Choose the correct determiners in the following sentences.
1. There are _______ envelopes on my desk.
a) much
b) some
c) any
d) a little
2. There isn’t _________ money in my pocket.
a) no
b) some
c) any of
d) any
3. Have you got _______ good computer games?
a) any
b) any of
c) a lot
d) many of
4. Do you like Madonna? Have you got ________ her records?
a) some
b) every of
c) any
d) all
5. There isn’t _______ time before our flight leaves.
a) much
b) many
c) some
d) no
6. I’ve got _______ idea where Mike is.
a) none
b) none of
c) no
d) any
7. Do you know ______ people living in England?
a) much
b) many
c) much of
d) many of
8. You’ve had ____ interesting experiences.
a) any
b) a lot
c) much
d) a lot of
9. Would you like _____ more mil?
a) little
b) a little
c) few
d) a few
10. ____ my friends want to see the concert.
a) no
b) any of
c) none
d) none of
· A and an:A or an can precede only singular count nouns; they mean one. They can be used in a general statement or to introduce a subject which has not been previously mentioned:
A baseball is round. (general - means all baseballs)
I saw a boy in the street. (We don’t know which boy)
An is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. A is used before words that begin with a consonant sound:
a book, an apple.
Some words can be confusing because the spelling does not indicate the pronunciation:
a house (begins with a consonant sound)
an hour (begins with a vowel sound)
a university (begins with a consonant sound)
an umbrella (begins with a vowel sound)
The following words begin with a consonant sound and thus must always be preceded by a:
house
uniform
home
university
heavy
universal
half
union
The following words begin with a vowel sound and thus must always be preceded by an:
uncle
umbrella
hour
heir
The initial sound of the word that immediately follows the indefinite article will determine whether it should be a or an:
an umbrella
an hour
a white umbrella
a whole hour
· The: The is used to indicate something that we already know about or something that is common knowledge:
The in the corner is my friend. (The speaker and the listener know which boy)
The earth is round. (There is only one earth)
With non-count nouns, one uses the article the if speaking in specific terms, but uses no article if speaking in general:
Sugar is sweet. (general - all sugar)
The sugar on the table is from Cuba. (specific -the sugar that is on the table)
Normally, plural count nouns, when they mean everything within a certain class, are not preceded by the:
Oranges are green until they ripen. (all oranges)
Athletes should follow a well-balanced diet. (all athletes)
Normally a proper noun is not preceded by an article unless there are several people or things with the same name and speaker is specifying one of them:
There are three Susan Parkers in the telephone directory.
The Susan Parker that I know lives on First Avenue.
Normally words such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, school, church, home, and college do not use any article unless to restrict the meaning:
We ate breakfast at eight o’clock this morning.
We went to school yesterday.
Use the following generalizations as a guide for the use of the article the.
Use the with
don’t use the with
oceans, rivers, seas, gulfs, plural lakes
singular lakes
the Red Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the Great Lakes
Lake Geneva, Lake Erie
mountains
mounts
The Rocky Mountains, the Andes
Mount Vesuvius, Mount McKinley
earth, moon
planet, constellations
the earth, the moon
Venus, Mars, Orion
schools, colleges, universities when the phrase begins with school, etc.
schools, colleges, universities when the phrase begins with a proper noun
The University of Florida, the College of Arts and Sciences
Santa Fe Community College, Cooper’s Art School, Stetson University
ordinal numbers before nouns
cardinal numbers after nouns
the First World War, the third chapter
World War One, chapter three
wars (except world wars)
the Crimean War, the Korean War
countries with more than one word (except Great Britain)