Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Ĭhristophersen, P. On definiteness: A study with special reference to English and Finnish. (general – not specific paintings)Ĭhesterman, A. Most paintings nowadays are quite abstract. (definite – we know which specific paintings – they are in the exhibition) Most of the paintings in the exhibition were landscapes. It is either most of the paintings (definite) or most paintings (general). You cannot write most of paintings or none of paintings. This is a very common pattern – The use of this procedure Specific nouns modified by a relative clause – The paintings (which are) in the gallery Unique adjectives – The same people always take the only parking spaces available. (Each country has only one prime minister, so in that sense the person is unique.) Unique people, places or things – The prime minister said she would call a conference on changes affecting the earth’s climate.
Many organisations – The World Health Organisation has a detailed definition of health.Ī scientific categorisation – The zebra is native to Africa.Ī symbol – The Merlion is a symbol of Singapore. Plural or ‘united’ countries (those which have the word United in their name) – The Maldives are much smaller than the United States of America.Īdjectives used as nouns – The poor will always be a challenge for the rich in any country. Oceans, seas and many rivers – The Nile flows into the Mediterranean.
Exercise indefinite articles a and an pdf series#
Superlatives and ordinals – The second book in the series is the best. Some things are taken to be common knowledge in English and therefore take the definite article:Ĭurrencies – The dollar is getting stronger against the pound. (You have not mentioned the bride before, but you both know she is connected to the wedding.) (You have just mentioned the book, so you both know which one.) If your reader or listener understands what you are referring to, then you will usually need the definite article: Sometimes there is more than one choice when using an article – even native speakers disagree, depending on whether or not they feel the noun is definite or not. There are at least six of these freely available online. (If you have words like my, one, each or both before the noun, then no article is necessary.) If you don’t know whether a noun is countable or not, check in an English learner’s dictionary. Remember: If you have a singular countable noun then you must use an article in almost every case. You will also find this chart, and further exercises, in the learning guides on articles which I produced for Flinders University and the University of Adelaide. The above chart is based on information in: Master, P 1986, Science, medicine and technology: English grammar and technical writing, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey. To do the exercises, think carefully about each noun, using the following chart: Is the noun singular and countable?
Exercise indefinite articles a and an pdf pdf#
Download the information on this page as a PDF or Word document and download the exercises in PDF format or as a Word document.Īrticles in different languages Teachers' notes Exercise 4: Present Simple or Present Perfectĭownload the PowerPoint that accompanies the video.Exercise 2: Present Simple, Past Simple or Present Perfect.Exercise 1: Present Simple, Past Simple or Present Perfect.
Exercise 1: Active, Passive or Ergative.
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