Articles 101

Articles in English 101

Multiple Choice

How many articles are there in the following sentence?

I watched a sci-fi movie last night. The story was incredible. I love sci-fi movies.

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

A or AN/THE

• I watched a sci-fi movie last night ("a" is used before a consonant sound).

• It was an amazing movie ("an" is used before a vowel sound).

• The story was incredible; on top of it, the actors in it were all famous ("the" is used both before a vowel and a consonant, but is pronounced differently).

Use "the" when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about or to identify a particular thing:

Ex:

-Where's the pen?

-What are you talking about?

-The pen that was on the table.

-Ah ha! I used it to play with the dog!

Recap: THE

The Definite Article

We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the listener/reader knows exactly what we are referring to:

Watch out!

We do not use "the" before plural and uncountable nouns when we are talking about things in general as we do in French.

• J'aime les films de science fiction.

Mais

• I love (ø) sci-fi movies.

• ​J'aime le popcorn.

Mais

• I love (ø) popcorn.

"A" and "an" are used when a singular countable noun is talked about for the first time:

Ex: I took a taxi at the station.

"A" and "an" can be used when...

1. classifying: It's a dog.

2. describing: It's an enormous dog.

3. generalising when you explain the components of

   something (restricted use):

   An essay has three main parts./A bicycle has two wheels.

Recap: A/AN

​INDEFINITE

Watch out!

Open Ended

"A" and "an" are not used with plural nouns or uncountable nouns.

Correct the mistake by filling in the gap (...):

You cannot write I met *a dogs. Instead, you should write I met ...

Open Ended

"A" and "an" are not used with plural nouns or uncountable nouns.

Correct the mistake by filling in the gap (...):

You cannot write I ate *a rice. Instead, you should write I ate ...

​EXCEPTIONS

ø or zero article

I love (ø) sci-fi movies and eating (ø) popcorn.

In other words, in the sentence above, we didn't use the, a or an before sci-fi movies and popcorn.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/upper-intermediate/unit-9/session-1

• with proper nouns.

Ex: I saw øNiagara Falls, and I climbed øMount Everest.

• when talking in general about plural or uncountable nouns (contrary to French).

Ex: øLife is hard for øEnglish teachers.

Recap: We use ø or zero article

• with times of day, year and named holidays and special days/festivals.

Ex: I think I took a shower ølast week.

• When talking about the normal role of an institution.

Ex: He was released from øprison in 2021.

• If you want to generalise about a singular countable noun, use "the", but only for certain nouns (those that refer to occupations (e.g., the student, the farmer, etc.), names of animals (e.g.,the lion, the turtle, etc.), body parts (e.g.,the lungs, the heart, etc), and human inventions (e.g.,the telephone, the computer, etc.).

Ex:

The tiger is a beautiful animal (or ø Tigers are beautiful animals)

Watch out!

Multiple Choice

Decide whether the sentence is correct or not correct.

I have never liked coffee.

• Correct

• Not correct

Multiple Choice

Decide whether the sentence is correct or not correct.

I have never liked coffee they serve here.

• Correct

• Incorrect

Multiple Choice

Decide whether the sentence is correct or not correct.

Are you going to dress up for the Halloween?

• Correct

• Incorrect

Multiple Choice

Decide whether the sentence is correct or not correct.

Are you going to dress up for the Halloween party?

• Correct

• Incorrect

Multiple Choice

Decide whether the sentence is correct or not correct.

Learning about articles can be quite tricky.

• Correct

• Incorrect

Multiple Choice

Choose the best option to complete the sentence.

When I was crossing the road, I thought I saw ...

black cat that lives next door.

• a

• an

• • ø

• the

Multiple Choice

Choose the best option to complete the sentence.

... Poverty is still ... issue we have to address nowadays.

• • ø/an

• • ø/a

• the/an

• the/a

Multiple Choice

In which word do you use the article "an"?

• apple

• park

• notebook

Multiple Choice

She is ___ beautiful girl.

• a

• an

• the

• -

Multiple Choice

My uncle is___ architect.

• a

• the

• an

• --

Multiple Choice

In which word do you use the article "a"?

• apple

• onion

• university

Multiple Choice

She is wearing ___ old dress.

• the

• a

• _

• an

Multiple Choice

They read ___ newspaper every morning.

• __

• the

• an

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option to the sentence below.

I saw _____ insect flying in my room. ______insect was _____ mosquito.

• an, an , a

• an, x, a

• an , the, a

• an , the, an

Multiple Choice

There’s _____ Chinese restaurant in _____ center of the city that makes _____ most delicious

food in _____ world.

• a / the / the / the

• the / a / the / the

• the / the / a / the

• the / the / the / a

Multiple Choice

This is _____ worst idea you’ve ever had. We need to find _____ better way to do this.

• the / the

• a / the

• the / a

• a / a

Multiple Choice

___ cats are adorable.

• a

• an

• __

• the

Multiple Choice

All the sentences below are correct , except.....

• We had a great time on our summer holiday.

• He has to go a very important meeting on the Tuesday.

• What is the correct answer?

• The oranges in Spain are very sweet.

Multiple Choice

You work in __ hospital.

• __

• an

• a

• the

Multiple Choice

Your brother is__ lawyer and your sister is__ actress.

• the/a

• an/an

• a/ an

• ___

Multiple Choice

Do you like ___ coffee?

• an

• __

• a

• the

Multiple Choice

__ Dogs hate __ cats.

• a/ __

• __/ the

• __ / __

• the/ __

Multiple Choice

___ German is difficult to learn.

• an

• a

• __

• the

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct article: a, an, the or x.

Please, don't tell me _____ story of your life !

• a

• an

• the

• x

Multiple Choice

I want to buy __ car. ___ car is black. I think black is __ best color for __ cars.

• __ / a/ an/__

• a/ an/ the/ the

• the/ an/__/the

• a/ the/the/__