This is a follow-up set of exercises to a previous one on articles. The specific aim of the exercises is to give you help in knowing how to use articles correctly. Both for IELTS Writing Task 1 grammar and for Task 2. I make no apology for this as perhaps no other grammar point causes so much confusion (and so many errors).
The rest of the article consists of a quiz to encourage you to think about how and why articles are being used. Followed by some exercises based on IELTS writing task 1 grammar and other topics.
Quiz
Question 1
Are the following preceded by ‘a’ or ‘an’?
| university | horror film |
| European | hour |
Question 2
Why is ‘one’ preferable to ‘a’ in the following?
They only have one child.
Question 3
Which is better in the following , ‘a’ or ‘one’ and why?
I really need… drink; I’m so thirsty.
Question 4
Explain the choice of articles in the following:
A: Budapest is the capital of Hungary.
B: He is the richest member of his family.
C ‘The Times’ is a famous British newspaper.
Task 1 extracts
Exercise 1
Choose the correct form of the article, the, a/an, or – (neutral), in the following.
The diagrams show data for the/a/– viral infection which hit the/a/–large area of the/a/– S.E Asian region in 2005. Figure 1 gives the/a/–number of the/a/– persons who died. Divided into the/a/– age groups. while Figure 2 gives the/a/– breakdown of how the/a/– virus affected the/a/– different regions.
In Figure 1, you can see that the/a/– virus was responsible for the/a/– deaths of 10 children and 25 elderly people, aged over 75. but no deaths were recorded for the/a/– people in the/a/– 30-50 age group.
According to the/a/– pie chart in Figure 2. the/a/– majority of the/a/– cases were recorded in rural areas. With only the/a/– few isolated cases in the/a/– more affluent cities.
Learning how to use articles in English can be very challenging. Perhaps the most helpful advice to give is to remember the grammatical names for ‘the’ and ‘a/an’. Namely the definite article and the indefinite article. In other words, use ‘the’ for definite or specific and known information. Use ‘a/an when the information is indefinite or less specific.
If you are serious about taking your IELTS writing to the next level. Sign up for your FREE 3 part IELTS writing video course that takes you through both task 1 and task 2. The video lessons are led by our highly experienced UK native IELTS teacher, Katherine. We also provide you with exercises to test your understanding!
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Answers to Quiz
Question 1
Are the following preceded by ‘a’ or ‘an’?
A university | A Horror film |
A European | An hour |
Use article A on words that begin with a consonant sound and use ‘an’ before words that begin with a vowel sound. Don’t confuse ‘sound’ with ‘letter’. The ‘h’ in ‘horror’ is pronounce but not in ‘hour’.
Question 2
Why is ‘one’ preferable to ‘a’ in the following?
They only have one child.
Because the focus is on the number: it is not ‘two’, or ‘three’ but ‘one’.
Question 3
Which is better in the following , ‘a’ or ‘one’ and why?
I really need a drink; I’m so thirsty.
Use ‘a/an when you mean ‘any one of a particular type’ without regard to the number.
Question 4
A: Budapest is the capital of Hungary.
There is only one capital of Hungary
B: He is the richest member of his family
Use definite articles with superlative adjectives.
C The Times is a famous British newspaper
There is only one paper called ‘The Times’, but there are other British newspapers.
Task 1 extracts
Exercise 1
Choose the correct form of the article, the, a/an, or – (neutral), in the following
The diagrams show data for a viral infection which hit a large area of a S.E Asia region in 2005. Figure 1 gives the number of persons who died, divided into age groups. While Figure 2 gives a breakdown of how the virus affected different regions
In Figure 1, it can be seen that the virus was responsible for the deaths of 10 children and 25 elderly people, aged over 75. But no deaths were recorded for people in the 30-50 age group.
According to the pie chart in Figure 2, the majority of cases were recorded in rural areas. With only a few isolated cases in the more affluent cities.
