Page 42 - New Grammar with a Smile 5

poor man spent entire night standing in freezing water. In morning, poor man was
taken to court. On being asked by emperor how he could stand in freezing water,
man replied, ‘My lord, I kept looking at lamp that was burning at distance, and spent
entire night looking at it’. On learning this, emperor said, ‘This man is not worthy
of reward as he could manage to stand in lake because he was getting warmth from
lamp’. Poor man was heartbroken, and he reached out to Birbal for help. Birbal
didn’t go to court next day. Akbar visited Birbal to find reason. To his amusement,

emperor found Birbal sitting beside fire with pot hanging almost six feet above it. On
enquiring, Birbal said, ‘I am cooking khichdi, my lord’. Akbar started laughing and
said that was impossible. Birbal said, ‘It is possible my king—if poor man can stay
warm by simply looking at lamp burning at distance, I can cook this khichdi same
way.’ Akbar understood Birbal’s point, and rewarded poor man for challenge.

Omission of Articles

We do not use articles

1. before expressions like last night, last week, last month, next year, next month.
For example,
y What did you eat last night?

y Will you come next Sunday?

y I met him last month.

2. before uncountable nouns. For example,

y Sugar is made from sugarcane.
y Rice and lentils are an important part of an Indian’s diet.

y Gold and silver are used to make jewellery.

3. before abstract nouns which are uncountable. For example,

y Wisdom is more precious than gold.

y Health is wealth.
y Beauty is admired by all.

4. before plural countable nouns. For example,

y Computers are user-friendly machines.

y Books are our best friends.

5. before proper nouns. For example,
y India is a big country and New Delhi is the capital of India.

y Nainital in Uttarakhand is a popular tourist spot.

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