Unit 1: Articles
A. The Indefinite Articles ‘A’ and ‘An’
Indefinite Article
‘A’ ‘An’
• is used with singular, countable nouns • is used with singular, countable nouns
that begin with a consonant sound. that begin with a vowel sound.
Example Example
- a book - an apple
- a pen - an umbrella
- a flower - an igloo
- a kitten - an owl
- a university - an hour
B. The Definite Article ‘The’
Usage Examples
To refer a specific person, animal or 1. This is the key for the front door.
object 2. The lady in the orange dress is very
attractive.
To refer to something which is one of a 1. The sun is overhead now.
kind 2. The earth doesn’t revolve around the
moon.
To refer to superlatives 1. Who is the tallest person in your
family?
2. That’s the most beautiful woman I’ve
ever seen.
To refer to a special class of people 1. The rich should not look down on the
poor.
2. Now there are special schools for the
blind and the deaf.
To refer to something mentioned earlier 1. I saw a movie yesterday. The movie
was boring.
2. We had a maths test just now. The test
was very difficult.
To refer to the names of countries that 1. The Republic of China
begin with United or Republic 2. The United States of America
To refer to proper nouns that are used as 1. The National Museum
adjectives 2. The Selangor football team
To refer to a range of mountains, a 1. The Maldives
group of islands, names of rivers, etc. 2. The Perak River
Before the names of musical instruments 1. The harp is an unusual instrument.
and after the verb ‘play’ 2. Fuad plays the guitar and the drums.
Before singular nouns that are used to 1. The elephant does not eat meat.
represent the whole class or species 2. The lion is often called ‘The King of
Beasts.’
C. The ‘Zero’ Article
Sometimes an article is not needed. This is often referred to as the ‘zero’ article (-).
Usage Examples
To refer to uncountable nouns used in the 1. (-) Time is precious.
general sense 2. (-) Oil floats on (-) water.
To refer to abstract nouns that are used in 1. (-) Health is (-) wealth.
the general sense 2. (-) Knowledge is (-) power.
Before words such as ‘school’, ‘market’, 1. Mrs Rasham has gone to (-) work.
‘college’, ‘town’, etc. when they are used 2. Encik Rashid usually drives to (-) work.
in the general sense
Before names of games except when they 1. (-) Football is a popular game.
are used as adjectives 2. Sheila plays (-) hockey for her (-) school.
Before the names of proper nouns, 1. Is (-) Germany in (-) Europe?
except when they are used as adjectives 2. (-) Jalan Masjid is a busy road.
Before the names of illnesses or diseases 1. There is no cure for (-) AIDS.
(except for words like ‘flu’, ‘fever’…) 2. (-) Measles is infectious disease.
Exercise 1
Fill in the blank with ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’, or ‘-‘.
1. __________ little boy was knocked down by __________ speeding car on __________
Jalan Awan Besar this morning.
2. Which is __________ highest mountain in __________ world?
3. May I have __________ hot drink, please? I have __________ bad headache and I need to
take __________ pill.
4. Ben lives in __________ small town in __________ United Kingdom.
5. Rohan has __________ part-time job. He works as __________ waiter in __________
Indian restaurant.
6. Kassim is not __________ honest boy. He stole __________ expensive book from
__________ library yesterday.
7. Last night we had __________ dinner at __________ Italian restaurant on __________
Jalan Beringin. __________ restaurant was very crowded because it was __________
public holiday.
8. Jason will be away on __________ holiday __________ week after next. He is going to
__________ United States. He will be staying with __________ cousin of his while he is
there.
Exercise 2
Fill in the blank with ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’, or ‘-‘.
TEXT 1
Mrs Charlie went to (1) _____ town yesterday. She bought (2) _____ lot of things because
there was (3) _____ ‘closing down’ sale at (4) _____ large department store. By (5) _____
time she arrived at (6) _____ store, there was already (7) _____ huge crowd there. She really
had (8) _____ tough time trying to push her way through (9) _____ crowd. Then, she went
to pay for (10) _____ things she had bought, she had to wait in (11) _____ queue for more
than (12) _____ hour!
TEXT 2
My best friend’s name is (1) _____ Gowri. She is (2) _____ extremely attractive person,
with (3) _____ lovely complexion and (4) _____ tall, slim figure. There is (5) _____ mole
on her face that is (6) _____ little below her right eye. She also has (7) _____ dimple which
is very obvious when she smiles. Gowri has great (8) _____ inner beauty too. She is (9)
_____ warm and friendly. (10) _____ person like her is hard to come by these days!
TEXT 3
(1) _____ elephant is (2) _____ largest mammal that lives on (3) _____land. It is (4)
_____ grey in colour. (5) _____ first thing (6) _____ person would notice about (7) _____
elephant is its long trunk. (8) _____ elephant uses its trunk very much like (9) _____ way
we would use (10) _____ hand. It is (11) _____ intelligent creature and can be taught to do
(12) _____ great variety of things.
TEXT 4
Susan had (1) _____ message from her boss (2) _____ few minutes ago. He told her to
attend (3) _____ meeting at (4) _____ Town Hall later in (5) _____ afternoon. He also told
her she could use (6) _____ company car to get to (7) _____ meeting. When (8) _____
meeting was over, he wanted her to return to (9) _____ office to tell him what happened at
(10) _____ meeting. Then, she could return (11) _____ home.
