“What colour are chicks?” Raghav asked his mother.
“Chicks are yellow,” his mother answered.
“What colour is that thing inside a boiled egg?”
“That thing is a yolk, and it is yellow.”
“What are you drinking?”
“I am drinking lemonade.”
“What is lemonade made from?”
“It is made from lemons.”
“What colour are lemons?”
“They are yellow.”
“There’s quite a lot of yellow around, isn’t there?” said Raghav thoughtfully.

His mother explained: “Of course, there are many yellow things. Other things are blue, red, or green. There are in-between colours too, like orange, purple, and pink. You don’t know all the colours yet, but you will learn about them one day.”

“All of them?” asked Raghav eagerly.

“I’ll buy a painting set for you,” his mother said. “You will then be able to learn about different colours on your own.”

Raghav’s mother bought him a paint box and paint brushes. Raghav is now learning how to use paint brushes and how to spread different colours from the paint box, after mixing them with a little bit of water, on sheets of white paper. He is learning how to mix different colours to make new colours and shades.

And the colours are also learning—how to live together, to socialise, to become acquainted with each other.

When yellow mixes with red orange shows up as a new friend.
When red and green unite, the result is brown.
When red and blue come together, they produce purple.
When blue and yellow mingle, they make green.
When red and white meet, pink appears.

A) Discussion Points
1. My biggest good fortune.
2. The most important person in my life.
3. The happiest memory of my childhood.

B) Definite and Indefinite Articles
The word ‘the’ is a definite article. It refers to a specific noun or a group of nouns.
Example:
The woman in the park is my neighbour.
The boys in the football team are good players.
‘A’ and ‘an’ are indefinite articles. They refer to a noun that is not a specific person, place, or thing.
Example:
I ride a motorcycle.
I have an umbrella. (‘An’ is used before a word beginning with a vowel or with a vowel sound, like an honest man)

1) Fill in the blanks with ‘a’, ‘an’, or ‘the’.
a. I have two sisters and __ brother. My brother is __ naughty boy. His teacher says that he is __ naughtiest boy in __ class.
b. Would you like __ orange or __ banana? __ banana is ripe. I will take it.
c. Does anyone have __ phone? I need to make __ emergency call.
d. Today I ate __ ice cream cone and __ pizza. Will you have __ chocolate ice cream cone or do you prefer vanilla?
e. We are going to __ internet café in Hauz Khas Market to send __ important e-mail.
f. Please give me __ red hammer; __ blue one is too small.
g. Please give me __ large nail; it’s __ only one strong enough to hold this poster.
h. Please hand me __ book; any book will do.
i. I heard __ interesting story yesterday.

2) Sometimes articles are left out before certain nouns. Below are a few examples:
The names of meals do not require articles.
Example: Let’s go out to dinner.
Example: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Example: We have a family brunch on Sundays.

Proper nouns (names of individuals, places, countries, cities, languages, and so on) are not preceded by an article.
Example: I studied Sanskrit in school for four years.
Example: The cricket matches were held in Bhopal, Jaipur, and Ranchi.
Example: Atul and Rizwan are best friends.
Example: Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal.
Sports and academic subjects do not require articles.
Example: I like to play cricket, but my brother enjoys football.
Example: I like History and English, but Science is my favourite subject.
Example: My mother studied Physics in college.

3) Exercise: Do the sentences below require no article, one article or more than one article? If yes, fill in the blanks with the correct article or articles.
a. My sister is good at __ Political Science.
b. __Chess is __ indoor game.
c. We play __ kabaddi in __ Nehru Park.
d. She arrived in __ Agra yesterday.
e. I have __ cat and two dogs.
f. Thank you for __ advice you gave me.
g. __ meeting was held in __ beautiful garden.
h. __ water is good for you.
i. __ apple __ day keeps __ doctor away.
j. Suresh is __ actor.
k. __ Himalayas are young fold mountains.

Revised July 2020

Audio courtesy Tara Kriplani: