Exercise: Articles Exercise 1

Directions: Fill in the blank with the appropriate article, a, an, or the, or leave the space blank if
no article is needed.

1. I want ____ apple from that basket.

2. ____ church on the corner is progressive.

3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese.

4. I borrowed ____ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.

5. One of the students said, "____ professor is late today."

6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball.

7. I bought ____ umbrella to go out in the rain.

8. My daughter is learning to play ____ violin at her school.

9. Please give me ____ cake that is on the counter.

10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town.

11. Albany is the capital of ____ New York State.

12. My husband's family speaks ____ Polish.

13. ____ apple a day keeps the doctor away.

14. ____ ink in my pen is red.

15. Our neighbors have ____ cat and ____ dog.

Exercise : Articles Exercise 2
Directions: Write the following paragraphs, inserting a, an, and the where needed.

1. I have horse of my own. I call her Pretty Girl. She is intelligent animal, but she is not
thoroughbred horse. I could never enter her in race, even if I wanted to. But I do not want to. She
is companion, for my own pleasure. I took her swimming day or two ago.

2. Horse knows when he is going to race. How does he know? His breakfast was scanty. (He is
angry about that.) He does not have saddle on his back. He is being led, not ridden, to
grandstand. He is led under grandstand into unusual, special stall. Horse is nervous. Sometimes
he does not know what to do when starting gate flies open and track is before him. If he does not
begin to run instantly, other horses are already ahead of him. During race, when he sees another
horse just ahead of him, he will try to pass him. Sometimes jockey holds him back to save his
energy for last stretch. Eventually horse gets to run as fast as he can. Exercise boy, watching
owner's favorite jockey riding horse he has exercised day after day, says nothing. Secretly, he is
planning for day when he will be jockey himself, and his horse will be first to cross finish line.

3. Most working people have fewer hours to give to time-consuming activities of clubs than they
used to have, but most people in small town belong to club or two. One of clubs is likely to be
social and benevolent organization, such as Rotary or Elks. Business people are likely to belong,
also to either Kiwanis Club or Lions. Such business people's organizations may meet as often as
once a week in one of private dining rooms of town's leading hotel for lunch. They have good
lunch, hear good program, and continue their fundraising program for worthy organization, such
as local hospital.

Exercise 4: Identify and underline the articles

Read the passage given below, and identify and underline the articles used in it.

One day, a dog which was very hungry was crossing the street. Suddenly he saw a shop selling
meat. Since the dog hadn’t eaten for a few days, he could not control his hunger. When the
shopkeeper wasn’t looking, the dog took a piece of meat and ran away. The dog ran till it came
near a clear stream to enjoy his food. As he was about to eat the meat, he saw his own reflection
in the water. He didn’t understand that it was his own reflection in the clear water; he thought
there was another dog with a piece of meat. So without thinking twice, he opened his mouth to
bark at the other dog; as soon as he did that, his piece of meat fell into the stream.
Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles

Use ‘an’, ‘a’ or ‘the’ appropriately in the sentences given below.

1. Sheldon is ___ honest man.

2. King Arthur was ___ just king.
3. ____ lion let go of ___ mouse.
4. I have fixed ___ appointment with ___ doctor.
5. Will you take ___ picture of us?
6. I broke ___ vase my brother brought.
7. My mother has ___ polka-dotted umbrella.
8. The team organised __ friendly match with ___ Presidents of both ___ countries.
9. We had __ mulberry tree in the garden.
10. ___ Eiffel Tower lights up at night.
11. ___ huge building turned to dust due to __ earthquake.
12. ___ famous band Beatles is coming to Texas tomorrow.
13. Charles Babbage is considered as ___ father of computers.
14. __ famous poem ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is written by __ Romantic poet John Keats.
15. __ Pacific Ocean is one of __ five oceans of __ world.
16. __ painter drew __ life-sized portrait of Mrs Mary Poppins.
17. My son is ___ apple of my eye.
18. ___ history professor who taught us is retiring today.
19. ___ oranges I brought were very sour.
20. Sharon will take __ train from __ next stop.

Exercise 5

Choose the correct article: a, an, the or x (no article)

1. Are you coming to party next Saturday?

2. I bought new TV set yesterday.
3. I think man over there is very ill. He can't stand on his feet.
4. I watched video you had sent me.
5. She was wearing ugly dress when she met him.
6. I am crazy about reading history books.
7. She is nice girl.
8. Do you want to go to restaurant where we first met?
9. He is engineer.
10. He thinks that love is what will save us all.
Exercise 6

Choose the correct definite or indefinite article: "the", "a", "an" or "x" (zero article) .

1. I bought pair of shoes.

2. I saw movie last night.
3. They are staying at hotel.
4. Look at woman over there! She is a famous actress.
5. I do not like basketball.
6. That is girl I told you about.
7. night is quiet. Let's take a walk!
8. price of gas keeps rising.
9. John traveled to Mexico.
10. Juan is Spanish.
11. I read amazing story yesterday.
12. My brother doesn't eat chicken.
13. love is such beautiful thing.
14. I live in apartment. apartment is new.
15. I would like piece of cake.
16. I was in Japanese restaurant. restaurant served good food.
17. Sara can play guitar

Exercise 7

Complete the following sentences using appropriate articles. In some cases, no articles are needed.

1. ………………….. man is mortal.

2. I am …………………. university student.

3. She goes to the temple in ……………….. mornings.

4. Kiran is …………………. best student in the class.

5. ………………….. camel is the ship of the desert.

6. This book has won ………………….. Booker prize.

7. Harishchandra was …………………. honest king.

8. I am fond of ………………. classical music.

9. I met ..................... boy in the store.

10. Gold is ....................... precious metal.

11. She returned after ………………….. hour.

12. There is ..................... . institution for ....................... blind in this city

Answer: Articles Exercise 1
Correct answers are in bold.

1. I want an apple from that basket.

2. The church on the corner is progressive.

3. Miss Lin speaks Chinese. (no article needed)

4. I borrowed a pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.

5. One of the students said, "The professor is late today."

6. Eli likes to play volleyball. (no article needed)

7. I bought an umbrella to go out in the rain.

8. My daughter is learning to play the violin at her school.

9. Please give me the cake that is on the counter.

10. I lived on Main Street when I first came to town. (no article needed)

11. Albany is the capital of New York State. (no article needed)

12. My husband's family speaks Polish. (no article needed)

13. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

14. The ink in my pen is red.

15. Our neighbors have a cat and a dog.

Answers – Exercise 3

1. An
2. A
3. The, The
4. An, The
5. A
6. The
 7. A
8. A, The, The
9. A
10. The
11. The, The
12. The
13. The
14. The, The
15. The, The, The
16. The, A
17. The
18. The
19. The
20. A, The

Answer Exercise 5 : Choose the correct article: a, an, the or x (no article)

1. Are you coming to the party next Saturday?

2. I bought a new TV set yesterday.
3. I think the man over there is very ill. He can't stand on his feet.
4. I watched the video you had sent me.
5. She was wearing an ugly dress when she met him.
6. I am crazy about reading x history books.
7. She is a nice girl.
8. Do you want to go to the restaurant where we first met?
9. He is an engineer.
10. He thinks that x love is what will save us all.

Answer Exercise 6

Choose the correct definite or indefinite article: "the", "a", "an" or "x" (zero article) .

1. I bought a pair of shoes.

2. I saw a a movie last night.
3. They are staying at a hotel.
4. Look at the man over there is unfriendly.
5. I do not like X basketball.
6. That is a problem I told you about.
 7. The night is quiet. Let us take a walk!
8. The price of gas keeps rising.
9. John traveled to X Mexico.
10. Juan is X Spanish.
11. I read an amazing story.
12. My brother does not eat X chicken.
13. X Love is such. a beautiful thing.
14. I live in an apartment. The apartment is new.
15. I would like a piece of cake.
16. I was in a Japanese restarant. The restaurant served good food.
17. Sara can play the guitar.

Answers Exercise 7

1. Man is mortal. (No article is needed.)

2. I am a university student.

3. She goes to temple in the mornings.

4. Kiran is the best student in the class.

5. The camel is the ship of the desert.

6. This book has won the Booker prize.

7. Harishchandra was an honest king.

8. I am fond of classical music. (No article is needed.)

9. I met a boy in the store.

10. Gold is a precious metal.

11. She returned after an hour.

12. There is an institution for the blind in this city

Answer: Articles Exercise 2
Correct answers are in bold.

1. I have a horse of my own. I call her Pretty Girl. She is an intelligent animal, but she is not a
thoroughbred horse. I could never enter her in a race, even if I wanted to. But I do not want to.
She is a companion, for my own pleasure. I took her swimming a day or two ago.

2. A horse knows when he is going to race. How does he know? His breakfast was scanty. (He is
angry about that.) He does not have a saddle on his back. He is being led, not ridden, to the
grandstand. He is led under the grandstand into an unusual, special stall. The horse is nervous.
Sometimes he does not know what to do when the starting gate flies open and the track is before
him. If he does not begin to run instantly, other horses are already ahead of him. During the race,
when he sees another horse just ahead of him, he will try to pass him. Sometimes the jockey
holds him back to save his energy for the last stretch. Eventually the horse gets to run as fast as
he can. The exercise boy, watching the owner's favorite jockey riding the horse he has exercised
day after day, says nothing. Secretly, he is planning for the day when he will be a jockey
himself, and his horse will be the first to cross the finish line.

3. Most working people have fewer hours to give to time-consuming activities of clubs than they
used to have, but most people in a small town belong to a club or two. One of the clubs is likely
to be a social and benevolent organization, such as the Rotary or Elks. Business people are likely
to belong, also to either the Kiwanis Club or the Lions. Such business people's organizations
may meet as often as once a week in one of the private dining rooms of the town's leading hotel
for lunch. They have a good lunch, hear a good program, and continue their fundraising program
for a worthy organization, such as a local hospital.

Answers – Exercise 4

One day, a dog which was very hungry was crossing the street. Suddenly, it saw a shop selling
meat. Since the dog hadn’t eaten for a few days, he could not control his hunger. When the
shopkeeper wasn’t looking, the dog took a piece of meat and ran away. The dog ran till it came
near a clear stream to enjoy his food. As he was about to eat the meat, he saw his own reflection
in the water. He didn’t understand that it was his own reflection in the clear water; he thought
there was another dog with a piece of meat. So without thinking twice, he opened his mouth to
bark at the other dog; as soon as he did that, his piece of meat fell into the stream