A/AN

SE USA:
-Delante de sustantivos contables en singular, cuando el sustantivo se menciona por
10 vez, o no representa ninguna persona o cosa en particular: He bought a car.
-Delante de un sustantivo contable sing cuando se usa como representante de una
clase de cosas: A street must be clean.
-Delante del atributo, sobre todo con los nombres de profesiones: He's a lawyer.
-En expresiones de cantidad como a lot of, a great many, a couple, a great deal of,
a few, a little, a dozen, etc.
-Delante de hundred, thousand, million, cuando estn solos. (Tambin se puede usar
one).
-Con half, cuando le sigue un nmero: 12 kilos: one and a half kilos, pero 2 kg:
half a kilo.
-Con fracciones, cuando el numerador es 1: a,3: a third, a quarter.
-En expresiones de precio, velocidad, proporcin, etc. (valor distributivo): four
times a day, 5p a dozen.
-En exclamaciones, delante de un sustantivo contable singular: What a beautiful day!
-Delante de nombres propios, para decir "un cierto, un tal": A Mr Smith.
SE OMITE:
-Delante de sustantivos en plural: an egg -- eggs.
-Delante de sustantivos incontables.
-Delante de los nombres de las comidas, menos cuando llevan un adjetivo delante: We
have lunch at three, pero We had a good lunch at three.
========================================
THE
SE USA:
-Para referirse a un objeto que es nico o se considera nico: the earth, the sun,
the stars, the sea, the sky, the moon, etc.
-Delante de sustantivos que se han mencionado antes: She bought a dress; the dress
was horrible.
-Delante de un nombre, cuando el contexto indica que es una cosa en particular: My
mother is in the kitchen (here in this house).
-Delante de los superlativos y de first, second, y only cuando se usan como
adjetivos o pronombres: The biggest mountain, the first man, the only way.
-Delante de un sust singular para representar una clase de animales o cosas, o un
grupo de personas (NO se usa con man): The lion is king of the animals; the radio is
a good thing; the teacher has an important role. Pero Man is free.
-Delante de un adjetivo para representar a toda una clase de personas: the old, the
rich, the poor, the white.
-Con nombres de mares, ros, grupos de islas, cadenas montaosas,desiertos, regiones
y nombres de pases en plural: The Atlantic, the Thames, the Netherlands, the Alps,
etc.
-Con nombres formados por:
-sust. + of + sust.: The Gulf of Mexico
-East/West/South/North + sust.: The North Pole
-adj. + sust.: The National Gallery
-Con nombres de coros, orquestas, grupos musicales, etc.: The Beatles, the
Philadelphia Orchestra.
-Con apellidos en plural, para referirse a la familia: The Jacksons.
-Con un apellido en singular seguido de una aclaracin, para distinguir una persona
de otra que tenga el mismo nombre: The Mr Stone who won the contest.
-Delante de ttulos nobiliarios que lleven of, pero no cuando se usa el ttulo para
referirse a la persona: The Duke of York, pero The duke visited Spain.
SE OMITE:
-Delante de sustantivos abstractos,
complemento que los hace determinados:
the life of my grandfather.
-Delante de los nombres de comidas, si
-Delante de pronombres posesivos: That

excpto cuando se usan seguidos de algn

Life is worth living, pero I'm speaking about
no llevan un adjetivo. (Ver arriba)
is mine.

-Delante del segundo sustantivo de un genitivo sajn: My father's slippers.

-Delante de nombres de juegos: He plays football.
-Delante de partes del cuerpo y prendas de ropa, excepto si llevan una preposicin
delante: She seized his shoulder, pero She seized him by the shoulder.
-Delante de sustantivos plurales usados en sentido general, excepto si se refieren a
un grupo en particular: Women hate mice
-Delante de nature cuando significa el espritu que crea y motiva el mundo de las
plantas y los animales.
-Delante de home cuando se usa sin ninguna otra palabra que lo modifique: She is at
home, she's going home, pero They went to their new home.
-Delante de bed, church, court, hospital, prison, school, college, university,
cuando estos nombres se usan para expresar el uso normal de estos lugares: I went to
church on Sunday (to pray), pero I went to the church to attend a concert.
-Delante de sea en las expresiones go to sea (ir al mar como marinero), at sea (en
el mar, de viaje o trabajando en un barco).
-Delante de work cuando nos referimos al lugar de trabajo: He's gone to work, he's
at work: Se ha ido al trabajo; est en el trabajo o est trabajando. (Hard at work:
trabajando mucho).
-Delante de town, cuando se refiere a la propia ciudad del sujeto.

