Determiners Grammar Test Exercises – Multiple Choice Questions With Answers – Advanced Level 8

Personal names take no article: Leonardo da Vinci. Ordinal numbers such as first normally take the: the first technical drawing. Not The before the name, because a plain name has no article.

The goes with an ordinal like first: the first manned flight. A goes with a singular countable noun mentioned in general: in a balloon, meaning any balloon, not a specific one.

The story of is specific, because it is defined by the of-phrase. The vampire is the generic the, used for a whole type of creature, as in the tiger or the dinosaur. Not A story of the vampire, because the sentence means the one traditional story, not one of many.

The soya bean is the generic the, which refers to a whole species or kind of plant. Superlatives always take the: one of the oldest crops.

The winds are specific: the clause called monsoons identifies them. Most country names take no article: India. Not the India; only plural or 'republic/kingdom' names take the (the USA, the Netherlands).

Famous structures with an of-phrase take the: the Great Wall of China. Most country names take no article: China. Space, meaning the universe beyond the Earth, takes no article: from space. Not from the space; the space means a particular empty area, e.g. the space under the bed.

School subjects take no article: study mathematics. Parts of the day use in the: in the evening. At home is a fixed phrase with no article.

Named wars like this take the: the Second World War, with the ordinal second. The Americans means the American people as a nation. Nationality words ending in -ese, -ch or -sh need the to mean the whole people: the Japanese, the French. Without it, Japanese is only an adjective or the language.

A student means any student in general. Five hours a day uses a to mean 'per': twice a week, ten euros an hour. Language names take no article, even with an adjective: better English, not a better English.

A glass is one glass, mentioned for the first time. The waiter is the particular waiter serving the customer, so we know which one.

When we talk about the purpose of an institution (studying), British English uses no article: go to university, go to school. Art as a subject is uncountable and general, so it has no article: study art. Not an art, because art here is not countable.

Months take no article: in July. A new course is mentioned for the first time. Uncountable subjects used in general take no article: a course on photography.

Groups of islands take the: the Canary Islands, the Bahamas. Compass directions and coasts take the: the north-west coast. Continents take no article: Africa.

Seas take the, even when they are really lakes: the Aral Sea, the Caspian Sea. Lakes with Lake in the name have no article: Lake Baikal. A plural noun used in general takes no article: wrong irrigation methods. Not a, because a cannot go with a plural noun.

Country names containing Republic, Kingdom or States take the: the Federal Republic of Germany. Whole comes after an article or possessive: the whole summer, which means the same as all summer.

The spider is the generic the, meaning spiders as a type of creature. Period is countable, so with an adjective it needs a: in a short period of time.

When we compare two species, we use the generic the for both: The African elephant is larger than the Indian elephant. The two halves of the comparison should match. Not a Indian: before a vowel sound we need an.

Exclamations with a singular countable noun use what a/an: What an excellent meal! Meals usually take no article: since breakfast, at lunch. Not the breakfast unless it is a specific meal, e.g. the breakfast we had at the hotel.

The town is the particular town in the story. Same always takes the: the same mark. All the houses refers to the specific houses in that town. Not a same, because same is never used with a.

The newly established government is the particular government we are talking about. Flow is made specific by the of-phrase: the flow of money in trade. So both gaps need the. Not a flow, because the sentence means the whole flow of money, not one of many.

The problems are specific: the clause that arise from trying to give the customer what he wants defines them. The customer is the generic the for customers as a group, as in The customer is always right. Not a problems: a cannot go with a plural noun.

A house means one house of that kind, not one the listener already knows. Go shopping is a fixed phrase with no article, like go swimming and go fishing. Not go the shopping; British English says do the shopping, but never go the shopping.

A maintenance department is mentioned for the first time, as one of possibly many. The country and the company are the specific ones both speaker and listener know. Not the maintenance department in the first gap, because it is new information here.

Certain, meaning a particular but unstated amount, usually follows a: a certain power. Limit is a countable noun mentioned for the first time: a practical limit. The weight of aircraft is specific because the of-phrase defines it.

Most of the + plural noun means the greater part: most of the things she said. It fits the reason why nobody wanted to listen. Not few: few of the things were ridiculous would not explain why nobody listened. Each and every would need a singular verb, and every of is not possible.

All of the + plural noun takes a plural verb: All of the children were asleep. Not Each: each of the children needs a singular verb (was). The whole is used with singular nouns: the whole class.

A lot of goes with uncountable nouns like attention. Not plenty, because it needs of: plenty of attention. Less would need a comparison, and least needs the.

Either … or shows that one of two possibilities is true. When the two subjects are singular, the verb is singular: Either air pollution or water pollution is. Not Both: both … and would need a plural verb (are). Nor must follow neither.

Both refers to two people: Both my brothers. When we divide two people, we say one of them … the other. Not another, which is used when there are more than two.

Some goes with plural countable nouns to mean an unspecified number: some people. Not little, which is for uncountable nouns. Plenty needs of. Every takes a singular noun (every person). A quantity of is used with uncountable things.

Little goes with uncountable nouns and means 'not much, almost none'. That makes the contrast with although work: he knows almost nothing, yet he repairs radios easily. Not a little: it would mean 'some', and there would be no surprise. Few and a few are used only with countable nouns.