to denote a class-

• Oranges are supposed to be rich in Vitamin C.

• Books are our best friends.

• Animals are a wonderful creation of nature. 

13. Before the nouns following kind of:

14. We don’t use any article before the word ” God “

Special Points to Remember

Notice the examples below

These are the exceptions where the articles are omitted. To make it more clear there is an exercise below

Solved Example

Fill in the blanks with a, an, or the as the case may be. Leave blank if the article can be omitted.

1. ………….. Honesty is the best policy.

2. This is ………….. best car in my garage.

3. He has a house by …………. lake.

4. …………….Computers are used in many offices and schools.

5. He was …………. Leonardo da Vinci of Tibet. 

6. They speak ……………. English at home.

7. My uncle is in ………….. bed.

8. I went to ……………. hospital to visit my brother.

9. Mr Picher became ………………..  dean of the college in 2015.

10. ………………….  mother seems to be very angry with me.

Answers

1. None 

2. The 

3. The

4. None 

5. None 

6. None 

7. None 

8. The 

9. None 

10. The