Articles and Determiners Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The answer is the: He can play the flute.

When we speak of playing a musical instrument, the instrument takes the definite article: play the flute, play the guitar, play the piano. The noun refers to the instrument as a type, not to one particular flute.

A flute is used when a single object is meant (he bought a flute), not the skill of playing. An cannot stand before the consonant sound of flute. Leaving out the article is the pattern for games and sports (play cricket), not for instruments.

Answer: A

The answer is The: The little rice that the shopkeeper offered me was of an inferior quality.

The little means 'the small amount that there was'. The relative clause that the shopkeeper offered me identifies exactly which rice is meant, so the noun phrase is definite and takes the.

A little rice means 'some rice' and does not fit a quantity already pinned down by the clause that follows. An cannot come before the consonant sound of little, and without any article little rice would mean 'hardly any rice', which does not suit a sentence about that rice's quality.

Answer: C

The answer is a: I went to the City Centre with a few friends.

A few means 'some, a small number', with a positive sense. That is what the sentence intends: the speaker went out with some friends.

Without the article, few friends means 'hardly any friends', which is negative and does not fit. The few friends would mean the small number of friends already mentioned or known, and nothing in the sentence identifies them. An cannot be used before the consonant sound of few, so 'None of these' is wrong as well.

Answer: D

No article is needed: Gold is a precious metal.

Gold is an uncountable (mass) noun used here in a general sense, for gold as a substance. Names of materials and substances used generally take no article: Iron is useful, Milk is nourishing, Gold is a precious metal.

A and an are used only with singular countable nouns, so A gold and An gold are wrong. The gold would be correct only for particular gold already identified (The gold in this ring is pure), not for the metal in general.

Answer: C

The blank takes the: London is on the Thames.

Names of rivers take the definite article in English: the Thames, the Ganga, the Nile, the Brahmaputra. The same holds for seas, oceans and canals (the Arabian Sea, the Suez Canal) and for mountain ranges (the Himalayas), though not for single mountains or lakes (Mount Everest, Lake Chilika).

A and an cannot go before a unique proper name, and leaving the article out (on Thames) is wrong in ordinary prose; it survives only in fixed place names such as Kingston upon Thames.

Answer: B

The blank takes a: Switzerland is a European country.

The choice between a and an depends on the first sound of the next word, not its first letter. European begins with the consonant sound /j/ (as in you), so it takes a, like a university, a useful book, a one-day match.

An European is the trap, chosen because the word starts with a vowel letter. The would wrongly suggest the only European country, and some article is needed before the singular countable noun country.

Answer: A

The blank takes an: He is an honourable man.

The h in honourable is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound, and an is used before a vowel sound: an honour, an hour, an heir, an honest man.

A honourable follows the letter rather than the sound. The would point to one particular man already known to the reader, which the sentence does not, and a singular countable noun such as man needs an article, so 'no article' is wrong.

Answer: D

No article is required: Mr. Mukherjee became Principal of the college in 2012.

When a noun naming a post that only one person can hold at a time is used as the complement of verbs such as become, elect, appoint or make, it usually takes no article: he was elected chairman; she was appointed captain.

'The Principal' would be acceptable in casual speech, but the grammar rule this question tests is the omission of the article before a unique title used as a complement. 'A' and 'an' would suggest the college has several principals, which it does not.

Answer: A

The answer is a: We had a late lunch today.

Names of meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) normally take no article: we had lunch at one. But when an adjective describes the meal, it becomes one particular kind of meal and takes the indefinite article: a late lunch, a heavy breakfast, a good dinner.

'An' is used only before a vowel sound, and 'late' begins with a consonant sound. 'The' would point to a lunch already known to the listener, which the sentence does not. Leaving out the article is the rule only when the meal has no adjective.

Answer: C

The answer is the: This is the best book of elementary English.

A superlative adjective (best, tallest, most useful) picks out one thing as unique within its group, so it takes the definite article.

'A best book' and 'an best book' treat it as one of several, which contradicts the meaning of 'best', and 'an' would in any case be wrong before a consonant sound. Omitting the article is not standard before a superlative used before a noun.