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Answer: In English, there are two types of articles – definite and indefinite. These small words are used before nouns to show whether we’re talking about something specific or something general. The definite article is ‘the’, and the indefinite articles are ‘a’ and ‘an’.
Complete Answer:
We use ‘a’ when the noun is general or not specific, and it starts with a consonant sound. For example, in the sentence ‘The sun is a star,’ the word ‘star’ is not referring to any specific star. It is just a general statement, and the word ‘star’ begins with the consonant ‘s’, so we use ‘a before it.
Let’s look at the other article options. The article ‘an’ is also indefinite, just like ‘a,’ but we use it when the word starts with a vowel sound – that means the letters a, e, i, o, or u. Since ‘star’ starts with the consonant ‘s’, we cannot use ‘an’ here, even though it is also unspecific.
The article ‘the’ is called a definite article. It is used when we are talking about something unique, specific, or already known. For example, we say ‘the Taj Mahal’ or ‘the moon’ because they are one of a kind. However, in this case, the word ‘star’ is not referring to any one specific star—it’s just a general idea—so we should not use ‘the’ before it.
Some might think of using no article at all, but in English grammar, articles are necessary before countable singular nouns like ‘star.’ So saying ‘Sun is star’ is grammatically incorrect.
Therefore, the correct sentence is: ‘The sun is a star.’ Here, ‘the sun’ is specific and unique, so we use ‘the,’ but ‘a star’ is general, so we use ‘a.’
Conclusion: We use ‘the’ before any famous place, monument, or something that is one of a kind, like the Sun, the Earth, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Remember, there are only three articles in English: a, an, and the.
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