Articles and Determiners Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The article is an: He is an honourable man.

The choice between a and an depends on the first sound of the next word, not its first letter. In honourable the h is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound ("on-") and takes an, as in an hour and an honest man.

A is the trap, because the word is spelt with a consonant. The would point to a particular man already known, which the sentence does not do, and an article is needed, so "None of these" is wrong.

Other words where a silent h calls for an are heir, honour and hour.

Answer: B

The article is a: He is a European.

European begins with a vowel letter but with the consonant sound /j/ ("yoo-"), so it takes a, just as we say a university, a uniform and a one-rupee coin.

An is the trap: it goes before vowel sounds, not vowel letters. The is not used to say what nationality a person is, and the sentence needs an article, so "None of these" is wrong.

The rule to carry forward: listen to the word. An goes before a vowel sound (an egg, an MLA), a before a consonant sound, whatever the spelling.

Answer: C

The article is The: The poor are generally weak.

The placed before an adjective turns it into a plural noun for a whole class of people: the poor, the rich, the young, the blind. That is why the verb is plural, are.

A and an go only before singular countable nouns and cannot make an adjective stand for a group; a poor are is ungrammatical. Without any article, Poor are generally weak is also wrong, so "None of these" fails.

Such phrases always take a plural verb and refer to people in general: The rich should help the poor.

Answer: A

The article is a: I saw a one-eyed man.

One is spelt with a vowel letter but pronounced with the consonant sound /w/ ("wun"), so it takes a, as in a one-way street and a one-rupee note.

An is the trap set by the spelling. The would refer to a particular man already mentioned, but the speaker is introducing him for the first time, so the indefinite article is right.

The same rule gives a European and a university, while a silent consonant gives an hour and an honest man: it is the sound that decides.

Answer: C

The article is the: He is the tallest boy in our team.

A superlative (tallest, best, most beautiful) picks out one particular person or thing from a group, so it takes the definite article the.

A and an mean "any one", which contradicts the idea of the single tallest. An would also be wrong before the consonant sound of tallest. The sentence needs an article, so "None of these" is wrong.

Ordinal numbers behave the same way: the first, the second, the last, because each again marks out one particular item.

Answer: B

The right article is an: 'He is considered an heir to a vast fortune.'

The choice between a and an depends on the sound that follows, not the letter. In heir the h is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound (like 'air'), and takes an, as do an hour and an honest man.

A would be correct only before a consonant sound. The would mean one particular, already identified heir, which the sentence does not set up, and 'No article needed' leaves a singular countable noun without the determiner it requires.

Answer: D

The sentence needs zero article: All of us admire beauty.

Beauty here is an abstract noun used in a general sense, beauty in general, and abstract nouns used generally take no article, like honesty or truth.

The would be needed only if a particular beauty were meant, as in 'the beauty of the hills'. A and an go with countable singular nouns, and beauty in this sense is not counted.

Answer: B

The answer is an: He met with an accident today.

Accident is a singular countable noun mentioned for the first time, so it needs the indefinite article, and because it begins with a vowel sound (a-) the form is an. 'Meet with an accident' is the fixed expression.

A is used before a consonant sound, the would point to an accident already known to the listener, and zero article is wrong because a singular countable noun cannot stand without one.

Answer: A

The answer is a: He had a one-rupee note.

The choice between a and an depends on the first sound, not the first letter. One is pronounced 'wun', beginning with a consonant (w) sound, so it takes a, as in 'a one-way street'.

An is the trap, chosen because 'one' starts with the letter o. The would point to a particular note already mentioned, and zero article is wrong before a singular countable noun.

Answer: C

The answer is the: We visited the Himalayas last year.

Names of mountain ranges take the definite article: the Himalayas, the Alps, the Andes. The same rule applies to oceans, seas, rivers and groups of islands.

A and an cannot go with a plural proper name, and leaving the article out is wrong because ranges, unlike single peaks such as Mount Everest, always take the.