THE DEFINITE ARTICLE:THE -To talk about things in general, we use a plural or uncountable noun without the definite

article: Potatoes are cheap -The definite article is only used before a plural or uncountable noun when we want to talk about specific things: The potatoes we ate last night were delicious The gold in Fort Knox is heavily guarded. -We use the before a superlative adjective (the biggest, the most expensive,..) when the superlative adjective is followed by a noun or defining phrase: This paintings the most unusual in the collection. -We use the when we know that there is only one of a particular thing. For example: The sun, the world , the North Pole, the international market, the moon, the earth... -the same applies to the following things when we refer to them in a general way: The weather, the climate, the human race, the atmosphere, the sea, the public, the environment, the sky, the ground, the wind, the future, the past,..... - However, if we want to describe a particular instance of these we use a/an. Compare: She could hear the wind whistling through the trees outside. Theres a cold wind blowing from the north. What are your plans for the future? She dreamt of a future where she could spend more time painting. 1. CHOOSE THE CORRECT FORM: 1. Women / The women are more sensitive than men 2. Most / The most people hate violence / the violence. 3. Dont go to that restaurant. Meals / The meals are terrible. 4. All pictures / All the pictures on that wall belong to my father. 5. My sister is very interested in the art / art. 6. The hunting / hunting is very cruel sometimes. 7. Do you like skiing / the skiing? 8. They got married last year but the marriage / marriage wasnt successful. 9. Fruit / the fruit is good for you. 10. Look at the fruit / fruit on that stand. How nice it looks! 11. In this country the coffee / coffee is cheaper than tea / the tea.

12. The cheese / cheese we had after the meal was delicious. 2. When we do not use the article. Match the examples with their descriptions. 1 Love/hate/beauty 2 Cats are beautiful 3 petrol/sugar/milk/wood 4 home/work/hospital 5 New York/Brazil A most names of towns, cities and countries B uncountable nouns C countable objects in general D abstract nouns E some places/locations

3. Complete the following sentences with either a, the or nothing 1. _________life is getting easier for_______rich. 2. _________accidents are generally caused by people driving too fast. This is certainly true of_________accident I had last year. 3. Caroline plays ________violin really well. 4. They gave Anna_________dog for Christmas. 5. ______park has many examples of_____wildlife:_______birds, ________deer, and , of course, ____foxes. 6. Whos ______person who borrowed my umbrella?. 7. ______pollution is destroying _______environment. 8. She is going to visit________India and _______United States. 9. We have nothing to fear but_________fear itself. 10. _______price of_________is going up_________petrol I bought yesterday was _____cheapest in ________area. 11. ________wood is much dearer than it used to be. In fact, _____wood I used to make________shelves in the living room was 3_____metre. 12. Shes _____fascinating woman. Did you know shes_______leader of ______opposition party? 3. Correct these sentences. If you have to change them, use a , the or delete. 1. The most people in United States have two cars. 2. Mary works in an University. 3. Did you have the nice time at a school today, Amanda? 4. Beatles are most wonderful group Ive ever heard.

5. What did you think of book I lent you? 6. Shes going to be doctor. 7. They have two holidays homes, one in mountains and one at seaside. 8. All people who live in this town work at car factory. 9. Wheres Mary? She is in sitting room talking on phone. 10. Shes wearing jeans. In fact, theyre jeans she wore last week.

A/AN - We use a/an with a singular noun when we describe someone or something or to say what type of thing someone or something is: Sydney is a beautiful city - We use a/an to say what a persons job is, was, or will be: She was a company director when she retired. Against her parents wishes, she wants to be a journalist. - However when we give a persons job title, or their unique position, we use the or zero article, not a/an. Compare: Shes been appointed (the) head of the company. And I'm a production manager at Fino.(=there may be more than one production manager). - After the position of, the post of, the role of, we use zero article before a job title: Dr. Simons has taken on the position of Head of Department. - We use a/an when we don't expect the listener or reader to be able to identify the thing or person we are talking about, and we use the when we do. Compare these pair of sentences: Helen's just bought a house in Wilson street. Helen's just bought the house in Wilson street.(=the house for sale we have previously talked about). There's a bus coming ; The bus is coming(=it's the bus we are waiting for). In_________early part of this century, _________most people in _______Britain went to ________regularly. _______religion was _________important part of peoples lives. It was normal to see_________whole families, wearing their best clothes, on ______way to ______local church, which would be packed for________morning service. Going to church was______main activity on Sundays. Everything else was closed there were no shops open, no sport taking place and certainly no places of public entertainment opertating. _____entertainment hat existed took place at_______home. Families would read _______books, or one member would play ______piano and________others would sing. However, since _______1950s, there has been ________steady decline in ________importance of ________religion. This can be attributed to ______number of different factors, but perhaps_______television is _______most significant one.