Grammar

A - AN - THE

Sue has a book. (= there are many books and she has one) Sue has the book. (= a specific book) Paris is a beautiful city in France. (= there are many beautiful cities in France, and Paris is one) Paris is the capital of France. (= there is only one capital of France) The indefinite articles (a/an) are used before singular, countable nouns. My brother works in a hospital. (We don’t know which hospital) We also use a/an for jobs/professions. My dad is a doctor. He’s an oncologist. She’s an architect. Note:   an (not a) before a/e/i/o/u: I forgot to take an umbrella, and got wet in the rain. (not a umbrella) The definite article (the) is used when it is clear which person or thing we mean. the kitchen / the bedroom / the garden etc. (of a house) the cinema / the airport / the mall etc. (of a town) Colin bought a pair of jeans and a jacket. The jacket wasn’t expensive, but the jeans were. We can also use the when there's only one of the thing we're talking about. I want to go to the moon. The sun sets at around 8 o’clock in the summer. We use the with the names of oceans, seas, rivers, canals, deserts, island groups, hotels, cinemas, museums, clubs, restaurants and pubs. the Pacific Ocean the Amazon25 River the Panama Canal the Kalahari Desert the Canary Islands the Hilton Hotel the Roxy Cinema the Modern Art Museum the Hard Rock Café We use the before names with of . I visited the Statue of Liberty. My friend studies at the University of London. We also use the before plural place names or when they include a countable noun. Did you enjoy your trip to the United States?

Choose the correct article a/an/the to complete the sentences below.

1.  AAnThe Netherlands is a fun place to visit.

2. “What does she do?” “She’s  aanthe engineer.”

3. Australia is  aanthe island.

4. Brasilia is  aanthe capital of Brazil.

5.  AAnThe Nile River is in Africa.

6.I don’t like lying in  aanthe sun.

7.My sister works at  aanthe restaurant.

8.  AAnThe watch you gave me for my birthday is really great, thanks!”

9. “What time is it?” “I don’t know. I haven’t got  aanthe watch.”

10.I live in  aanthe old house.