Driving / instructor / interpreter / journalist / nurse / pilot / plumber / travel / agent / waiter

1. Stella looks after patients in hospital. _She's a nurse._

2. George works in a restaurant. He brings the food to the tables. He....................

3. Mary arranges people's holidays for them. She....................

4. Ron works for an airline. He flies aeroplane.....................

5. Linda teaches people how to drive.....................

6. Dave fits and repairs water pipes.....................

7. Jenny writes articles for a newspaper.....................

8. John translates what people are saying from one language into another, so that they can understand each other.....................

 

3 Put in a/an or some where necessary. If no word is necessary, leave the space empty(-).

1. I've seen some good films recently.

2. What's wrong with you? Have you got _a_ headache?

3. I know a lot of people. Most of them are - students.

4. When I was.................... child, I used to be very shy.

5. Would you like to be.................... actor?

6. Do you collect.................... stamps?

7. What.................... beautiful garden!

8..................... birds, for example the penguin, cannot fly.

9. I've been walking for three hours. I've got.................... sore feet.

10. I don't feel very well this morning. I've got.................... sore throat.

11. It's a pity we haven't got.......... camera. I'd like to take........... photograph of that house.

12. Those are.................... nice shoes. Where did you get them?

13. I'm going shopping. I want to buy.................... new shoes.

14. You need.................... visa to visit.................... countries, but not all of them.

15. Jane is.................... teacher. Her parents were.................... teachers too.

16. Do you enjoy going to.................... concerts?

17. When we got to the city centre.................... shops were still open but most of them were closed.

18. I don't believe him. He's.................... liar. He's always telling.................... lies.

 

A. Study this example:

JOHN: “ I had a sandwich and an apple for lunch. The sandwich wasn't very good but the apple was nice.” John says 'a sandwich', 'an apple' because this is the first time he talks about them. John now says 'the sandwich', 'the apple’ because Karen knows which sandwich and which apple he means - the sandwich and the apple he had for lunch.

Compare a and the in these examples: * A man and a woman were sitting opposite me. The man was American but I think the woman was British. * When we were on holiday, we stayed at a hotel. Sometimes we had our evening meal at the hotel and sometimes we went to a restaurant.

B. We use the when we are thinking of one particular thing. Compare a/an and the: * Tom sat down on a chair. (perhaps one of many chairs in the room) but Tom sat down on the chair nearest the door. (a particular chair) * Ann is looking for a job. (not a particular job) but Did Ann get the job she applied for? (a particular job) * Have you got a car? (not a particular car) but I cleaned the car yesterday. (= my car)

C. We use the when it is clear in the situation which thing or person we mean. For example, in a room we talk about 'the light/the floor/the ceiling/the door/the carpet' etc.: * Can you turn off the light, please? (= the light in this room) * I took a taxi to the station. (= the station in that town) * I'd like to speak to the manager, please. (= the manager of this shop etc.) In the same way, we say (go to) the bank, the post office: * I must go to the bank to get some money and then I'm going to the post office to get some stamps. (The speaker is usually thinking of a particular bank or post office. Also: the doctor, the dentist: * Carol isn't very well. She's gone to the doctor. (= her usual doctor) * I hate going to the dentist.

Compare a: * Is there a bank near here? * My sister is a dentist. Don't forget the: * Susan works in the city centre. (not 'in city centre') * My brother is in the army. (not 'in army')

D. We say 'once a week/three times a day/-'1.20 a kilo' etc.: * 'How often do you go to the cinema?' 'About once a month.' * 'How much are those potatoes?' 'U$ 8 a kilo.' * She works eight hours a day, six days a week.

 

1 Put in a/an or the.

1. This morning I bought _a_ newspaper and......... magazine........newspaper is in my bag but I don't know where I put............ magazine.

2. I saw.......... accident this morning............ car crashed into............ tree............. driver of.............. car wasn't hurt but....... car was badly damaged.

3. There are two cars parked outside:......... blue one and............ grey one........... blue one belongs to my neighbours; I don't know who........... owner of............. gray one is.

4. My friends live in........... old house in.............. small village. There is.......... beautiful garden behind.......... house. I would like to have..........garden like that.

 

2 Put in a/an or the.

1.       a. This house is very nice. Has it got.................... garden?

b. It's a beautiful day. Let's sit in.................... garden.

c. I like living in this house but it's a pity that.................... garden is so small.

2.       a. Can you recommend.................... good restaurant?

b. We had dinner in.................... very nice restaurant.

c. We had dinner in.................... most expensive restaurant in town.

3.       a. She has.............. French name but in fact she's English, not French.

b. What's.............. name of that man we met yesterday?

c. We stayed at a very nice hotel - I can't remember.............. name now.

4.       a. There isn't............... airport near where I live................. nearest airport is 70 miles away.

b. Our plane was delayed. We had to wait at.................... airport for three hours.

c. Excuse me, please. Can you tell me how to get to.................... airport?

5.       a. 'Are you going away next week?' 'No,.................... week after next.'

b. I'm going away for.................. week in September.

c. George has a part-time job. He works three mornings................... week.

