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The definite and indefinite article

Read the following description


I am from Seattle, Washington. Seattle is a city in the United States. It is near the border of
Canada in the northwest corner of the USA. I live in a town called Olympia which is on the
Puget Sound. I live in a house in a street in the countryside. The street is called "Bear Street"
and the house is old - more than 100 years old! I am an English teacher at a school in the
center of the town. I like books and taking photographs. I usually have lunch at school. I
usually go home by car. We have all kinds of food in Olympia. I like Italian food very much.
Sometimes, I go to an Italian restaurant in Seattle. The restaurant is called "Luigi's". Italian
food is great!

Here are the 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
She has a dog.
I work 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?
She 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 four bedrooms.
I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good.
 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".
He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier.
They live in northern British Columbia.
 Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas -
My country borders on the Pacific Ocean
 DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general
I like Russian tea.
She likes reading books.
 DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport
He has breakfast at home.
I go to university.
He comes to work by taxi.
1) Choose the right article.
Fill in the article >a<, >an< or >the< where necessary. Choose >x< where no article is used.

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1) I like _______ blue T-shirt over there better than ________ red one.
2) Their car does 150 miles _______ hour.
3) Where's _______ USB drive I lent you last week?
4) Do you still live in _______ Bristol?
5) Is your mother working in _______ old office building?
6) Carol's father works as _______ electrician.
7) The tomatoes are 99 pence _______ kilo.
8) What do you usually have for _______ breakfast?
9) Ben has _______ terrible headache.
10) After this tour you have _______ whole afternoon free to explore the city

2) The definite article “the”


Decide whether to use the definite article >the< or not. If you do not need the article >the<, use x.
1) My grandmother likes ______ flowers very much.
2) I love _____ flowers in your garden.
3) See you on _____ Wednesday.
4) I always listen to _____ radio in the morning.
5) Alex goes to _____ work by bus.
6) Don't be late for _____ school.
7) Listen! Dennis is playing _____ trumpet.
8) We often see our cousins over _____ Easter.
9) She has never been to _____ Alps before.
10) What about going to Australia in _____ February?

3) The indefinite article “a/an”


Use >a< or >an<. Write the correct forms of the indefinite articles into the gaps.
Example: We read __ book.
Answer: We read a book.

1) Lucy has dog.


2) Let's sing song.
3) Emily needs new desk in her room.
4) I need blue pen.
5) Ben has old bike.
6) Peter has aunt in Berlin.
7) We listen to English CD.
8) She has exercise book in her school bag.
9) The speed of this car was 160 miles hour.
10) They finished unit.

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