Articles 'a, an, the'

The articles A, AN, THE are called determiners or noun markers. Here are  some guidelines: 1. A and AN are indefinite articles used to introduce a new noun (first mention) or a noun used in the general sense: Maria bought a new car.  It's a brand new day. An is used in front of singular count nouns beginning with vowel sounds: an essay, an hour, an umbrella2. THE is a definite article used in front of singular or plural nouns that: occur in some set expressions (idioms): It's the same story (lesson, way, message).  One of the musicians can play the flute.

precede most countries that end in a plural  noun and countries made up of states/provinces/other countries: the United States the Russian Federation precede the names of oceans, seas, gulfs and rivers: The Pacific Ocean The Mediterranean Sea The Gulf of Mexico  The Mississippi River precede specific nouns that are easily identifiable because they refer to a unique object or are modified by superlative adjectives: The sky is blue and  the sun is shining. The computer that you are using  needs more software. She's studying the Indonesian language. Is this the right answer or the wrong answer? occur in expressions of time and ordinal numbers: She is  the first (second, third, last) person to get the right answer. have already been introduced (second mention) or are defined in the context of the sentence: Note the first and second mention from  "The Fox and The Crow," one of  Aesop's fables:One day, a hungry fox was walking along a path when he saw a crow sitting on a branch of a tree, eating a piece of cheese. The fox wanted the cheese, so he said to the crow, "Mister Crow, you have such a beautiful voice. Would you please sing a song for me?" Flattered, the crow opened his mouth to sing the song, and the cheese fell right intothe mouth of the clever fox.

My father’s _______ scientist and my mother works part-time as _________ teacher at ________ University of Sussex. I left ________ school two years ago and I’m going to _________ college next year to study for _______ career in ________ police.

Yes, my ambition is to be ________ policeman. My uncle is ________ detective with _________ famous ‘Scotland Yard’, so I won’t be ________ first policeman in our family. However, I don’t want to be ________ detective, I would like to work with one of ________ new computer units: maybe ________ one which tracks internet-based criminals who move _________ funds around _________ globe.

I have ________ sister, called Lilly. She works as _______ hairdresser, but not in ________ hair salon. In fact, she works for ________ BBC, in the hair and makeup department. She knows all about _______ hair styles in ________ other centuries, because they often make ________ films about _________ different periods in British history.

Finally, ________ last person in our house is my grandmother. She’s retired now, but she used to be _______ librarian. She didn’t work in _______ library, though!  She used to drive _______ van which was used for ________ mobile library. So her job was to drive around all _______ villages and ________ isolated farms in our county. She has some stories to tell, believe me!

I suppose I should also mention my grandfather. He was _______ inventor. Until his death last year, he continued to spend most of his waking hours in ________ large wooden shed which he had built at ________ bottom of his garden. I loved visiting him and watching him experimenting with _______ strange things: _______ wires, ________ instruments, ________ tubes, _________ boxes … his workshop was like _______ mysterious treasure house.

  

1. Complete the sentences using A, AN or THE, if necessary:

1. When you go to ………………. Paris, be sure to visit ………………. Eiffel Tower.
2. What did you eat for ………………. breakfast this morning?
3. Henry plays ………………. piano and his father plays ………………. guitar.
4. Mr Silva is ………………. catholic but he almost never goes to ………………. church.
5. I´m in ………………. hurry because I have to catch ………………. bus to go to ………………. work.
6. For me ………………. summer is ………………. best season of ………………. year.
7. What ………………. delicious cake! Have ………………. piece!
8. Susan was in ………………. bed with ………………. fever, so she couldn´t go to ………………. party.
9. Helen works as ………………. secretary for ………………. multinational company.
10. What ………………. nice gardens! ………………. people who live in these houses must have ……………good taste.
11. I enjoyed ………………. Mr Watson´s lecture; he spoke about ………………. economic conditions in………………. United Kingdom.
12. ……………… life is not easy for ………………. people who earn ………………. minimum wage.
13. I like coffee but ………………. coffee they serve in ………………. school cafeteria is terrible!
14. Carnival is in February in ………………. Brazil.
15. I would like to see ………………. unicorn.
16. That´s ………………. car of my dreams!
17. ………………. Dr Costa goes to ………………. United States once ………………. year.