Articles and Determiners Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The correct article is the: None but the brave deserves the fair.

The line is a well-known saying from John Dryden's poem Alexander's Feast. 'The brave' uses 'the' with an adjective to mean brave people as a class, just as 'the fair' at the end means fair (beautiful) ladies.

'A brave' and 'an brave' do not express the general class, and the adjective cannot stand alone as a noun without 'the'.

Answer: B

The answer is a; a: 'She's staying at a hotel in a small town in Colorado.'

Neither the hotel nor the town has been mentioned before or is identified for the listener; they are simply one hotel and one small town among many. A singular countable noun introduced for the first time takes the indefinite article a.

The would suggest a particular hotel or town already known to the listener, which nothing in the sentence supports, so the options with the are wrong.

Answer: D

No article is needed: When was paper first made?

Here paper is an uncountable noun meaning the material in general, not a particular sheet. Uncountable nouns used in a general sense take no article, as in glass is made from sand.

'A' or 'an' would make it countable ('a paper' means a newspaper or an essay), and 'the paper' would point to some specific paper already known, which the question does not mean.

Answer: C

The articles are an, a, an: She bought an ink-pot, a bag and an umbrella yesterday.

All three are single, unspecified things, so the indefinite article is needed. An goes before a vowel sound (ink-pot, umbrella) and a before a consonant sound (bag).

The other sets put 'a' before a vowel sound, or use 'the', which would refer to particular items already known to the reader.

Sound, not spelling, decides the article: we say a university and an hour.

Answer: C

The answer is the little: I have already given to my cat the little milk I had.

The little means 'the small amount that there was', and it refers to a definite quantity: all of the milk I had, which is why none is left.

Little alone means 'hardly any' and a little means 'some', but neither points to the whole of a particular quantity, so they do not fit 'milk, I had'. Since 'the little' fits, 'None of these' is wrong.

Answer: C

The correct article is a: I met a European artist.

The choice between a and an depends on the first sound, not the first letter. European begins with a 'yoo' sound, a consonant sound, so it takes a, as in a university or a uniform.

An is the trap, since the word starts with a vowel letter. The would refer to a particular artist already known to the listener, and a singular countable noun here needs an article.

Answer: B

The correct article is an: She is an LLB.

The choice between a and an depends on the first sound, not the first letter. LLB is read letter by letter, and the letter L is pronounced el, which begins with a vowel sound, so it takes an, as in an MLA or an MBA.

A would be right only before a consonant sound (a lawyer, a law graduate). The would point to a particular, already known LLB, which the sentence does not. Since an fits, 'None of these' is wrong.

Answer: A

The correct article is the: Have you finished reading the novel I lent you ?

The novel is a specific one, identified by the clause I lent you. A noun made definite by a following defining clause takes the definite article the.

A and an are indefinite: they introduce some novel or other, which clashes with the speaker naming exactly which book is meant. An is also wrong for sound, since novel begins with a consonant sound. As the fits, 'None of these' is wrong.

Answer: C

The correct article is the: The Maths. teacher is absent today.

The sentence refers to one particular teacher whom speaker and listener both know, the person who teaches Maths in their school or class. A noun that is unique in the shared context takes the definite article.

A Maths teacher is absent would mean some unspecified Maths teacher, which is not how one reports a known teacher's absence. An is impossible because Maths begins with a consonant sound. Since the fits, 'None of these' is wrong.

Answer: D

No article is needed: He always practised ahimsa.

Ahimsa (non-violence) is an abstract, uncountable noun used here in its general sense, like truth, honesty or patience. Such nouns take no article when they name the quality in general: He practised patience; He valued honesty.

A and an are used only with singular countable nouns, and the ahimsa would point to some particular, already identified ahimsa, which the sentence does not.