Articles: a/an, the

Insert a/an or the if necessary:
1 There was ... knock on ... door. I opened it and found ... small dark man in ...
blue overcoat and ... woollen cap.
2 He said he was ... employee of ... gas company and had come to read ... meter.
3 But I had ... suspicion that he wasn't speaking ... truth because ... meter readers
usually wear ... peaked caps.
4 However, I took him to ... meter, which is in ... dark corner under ... stairs (...
meters are usually in ... dark corners under ... stairs).
5 I asked if he had ... torch; he said he disliked torches and always read ... meters
by ... light of ... match.
6 I remarked that if there was ... leak in ... gaspipe there might be ... explosion
while he was reading ... meter.
7 He said, <As ... matter of ... fact, there was ... explosion in ... last house I
visited; and Mr Smith, ... owner of ... house, was burnt in ... face.=
8 <Mr Smith was holding ... lighted match at ... time of ... explosion.=
9 To prevent ... possible repetition of this accident, I lent him ... torch.
10 He switched on ... torch, read ... meter and wrote ... reading down on ... back
of ... envelope.
11 I said in ... surprise that ... meter readers usually put ... readings down in ...
book.
12 He said that he had had ... book but that it had been burnt in ... the fire in ...
Mr Smith's house.
13 By this time I had come to ... conclusion that he wasn't ... genuine meter reader;
and ... moment he left ... house I rang ... police.
14 Are John and Mary ... cousins?No, they aren't ... cousins; they are ... brother and ... sister.
15 ... fog was so thick that we couldn't see ... side of ... road. We followed ... car
in front of us and hoped that we were going ... right way.
16 I can't remember ... exact date of ... storm, but I know it was ... Sunday because
everybody was at ... church. On ... Monday ... post didn't come because ... roads
were blocked by ... fallen trees.
17 Peter thinks that this is quite ... cheap restaurant.
18 There's been ... murder here.Where's ... body?There isn't ... body.Then how do you know there's been ... murder?
19 Number ... hundred and two, ... house next door to us, is for sale. It's quite ...
nice house with ... big rooms. ... back windows look out on ... park.
20 I don't know what ... price ... owners are asking. But Dry and Rot are ... agents.
You could give them ... ring and make them ... offer.
21 ... postman's little boy says that he'd rather be ... dentist than ... doctor,
because ... dentist's don't get called out at ... night.
22 Just as ... air hostess (there was only one on the plane) was handing me ... cup of
... coffee ... plane gave ... lurch and ... coffee went all over ... person on ...
other side of ... gangway.
23 There was ... collision between ... car and ... cyclist at ... crossroads near ...
my house early in ... morning. ... cyclist was taken to ... hospital with ...
concussion. ... driver of ... car was treated for ... shock. ... witnesses say that
... car was going at ... seventy miles ... hour.
24 Professor Jones, ... man who discovered ... new drug that everyone is talking
about, refused to give ... press conference.
25 Peter Piper, ... student in ... professor's college, asked him why he refused to
talk to ... press.
26 We're going to ... tea with ... Smiths today, aren't we? Shall we take ... car?We can go by ... car if you wash ... car first. We can't go to ... Mrs Smith's
in ... car all covered with ... mud.
27 He got ... job in ... south and spent ... next two years doing ... work he really
enjoyed.
28 It is ... pleasure to do ... business with such ... efficient organization.
29 ... day after ... day passed without ... news, and we began to lose ... hope.
30 Would you like to hear ... story about ... Englishman, ... Irishman and ...
Scotsman?-

31

No. I've heard ... stories about ... Englishmen, ... Irishmen and ... Scotsmen
before and they are all ... same.
But mine is not ... typical story. In my story ... Scotsman is generous, ...
Irishman is logical and ... Englishman is romantic.Oh, if it's ... fantastic story I'll listen with ... pleasure.
My aunt lived on ... ground floor of ... old house on ... River Thames. She was
very much afraid of ... burglars and always locked up
house very carefully
before she went to ... bed. She also took ... precaution of looking under ... bed
to see if ... burglar was hiding there.
<... modern burglars don't hide under ... beds.= said her daughter.I'll go on looking just ... same,= said my aunt.
One morning she rang her daughter in ... triumph. <I found ... burglar under ...
bed ... last night,= she said, <and he was quite ... young man.=
... apples are sold by ... pound. These are forty pence ... pound.
It was ... windy morning but they hired ... boat and went for ... sail along ...
coast. In ... afternoon ... wind increased and they soon found themselves in ...
difficulties.

