Test it, Fix it. English grammar - Kenna Bourke 2003
Articles(2)
Test it ✓
1 Choose the best option, A or B.
a I'm ...
A a teacher
В teacher
b Could you open ...? I'm hot.
A the window
В window
c Jeff wants to climb ...
A the Mount Everest
В Mount Everest
d Do you enjoy listening to ...?
A music
В the music
e I spent my childhood in ...
A the Belgium
В Belgium
f We're going skiing in ...
A Alps
В the Alps
g Jack's got ...
A the loud voice
В a loud voice
h My doctor says ... is bad for you.
A salt
В the salt
i Can you pass me ... please?
A salt
В the salt
j My brother speaks ...
A the French
В French
2 Choose the best option.
a The Dr Smith/Dr Smith was a lecturer at London University.
b Tom van Vuren comes from the Netherlands/Netherlands.
c The clown had big red nose/a big red nose.
d I've always loved Italian/the Italian. It's such a musical language.
e Stephen, the children/children are ready to go to school.
f Do you eat the chicken/chicken or are you vegetarian?
g Have you ever been to Lake Orta/the Lake Orta? It's very beautiful.
h We're staying at Sheraton Hotel/the Sheraton Hotel tonight.
i Nicholas is an architect/architect, isn't he?
j I think the Lia/Lia is a very pretty baby.
Test it again ✓
1 Complete the sentences. Use a, an or the where necessary.
a You really have got ... lovely smile!
b Sarah wants to sail on ... Nile.
c I'm spending New Year's Eve in ... Brussels.
d Can you pass me ... water?
e All living creatures need ... water.
f I don't like ... fish. Too many bones!
g Mireia comes from ... Spain, doesn't she?
h ... Chinese is a difficult language to learn.
i Joe wants to be ... airline pilot.
j ... Taj Maha! is an amazing building.
2 Find and correct twelve mistakes in these dialogues.
a Tim: Dan, do you want sugar in your coffee?
Dan: Yes, please. I know the sugar's bad for your teeth but I hate the coffee without it. The Dr Rawstorne tells me to give it up every time I see him.
b Carol: Wow! This guidebook is great. Have you ever been up Eiffel Tower?
Nick: No, in fact I've never been to the France. Pass me guidebook, please.
c Harry: The dictionaries are so expensive these days!
Sally: Yes, I know, but books cost a lot to make, don't they?
d Pete: I've decided I don't want to be politician after all.
Jill: Good. I don’t like the politicians anyway.
e Victor: The David is going to United States soon to study economics.
Sarah: Oh, yes, I remember. He's going to the New York, isn't he?
Fix it
Answers to Test it
Check your answers. Wrong answer?
Read the right Fix it note to find out why.F
Answers to Test it again
Fix it notes
A
Use a or an before a noun or before an adjective + noun to describe something or to say what someone's job is.
В
Use the when the person you're talking to knows which person or thing you're talking about.
C
Don't use an article when you're talking about things in a general way, e.g. chicken, music, salt.
D
Don't use an article to talk about a person, a language or most places, including the name of a country, a mountain or a lake.
E
Use the with the names of places that are plural; the names of deserts, seas, rivers and oceans; and the names of most buildings.
Review
Articles (2)
A and an
• You use a or an to describe things and to say what someone's job is.
This is a good book.
The
• You use the when the person you're talking to knows which person or thing you're talking about.
Could you pass me the salt? (The salt that's on the table.)
Your glasses are in the car. (It's our car. You know which one I mean.)
• You use the with the names of places that are plural, e.g. the United States, the Netherlands; the United Arab Emirates. You also use the with the names of most deserts, seas, rivers and oceans, and with the names of most buildings.
Robin lives in the United States.
She sailed across the Pacific.
It's very hot in the Negev Desert.
I found the book in the British Library.
Note, however, that there are exceptions to this rule. You don't use the with the names of buildings which include the words school, university, college; castle, palace; airport, station, e.g. London University, Topkapi Palace; Frankfurt Airport.
No article
• You don't use an article (a, an or the) when you're talking about things in general. If you use an article, you change the meaning.
/ like milk but I don't like fish. (All milk and all fish.)
Please pass me the milk. (The milk that's on the table.)
Children are adorable. (All children.)
The children are adorable. (Our children.)
• You don't use an article with languages or with the names of most places.
Note, however, that there are exceptions to this rule. You use the with the names of places which include words such as kingdom, sultanate, republic, e.g.
The Republic of Ireland, and with very big parts of the world, e.g. The Far East.
You don't use an article before people's names or before Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss, Dr, Professor, etc. and the person's name.
