Articles

a, an, the with adjectives and singular nouns

Practice A
Underline the correct articles to complete the paragraphs.
1 ( A / An ) speedometer is 2 ( a / an ) instrument which tells us 3 ( a / the ) speed at which 4 ( a / the )
vehicle is moving. 5 ( A / An ) odometer tells us how far it has travelled.
When 6 ( a / an ) octopus senses dangers, it produces 7 ( an / the ) inky substance. 8 (A / The ) substance
serves as 9 ( a / the ) screen. It prevents 10 ( a / an ) possible attacker from spotting 11 ( a / the ) octopus.

Practice B
Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct articles in the brackets to complete the sentences.
1. I know ________ ( a / the ) footballer on Sam's right.
2. __________( A / The ) chairman of that company resigned yesterday.
3. Please take __________( an / the ) injured passenger to ____________( an / the )hospital immediately.
4. There is ___________( a / an ) magnificent hotel near the lake. ___________( An / The ) hotel is a hundred
years old.
5. ___________( A / The ) elephant eating sugarcane is Elmo. _____________( An / The ) elephant next to him
is Jumo.
6. ___________( A / The ) representative from Sri Lanka is ___________( an / the ) excellent speaker.

Practice C
Fill in the blanks with the correct adjectives in the brackets.
1. He is such an ___________________child. (good / obedient)
2. My neighbour has a ___________________temper. (explosive / nasty)
3. I need an _____________________container for the biscuits. ( airtight / large)
4. To some people, 13 is an _________________number. (small / unlucky)
5. Ken had a __________________time when hi lost his way. (awful / horrible )
6. Sue gave an _________________performance in the play Black Mountain. ( impressive / wonderful)

7. She prepared an ____________________dinner for her relatives. ( elaborate / scrumptious )

8. He gave a ______________________account of his travels in Europe. ( detailed / informative)
9. I can't see Jenny's face because she is wearing a ____________________hat. ( huge / oversized)
10. The solutions led a _____________________man into the army headquarters. ( frightened / unarmed)

Practice D
Fill in the blanks with a, an or the.
A: I need to make (1)____________appointment with my dentist.
B: Why don't you use my phone here?
A: Thank you. (pause.) Oh dear, his telephone has (2)___________engaged tone. I'll try again later.
B: Which dentist do you go to ?
A: I go to (3) ____________one next to (4)______________supermarket in Spencer Street.
B: Is he (5)___________good dentist?
A: He's (6)___________excellent dentist! You hardly feel any pain when he pulls out (7)_____________ tooth
or does (8)___________filling.
B: My grandmother needs to have her teeth checked. Could I have (9)__________telephone number of your
dentist, please?
A: Of course. It's 56634221.
B: Er... Could you repeat (10)__________number, please?
A: 56634221

Practice E
Ten of the underlined articles have been wrongly used. Write the correct articles in the boxes provided.

10

Our plane touches down at

the airport at exactly 4 p.m. We

__________________

disembarked from a plane and

__________________

boarded a orange shuttle bus.

__________________

A last person to board the

__________________

bus was a elderly lady. She

__________________

was carrying the huge bag and she

___________________

struggled to get onto a bus.

__________________

She would not let anyone carry a bag

__________________

for her. I invited her to take a seat

__________________

next to mine but she refused.

The kind man suggested she

__________________

place a bag on a floor but

___________________

she shook her head.

15

"What was she carrying in

the bag?" I wondered.

___________________

Practice F
Rewrite the sentences. Put in a , an or the where necessary.

1. There is life-jacket under every seat of an aeroplane.

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2. Mum bought me new computer game.

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_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Badminton tournament at my school starts tomorrow.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. Sally won enormous teddy bear at the fair.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

5. James is going on a one-month tour. Tour will cover five countries.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

6. I thanked man who rescued me from drowning.

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