Insert articles where necessary

Articles

The indefinite article a

A (an) is used with countable nouns to indicate one;

A (an) is not used before a plural noun;

A (an) is not used before uncountable nouns.

The indefinite article a and the definite article the

The definite article the is used:

a) when a word is used a second time;

b) when only one object exists.

1. Write a, an, or nothing to complete these sentences:

1. This is … book. It is my … book. 2. I have … sister. My sister is … engineer. 3. I have no … handbag. 4. Is this … watch? - No, it isn’t … watch, it’s … pen. 5. He can see …pencil on your … table, but he can see no … paper. 6. Give me … chair, please. 7. We wrote …dictation yesterday. … 8. They have … dog and two … cats. 9. I have … spoon in my …plate, but I have no soup in it. 10. My sister’s … husband is … doctor.

2. Write a, the, or no article to complete these sentences:

1. This is … tree. … tree is green. 2. I can see three … boys. … boys are playing. 3. I have … bicycle. … bicycle is black. My … friend has no … bicycle. 4. Our … room is large. 5. We wrote … dictation yesterday. … dictation was long. 6. She has two … daughters and one … son. Her … son is …pupil. 7. My … brother’s …friend has no …dog. 8. This …pencil is broken. 9. She has …ball. …ball is … big. 10. I got … letter from my friend yesterday. … letter was interesting.

3. Put in the if the speaker and hearer, probably know exactly which (one/ones). Put in a/an, or - (no article) if not.

1. … sun is yellow. 2. What’s … weather like? - … weather is fine. 3. … sky is grey today. 4. … earth is … planet. 5. We had … English lesson yesterday. … teacher asked me many … questions. 6. Nick went into …bathroom, turned on …water and washed his … hands. 7. He is doing his …room. … homework is difficult. 8. It is very dark in … room. Turn on … light, please.

Insert articles where necessary.

1. Where is …cat? - … cat is on … sofa. 2. Where is … book? - … book is on … shelf. 3. Where are … flowers? - … flowers are in … beautiful vase. 4. Where is … vase? - … vase is on … little table near …window. 5. Open …window, please. … weather is fine today. I can see … sun in … sky. I can see … nice little bird. … bird is sitting in … big tree. … tree is green. 6. We have … large room. There is …big sofa in … room and … little lamp on … wall over … sofa. I like to sit on …sofa and read …good book. 7. There is … little white cloud in … sky. 8. Where is … soup? - …soup is in …big saucepan on … gas-cooker. 9. There is no … bread on bread on … table. Where is … bread? 10. Where is …table in your room?

5. Put in the or a/an or zero articlewhere necessary

Here is … large window. Through … window we can see …room. Opposite …window there is …door. On …door there is …curtain. In … corner of …room there is …round table. On it we can see …books and …telephone. There is …bookshelf over …table. On …bookshelf we can see …newspapers and …book by … Jack London. There are …two bookcases in … room. One …picture is small, … other pictures in … room. There are … two books. There is … large sofa in … room. …bookcases are full of … books. There is … large sofa in …room. On … sofa we can see …bag. Whose …bag is that? There is no … bed in … room. On … small table near … window there are … flowers and …glass of …water. In …front of …window we can see …armchair.

6. Put in the or a/an