English Language

ENGLISH ARTICLES

"A, An, The" definite and indefinite articles in English

Read the following description

I am from Winchester, Hampshire. Winchester is a city in the United Kingdom. I live in a town called Taunton which is on the River Tone. I live in a house in a quiet street in the countryside. The street is called "Hudson Street" and the house is old - more than 100 years old! I am an English lecturer at a college near the centre of the town. I like books, music and taking photographs. I usually have lunch at college. I usually go home by car. We have all kinds of food in England. I like Polish food very much. Sometimes, I go to a Polish restaurant in Bath. The restaurant is called "Magda's". Polish food is delicious!

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

a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonants
Eric has a dog.
Gregory works in a factory.
an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with vowels (a,e,i,o,u)
Can I have an apple?
Donata is an English teacher.
the = definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know)
The car over there is fast.
The teacher is very good, isn't he?
The first time you speak of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that object use "the".
I live in a house. The house is quite old and has two bedrooms.
I ate in a Vietnamese restaurant. The restaurant was not very clean.
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.
Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas -
I live on a small island in the Baltic Sea.
DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general
I like Indian tea.
Simon likes reading books about linguistics.
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.

EXERCISE 1

(Pre-Intermediate)

Fill in the gaps. Click on the arrow to see the answer. Don't look back at the original text!

I am from Winchester, Hampshire. Winchester is city in United Kingdom. I live in town called Taunton which is on River Tone. I live in house in quiet street in the countryside. street is called "Hudson Street" and house is old - more than 100 years old! I am English lecturer at college near centre of town. I like books, music and taking photographs. I usually have lunch at college. I usually go home by car. We have all kinds of food in England. I like Polish food very much. Sometimes, I go to Polish restaurant in Bath. restaurant is called "Magda's". Polish food is delicious!

EXERCISE 2

(Elementary / Pre-Intermediate)

a, an, the, zero

Click the answer button to see the correct answer.

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.
___ beer is good for you.
Would you like to see ___ film?
___ apple a day keeps ___ doctor away.
I can't believe I failed ___ yesterday's test!
Do you have ___ dictionary that I can borrow?

EXERCISE 3

(Elementary / Pre-Intermediate)

Click the answer button to see the correct answer.

There were many dogs in the park. One dog was ___ Dalmatian.
Pandas and ___ tigers are both endangered animals.
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.
Jane went to the shop to buy ___ bread.
Hania broke ___ glass when she was washing-up.
Tom took ___ umbrella as it was raining heavilly.

EXERCISE 4

(Elementary / Pre-Intermediate)

Click the answer button to see the correct answer.

This is ___ easy question.
Stephen could you speak ___ little louder.
May I have your ___ phone number?
I have never seen ___ UFO.
May I ask you ___ question?
Astrid is ___ best teacher in our school.
What is ___ name of the next station?
My girlfriend has ___ my car today.
I went to ___ sea during my summer holiday.
Is there ___ cash machine near here?

EXERCISE 5

(Elementary)

Click the answer button to see the answer.

This is Joanna. She's _____ doctor.
a. a
b. an
Simon is ____ engineer.
a. a
b. an
That's Sandra. She's ___ hairdresser.
a. a
b. an
Sean Connery is ___ actor.
a. a
b. an
John is ____ electrician.
a. a
b. an
Mr. Sańko is ___ teacher.
a. a
b. an
This is Shirley. She's ___ housewife.
a. a
b. an
That's Mark. He's ___ police officer.
a. a
b. an
I'm ____ student.
a. a
b. an
Kate Winslet is ____ actress.
a. a
b. an

NOW TRY A MORE DIFFICULT 'INTERMEDIATE' LEVEL TEST