32

33
34
35
36

========================================
Unit 70: A/an, some with countable nouns
70.3 Put a/an or some or leave a blank space.
Example: I've seen some good films recently. Have you got a headache? Are most
of your friends --- students?
1 Have you got ... camera?
2 Would you like to be ... actor?
3 Bill's got ... big feet.
4 Do you collect ... stamps?
5 Tom always gives Ann ... beautiful flowers on her birthday.
6 Those are ... really nice trousers. Where did you get them?
7 What ... beautiful garden!
8 What ... lovely children!
9 ... birds, for example the penguin, cannot fly.
10 Jack has got ... very long legs, so he's ... fast runner.
11 You need ... visa to visit ... foreign countries, but not all of them.
12 I'm going shopping. I'm going to get ... new clothes.
13 Jane is ... teacher. Her parents were ... teachers too.
14 When we reached the city centre, ... shops were still open but most of them were
already closed.
15 Do you enjoy going to ... concerts?
16 When I was ... child, I used to be very shy.
71.1 Put a/an or the.
Example: There was a man and a woman in the room. The man was English but the woman
looked foreign. She was wearing a fur coat.
1 This morning I bought ... newspaper and ... magazine. ... newspaper is in my bag
but I don't know where ... magazine is.
2 My parents have ... cat and ... dog. ... dog never bites ... cat but ... cat often
scratches ... dog.
3 I saw ... accident this morning. ... car crashed into ... wall.
... driver of ... car was not hurt but ... car was quite badly damaged.
4 When you turn into Lipson Road, you will see three houses: ... red one, ... blue
one and ... white one. I live in ... white one.
5 We live in ... old house in ... middle of the village. There is ... beautiful
garden behind ... house. ... roof of ... house is in very bad condition.
71.2 Put a/an or the.
Examples: I'm looking for a job.
1
2
3
4

Did Ann get

the job she applied for?

Would you like ... apple?

Could you close ... door, please?
We live in ... small flat near ... centre of the city.
Have you finished with ... book I lent you last week?

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

We went out for ... meal last night. ... restaurant we went to was excellent.
Did ... police find ... person who stole your bicycle?
This is a nice house. Has it got ... garden?
It was warm and sunny, so we decided to sit in ... garden.
This morning I had ... boiled egg and toast for breakfast.
... President of the United States is elected every four years.
As I was walking along the street, I saw ... ,10 note on ... pavement.
I went into the shop and asked to speak to ... manager.
<Have you got ... car?= <No, I've never had ... car in my life.=
There's no need to buy any milk. ... milkman brings it every morning.

72.2 Put a/an or the or leave a blank.

Example: We went to the most expensive restaurant in town.
Do you want to watch --- television this evening?
Last night we went out for a meal in a restaurant.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

I wrote my name at ... top of the page.

... moon goes round ... earth every 27 days.
The Soviet Union was ... first country to send a man into ... space.
Did you see the film on ... television or at ... cinema?
After ... lunch, we went for a walk by ... sea.
I'm not very hungry. I had ... big breakfast.
John was ... only person I talked to at the party.
Tim lives in ... small village in ... country.
Peru is ... country in South America. ... capital is Lima.
I never listen to ... radio. In fact I haven't got ... radio.
It was ... beautiful day. ... sun shone brightly in ... sky.
I've invited Tom to ... dinner next Wednesday.
What is ... highest mountain in ... world?
We don't go to ... theatre very much these days. In fact, in ... town where we live
there isn't ... theatre.
15 It was a long voyage. We were at ... sea for four weeks.
16 I prefer swimming in ... sea to swimming in pools.
17 Can you turn ... television down, please? It's a bit loud.
Unit 74: Plural and uncountable nouns with and without the.
74.1 Make sentences beginning by: I like .../I don't like.../I love.../I hate.../I don't
mind.../I'm (not) interested in .../I have no opinion about ...
Example: (very hot weather) I don't like very hot weather.
1
2
3
4
5

