In this post, you will revise the use of articles.
You will also check your general knowledge in a quiz!
Articles are the words a/an and the.
We use these words in different ways.
a/an are the indefinite articles. We use 'an' before a word which starts with a vowel (a/e/i/o/u).
the is the definite article.
A) You are going to read some questions.
1. For each gap, choose either 'a', 'an' or 'the'.
Write your answers in your note book. Think about why you chose each answer.
2. Then, you think about whether you know the answers to the quiz!
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QUIZ QUESTIONS:
1. Which is bigger, ____ lake or _____ ocean?
2. Which country has ______ biggest population?
3. What sport is played at Wimbledon with ____ ball and ____ racket?
4. What is _____ capital city of Norway?
5. What is _____ biggest state in _____ U.S.A.?
6. What is the fifth planet from ______ sun?
7. How many strings does _______ violin have?
8. In which country were _______ 2008 Olympic Games held?
9. Name _____ two longest rivers in the world.
10. Who was _____ first person to walk on ________ moon?
11. How many weeks are there in _______ year?
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1. ANSWERS - Articles
Read the answers and the explanations.
1. Which is bigger, a lake or an ocean?
We use a/an because there are many lakes and many oceans.
We are not talking about a specific one, just a lake or an ocean in general.
Also, we are using the singular form of the noun (only 1).
2. Which country has the biggest population?
We use the with superlative adjectives.
For example: the best, the smallest, the fastest, the most, the greatest and the worst.
3. What sport is played at Wimbledon with a ball and a racket?
This is the first time we have talked about these two objects. We are also speaking in general about singular nouns (1 thing).
When we have more than one thing, (plural nouns), we do not need an article.
e.g. You play basketball and football with balls.
4. What is the capital city of Norway?
We use the definite article the because there is only one capital city of a country!
What is the capital city of your country?
5. What is the largest state in the U.S.A.?
As we saw in question 3, we use 'the' for superlatives like the biggest.
Most countries do not need an article:
e.g. Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Venezuela, China, Syria, India.
But there are some exceptions!
We use 'the' with some countries. For example:
The UK.
The USA
The Netherlands
The UAE
"I live in the UK."
6. What is the fifth planet from the sun?
There is only one 'sun' that we all know and call the sun.
We also use 'the' with the moon.
7. How many strings does a violin have?
We use a when speaking in general about singular nouns.
8. In which country were the Olympic Games held in 2008?
Here, we use 'the' because we have an official name.
Other examples:
The United Nations
The Theatre Royal
The Gate
The Centre for Life
The full name of these places includes 'the'.
9. Name the two longest rivers in the world.
Here is another superlative, just like questions 3 and 5!
10. Who was the first person to walk on the moon?
We use 'the' with first (superlative).
As we saw in question 6, we say 'the moon' and 'the sun' when talking about Earth's moon and sun.
11. How many weeks are there in a year?
We use 'a' when speaking about singular nouns in general, like in questions 1, 3 and 7.
Look at the difference:
1. Years have 12 months. (years - plural - no article)
2. There are 12 months in a year. (year - singular - a)
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2. ANSWERS: QUIZ QUESTIONS
1. An ocean
2. China
3. Tennis
4. Oslo
5. Alaska
6. Jupiter
7. 4
8. Russia
9. The Nile, The Amazon
10. Neil Armstrong
11. 52
Well done! How many did you get correct?
You should now feel more confident with some of the uses of articles.
Now, you could write your own general knowledge questions.
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