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Articles

There are only three articles in English: a, an and the.

There are two types of articles indefinite a and an or definite the.

Here are the basic rules for when to use "A, An or The":

a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog

a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used)

You use a when the noun you are referring to begins with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y or z), for example, "a city" and "a factory"

an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot;an orphan

You use an when the noun you are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), for example, an artist and an envelope

You use the when you know that the listener knows or can work out what particular person/thing you are talking about.

For example:

"The apple you ate was rotten."
"Did you lock the car?"

You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.

For example:

"She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen."

We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.

For example:

the North Pole, the equator

We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas

For example:

the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel

We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

For example:

the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc..

There are some exceptions in using articles:

o DO NOT use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".

My uncle lives in Cumbria near Lake Windermere.

They live in Bristol.

o Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas -

I live on a small island in the Baltic Sea.

o DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general

I like Indian tea.

Simon likes reading books about linguistics.

o DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport

He has breakfast at home.

I go to university.

Magda comes to work by taxi.


FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE CORRECT ARTICLES


I went to_____ airport at 6:00 AM yesterday. I had to catch_____ flight to Paris. The lines at_____

airport were very long, so I had to wait____ long time. Once ____ plane took off I tried to get

some sleep but I couldn't. Then I ate____ pretty good meal,_____ rare occurrence on

airplanes! Later, I spoke to one of ____ flight attendants for____ while. She was pretty. She

told me that_____ pilot of ____ airplane was French. I managed to fall asleep for about ____

hour. After I woke up, I felt refreshed. I ordered_____ drink, then another. Generally, it was

_____ pretty smooth flight.



Jim,____ old friend of mine, used to work in downtown Los Angeles. He had ____good job in one of biggest

law firms in city. He was____honest, hard-working lawyer, but he hated his job. So he decided to

quit, and to become ____surfer instead. Now Jim spends his days surfing _____waves of Malibu. It

isn't ____easy life, but it makes him happy. Soon after he quit his job, Jim met____ beautiful

surfer named Jenny. After they went out for____ couple of months, they decided to get married.



Robert and Jessica went to ___ party last night.

Can you tell me how to get to ___ cinema from here?

___ college is closed today.

Gregory is one of ___ strangest people I know.

I recommend you try ___ tomato soup at this restaurant.

Would you like to see ___ film?

___ apple a day keeps ___ doctor away.

Do you have ___ dictionary that I can borrow?

There were many dogs in the park. One dog was ___ Dalmatian.

Magda is wearing ___ blue dress with red shoes.

Bornholm is ___ island in the Baltic Sea.

Christmas comes once ___ year.

___ owl is __ bird.

The Severn is ___ river.

Hania broke ___ glass when she was washing-up.

Tom took ___ umbrella as it was raining heavilly.

This is ___ easy question.

Stephen could you speak ___ little louder.

May I ask you ___ question?

What is ___ name of the next station?

I went to ___ sea during my summer holiday.

Is there ___ cash machine near here?

This is Joanna. She's _____ doctor.

Simon is ____ engineer.

That's Sandra. She's ___ hairdresser.

Sean Connery is ___ actor.

John is ____ electrician.

Mr. Sańko is ___ teacher.

This is Shirley. She's ___ housewife.

That's Mark. He's ___ police officer.

I'm ____ student.

Kate Winslet is ____ actress.

Diana is ______ very nice person.

Last night we went out for ______ meal.

Make sure you put your name at ______ end of the report.

Could you close ______ door, please? It's really cold.

We need to do more for ______ poor.

I'm looking for ______ new job.

When you're ready, I'll take you to ______ airport.