 

3 Put in a/an or the in these sentences where necessary.

1. Would you like apple? _an apple._

2. How often do you go to dentist?....................

3. Could you close door, please?....................

4. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It was mistake....................

5. Excuse me, where is bus station, please?....................

6. I've got problem. Can you help me?....................

7. I'm just going to post office. I won't be long....................

8. There were no chairs, so we had to sit on floor.....................

9. Have you finished with book I lent you?....................

10. My sister has just got job in bank in Manchester.....................

11. We live in small flat near city centre.....................

12. There's small supermarket at end of street I live in....................

 

4 Answer these questions about yourself. Where possible, use the structure once a week/three times a day etc.

1. How often do you go to the cinema? _Three or four times a year._

2. How much does it cost to hire a car in your country? _About L30 a day._

3. How often do you go away on holiday?....................

4. What's the speed limit in towns in your country?....................

5. How much sleep do you need?....................

6. How often do you go out in the evening?....................

7. How much television do you watch (on average)?....................

 

A. We use the... when there is only one of something: * What is the longest river in the world? (there is only one longest river) * The earth goes round the sun and the moon goes round the earth. * I'm going away at the end of this month. Don't forget the: * Paris is the capital of France. (not 'Paris is capital of...')

Compare the and a: * The sun is a star. (= one of many stars) * The hotel we stayed at was a very nice hotel.

B. We say: the sky, the sea, the ground, the country, the environment: * We looked up at all the stars in the sky. (not 'in sky') * Would you rather live in a town or in the country? * We must do more to protect the environment. (= the natural world around us) Note that we say space (without 'the') when we mean 'space in the universe': * There are millions of stars in space. (not 'in the space') but * I tried to park my car but the space was too small.

C. We use the before same (the same): * Your pullover is the same color as mine. (not 'is same color') * These two photographs are the same. (not 'are same')

D. We say: (go to) the cinema, the theatre: * I often go to the cinema but I haven't been to the theatre for ages. When we say the cinema/the theatre, we do not necessarily mean one particular cinema or theatre. We usually say the radio, but television (without 'the'): * I often listen to the radio. * We heard the news on the radio. * I often watch television. * We watched the news on television. but * Can you turn off the television, please? (= the television set)

Compare a: * There isn't a theatre in this town. * I'm going to buy a new radio/television (set).

E. Breakfast, lunch, dinner: We do not normally use the with the names of meals (breakfast, lunch etc.): * What did you have for breakfast? * We had lunch in a very nice restaurant. * What time is dinner? But we use a if there is an adjective before breakfast, lunch etc.: We had a very nice lunch. (not 'we had very nice lunch')

F. Platform 5, Room 126, etc. We do not use ' the ' before noun + number. For example, we say: * Our train leaves from Platform 5. (not 'the Platform 5') * (in a shop) Have you got these shoes in size 43? (not 'the size 43') In the same way, we say: Room 126 (in a hotel) page 29 (of a book) Section A etc.

 

EXERCISES

1 Put in the or a/an where necessary. If no word is necessary, leave the space empty(-).

1. A: Where did you have - lunch? B: We went to _a_ restaurant.

2. A: Did you have.................... nice holiday? B: Yes, 'it was.................... best holiday I've ever had.

3. A: Where's nearest shop? B: There's one at.................... end of this street.

4. A: Do you often listen to radio? B: No. In fact I haven't got radio.

5. A: Would you like to travel in.................... space? B: Yes, I'd love to go to -- moon.

6. A: Do you go to -- cinema very often? B: No, not very often. But I watch a lot of films on........ television.

7. A: It was........ nice day yesterday, wasn't it? B: Yes, it was beautiful. We went for a walk by....... sea.

8. A: What did you have............. breakfast this morning? B: Nothing. I never eat............ breakfast.

9. A: Can you tell me where.................. Room 25 is, please? B: It's on.................... second floor.

10. A: We spent all our money because we stayed at......... most expensive hotel in town. B: Why didn't you stay at........... cheaper hotel?

 

2 Put in the where necessary. If you don't need the, leave the space empty(-).

1. I haven't been to _the_ cinema for ages.

2. I lay down on.................... ground and looked up at.................... sky.

3. Sheila spends most of her free time watching.................... television.

4.................. television was on but nobody was watching it.

5. Have you had................ dinner yet?

6. Mary and I arrived at.................... same time.

7. You'll find.................... information you need at.................... top of.............. page 15.

8. Peru is a country in South America..................... capital is Lima.

 

3 Put in the or a/an where necessary. If the sentence is already correct, put 'RIGHT'.

1. I Sun is star. _The sun is a star._

2. Tim lives in small village in country.....................

3. Moon goes round earth every 27 days.....................

4. What is highest mountain in world?....................

5. I'm fed up with doing same thing every day.....................

6. It was very hot day. It was hottest day of year.....................

7. I don't usually have lunch but I always eat good breakfast.....................

8. If you live in foreign country, you should try and learn language.....................

9. We missed our train because we were waiting on wrong platform. We were on Platform 3 instead of  Platform 8.....................

 

4 Complete the sentences using one of the following. Use the if necessary.