Escola E. B. 2, 3 D. Manuel de Faria e Sousa

English – 7th

Form

Teacher: Fernanda Soares

ARTICLES: INDEFINITE AND DEFINITE

INDEFINITE ARTICLE (a/an)

A or AN?

� a/an = one:

. Alice works in a bank.

. I want to ask a question.

� We use an (not a) before a/e/i/o/u:

. They live in an old house.

. I bought a hat and an umbrella.

BUT WE SAY:

. a university or an hour (exceptions)

� We use a/an for jobs:

. Mozart was a famous composer.

. She’s an engineer.

DEFINITE ARTICLE (the)

A, AN or THE?

a/an = one the

it is clear which thing or person we mean

���� They’ve got a car. (there are many cars

and they’ve got one)

���� Britain is an island. (there are many islands

and Britain is one)

���� I’m going to wash the car. (my car)

���� Rome is the capital of Italy. (there is only

one capital of Italy)

Note: We don’t use the when we are talking about something in general:

���� People usually make mistakes. (people = every person)

A, AN or THE?

A. Write a or an:

1. a book

2. __ old book

3. __ window

4. __ hotel

5. __ expensive hotel

6. __ airport

7. __ university student

8. __ Chinese restaurant

9. __ Indian restaurant

10. __ hour

11. __ hamburger

12. __ economic problem

B. Put in a or an where necessary in the sentences:

1. I buy newspaper every day. → I buy a newspaper every day.

2. We went to birthday party last weekend. ______________________________________________________

3. My brother is artist. ________________________________________________________________________

4. It’s beautiful day today. _____________________________________________________________________

5. Britain is industrial country. _________________________________________________________________

6. I usually have sandwich and apple for breakfast. _________________________________________________

C. Write a, an or the:

1. What is the name of this village?

2. Montreal is __ large city in Canada.

3. Can you turn on __ radio, please? I want to listen to some music.

4. This is a nice room but I don’t like __ colour of __ carpet.

5. We live in __ old house near __ station.

6. You look very tired. You need __ holiday.

D. Put in a, an or the where necessary in the sentences:

1. I turned off light, opened door and went out. → I turned off the light, opened the door and went out.

2. Excuse me, can I ask question, please? _________________________________________________________

3. Alan is best player in our football team. ________________________________________________________

4. What is name of director of film we saw last night? ______________________________________________

5. Peter and Mary have two children, boy and girl. _________________________________________________

6. Boy is seven years old and girl is three. ________________________________________________________

7. Enjoy your holidays and don’t forget to send me postcard! ________________________________________