Articles Exercises

One topic that confuses most English language learners is the use of articles. Articles act as determiners in a sentence. Based on whether a noun is common, proper, singular or plural, the articles a, an and the are used. Here are some exercises to check your understanding of the usage of articles in sentences.

Articles Exercises with Answers

Before you start with the exercises, here is something you should remember. The indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ are used before nouns that are singular and common, whereas the definite article ‘the’ is used before nouns that are plural or proper. . ‘The’ is also used when you want to specify a particular noun. Another rule regarding indefinite articles is that ‘an’ is used before words starting with vowel sounds, and ‘a’ is used for every other singular noun. Now, try working out the following exercises.

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles

Use ‘an’, ‘a’ or ‘the’ appropriately in the sentences given below.

1. Sheldon is ___ honest man.
2. King Arthur was ___ just king.
3. ____ lion let go of ___ mouse.
4. I have fixed ___ appointment with ___ doctor.
5. Will you take ___ picture of us?
6. I broke ___ vase my brother brought.
7. My mother has ___ polka-dotted umbrella.
8. The team organised __ friendly match with ___ Presidents of both ___ countries.
9. We had __ mulberry tree in the garden.
10. ___ Eiffel Tower lights up at night.
11. ___ huge building turned to dust due to __ earthquake.
12. ___ famous band Beatles is coming to Texas tomorrow.
13. Charles Babbage is considered as ___ father of computers.
14. __ famous poem ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is written by __ Romantic poet John Keats.
15. __ Pacific Ocean is one of __ five oceans of __ world.
16. __ painter drew __ life-sized portrait of Mrs Mary Poppins.
17. My son is ___ apple of my eye.
18. ___ history professor who taught us is retiring today.
19. ___ oranges I brought were very sour.
20. Sharon will take __ train from __ next stop.

Answers –

1. An
2. A
3. The, The
4. An, The
5. A
6. The
7. A
8. A, The, The
9. A
10. The
11. The, The
12. The
13. The
14. The, The
15. The, The, The
16. The, A
17. The
18. The
19. The
20. A, The

Exercise 2: Identify and underline the articles

Read the passage given below, and identify and underline the articles used in it.

One day, a dog which was very hungry was crossing the street. Suddenly he saw a shop selling meat. Since the dog hadn’t eaten for a few days, he could not control his hunger. When the shopkeeper wasn’t looking, the dog took a piece of meat and ran away. The dog ran till it came near a clear stream to enjoy his food. As he was about to eat the meat, he saw his own reflection in the water. He didn’t understand that it was his own reflection in the clear water; he thought there was another dog with a piece of meat. So without thinking twice, he opened his mouth to bark at the other dog; as soon as he did that, his piece of meat fell into the stream.

Answers –

One day, a dog which was very hungry was crossing the street. Suddenly, it saw a shop selling meat. Since the dog hadn’t eaten for a few days, he could not control his hunger.  When the shopkeeper wasn’t looking, the dog took a piece of meat and ran away. The dog ran till it came near a clear stream to enjoy his food. As he was about to eat the meat, he saw his own reflection in the water. He didn’t understand that it was his own reflection in the clear water; he thought there was another dog with a piece of meat. So without thinking twice, he opened his mouth to bark at the other dog; as soon as he did that, his piece of meat fell into the stream.