(football)
(small children)
(cats)
(modern art)
(horror films)

74.2 Make sentences beginning by: In my opinion .../I think .../I don't think .../I
don't agree with .../I'm against .../I'm in favour of ...
Example: (divorce) I think divorce is sometimes necessary.
1
2
3
4
5

(terrorism)
(smoking)
(examinations)
(capital punishment)
(nuclear power)

74.3 Choose the correct form.

Example: I'm afraid of dogs / the dogs.

Can you pass salt / the salt, please?

1 Apples / The apples are good for you.

2 Look at apples / the apples on that tree! They are very large.
3 Women / The women are often better teachers than men / the men.

4 In Britain coffee / the coffee is more expensive than tea / the tea.
5 We had a very nice meal in the restaurant. Cheese / The cheese was especially good.
6 Most people / The most people still believe that marriage / the marriage and family
life / the family life are the basis of our society.
7 They got married but marriage / the marriage wasn't successful.
8 I know someone who wrote a book about life / the life of Gandhi.
9 Life / The life would be very difficult without electricity / the electricity.
10 Skiing / The skiing is my favourite sport but I also like swimming / the swimming.
11 Second World War / The Second World War ended in 1945.
12 Do you know people / the people who live next door?
13 Are you interested in art /the art or architecture / the architecture?
14 All books / All the books on the top shelf belong to me.
15 Don't stay in that hotel. Beds / The beds are very uncomfortable.
16 Two of the biggest problems facing our society are crime / the crime and
unemployment / the unemployment.
17 I hate violence / the violence.
75.3 Put the if necessary.
Example: Ken's brother is in --- prison for robbery.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Some children hate ... school.

What time do your children finish ... school?
After leaving ... school, Nora worked as a cleaner in ... hospital.
My brother is very ill in ... hospital.
All over the world, people are in ... prison because of their political beliefs.
The other day the fire-brigade had to go to ... prison to put out a fire.
On the way to London we passed through a small village with an old church. We
stopped to visit ... church. It was a beautiful building.
John's mother is a regular churchgoer. She goes to ... church every Sunday. John
himself doesn't go to ... church.
Every term parents are invited to ... school to meet the teachers.
After ... work, Ann usually goes ... home.
Tom left ... university without doing his examinations.
When Ann was ill, we all went to ... hospital to visit her.
I like to read in ... bed before going to sleep.
What time do you have to start ... work tomorrow morning?
How many people go to ... university in your country?

12 *** a, the (GPIS, p. 10)

Write a, the, or no article to complete these sentences:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

She 's a good musician: she plays ... piano beautifully.

I do n't see him often, only once or twice ... month.
Mary's not at ... office. I think she's gone ... home.
Do you want to see Sarah? She's in ... garden.
I'm studying ... French and ... Italian.
I like Jayne, she has a lot of ... warmth.
It's time for the children to go to ... bed.
Where's ... dog? I want to go out for ... walk.
I don't use ... sugar when I'm cooking.
The machine is made of ... copper and ... steel.
Would you mind waiting for ... couple of minutes?
I think ... piano is one of the easiest instruments to play.
It's . . . fast car. It's top speed is 150 miles .
. hour ~~
I saw ~her when she was going to .
. work.
There's someone at . . . . front door.
Do you like .
. wne? I don't drink . . . . alcohol.
I'll have .
. dozen eggs and . . . loaf, please.
Coal is sixty dollars ... ton at the moment.
Have you done ... washing-up?
I think it's made of ... glass
I like . . . . tea with . ~ . milk in it.
I stayed at home last night and listened to ...radio .
Would you like .
. cup of coffee?
They gave me ... diamond necklace.
When he was nineteen, he joined .
. arm .

I could tell by althe tow-n-h.aJ clck that I was late so I decided to catcl
,
~::~~/= bus. ~It was althel beautiful day; althel sun was shining and there
__~was thel very little wind. I turned thel corner, and walked down althel
r~ain street.
Althel couple of minutes later, I heard althel noise, and althel ma
wearing althel grey leather jacket ran past me. At first, I thought he wa