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1. Type complete sentences below filling in with 'a' or 'the' as needed. Put ONE space between the sentences.
I have (dog). (dog) is yellow. |
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2. RULE: When you have a SINGULAR NOUN that you can COUNT (make plural or number in some way--one, two, three, etc), you use an 'a' the first time you use that noun, and you use 'the' the second time you use the same noun.
Mabel met (boy). (boy) is handsome. |
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3. HINT: You don't use 'a' with a PLURAL COUNT noun the first time you use it, but you do use 'the' the second time if it is the same noun.
I see (girls) over there. (girls) are dancing. |
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4. HINT: With a PLURAL COUNT noun, we oten use the word 'some' the first time we use it. Put 'some' before the noun in the first sentence.
I have (peanuts). (peanuts) are fresh. |
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5. HINT: To follow the rule about using 'the' the second time you use a count noun, THE NOUNS MUST BE THE SAME.
I have (book). (book) is boring. |
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6. HINT: In the next sentence, we are talking about two DIFFERENT books, so we don't use 'the' the second time.
John has (book). Pete has (book) also. |
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7. HINT: Count nouns generally have LIMITS (a start and an end, nouns such as 'lesson' or 'idea' or 'headache.') or a definite SHAPE (nouns such as 'table' or 'boy' or 'box'). We can count or say 'I have five boxes.' If we CAN'T say how many, the noun is NOT a count noun.
Mary has (boxes) on her desk. (boxes) are huge. |
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| 8. Jim wants (beer). (beer) must be cold and dark. |
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9. HINT: Sometimes we NUMBER a noun and can't use 'a' the first time, BUT we then use 'the' the second time we use the same plural noun.
Doug has five books. (books) are wonderful. |
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| 10. Mary sees four cats. (cats) are playing. |
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11. RULE: When we have a noun that we can't COUNT, we DON"T use any 'a' before it, but we DO use 'the' the second time we talk about the same noun.
I have (coffee). (coffee) is black. |
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12. HINT: When we have a NON COUNT noun, we often use the word 'some' before it and then the word 'the' the second time we talk about it.
I dropped (sugar). (sugar) went all over the floor. |
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13. HINT: Normally adding the word 'some' the first time makes the sentence sound or 'read' better.
I need (butter). (butter) must be soft. |
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14. HINT: NON-COUNT nouns don't have limits or a definite shape and we can't make them plural. Examples are: 'butter, water, coffee, ice cream, advice, information, ice,' etc. We CAN'T say 'I have five waters.'
I want to buy (ice cream). (ice cream) must be vanilla. |
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| 15. He has (homework) tonight. (homework) is hard. |
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16. RULE: We can change a NON-COUNT noun in a COUNT noun by adding what is called a 'COUNTER.' We can change 'water' into a count noun by adding the words 'a cup of water' and now we can make it plural or 'count' it. We can say 'I have five cups of water. The water is cold.' Notice that the 's' for the plural is on the 'COUNTER' but NOT the noun.
I have two pats of butter. (butter) is cold and hard. |
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17. HINT: We use many different 'counters' depending on what the noun is. For example, we use 'heads of' lettuce or cabbage, and 'pints of' for ice cream or beer, or 'lots of' for homework, or 'a piece of' for cake. REMEMBER--we can't make a non-count noun plural. We CAN'T say 'homeworks.'
He has five cups of (sugar). (sugar) is sweet. |
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| 18. She has lots of homework tonight. (homework) is easy. |
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19. HINT: If the 'counter' and noun are singular, we use 'a' as in 'a piece of cake,' BUT if the counter has a number or is plural, we don't use 'a.'
She wants (piece of cake). (cake) must be frosted. |
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| 20. I have five (candles). (candles) are lit. |
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21. NOW: try a mixture of all types. You can scroll back to the rules if you want to.
I see (lot of traffic). (traffic) is not moving. |
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| 22. Mary bought (new purse). (purse) is ugly. |
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23. HINT: We use 'an' instead of 'a' if the first letter of the noun is a vowel.
(a, e, i, o, u)
Harry has (ice cream cone). (ice cream cone) is melting. |
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| 24. I have (water) in my glass. Bill has (water) in his glass. |
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| 25. I see (mouse) over there. (mouse) is cute. |
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| 26. I want two pounds of flour. (flour) must be all purpose. |
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| 27. I need (head of cabbage). (head of cabbage) must be green. |
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| 28. I need some (advice). I will get (advice) from my friend. |
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| 29. I want (cup of tea). I will get (cup of tea) from my friend. |
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| 30. I like to drink (shot of rum) everyday. (rum)must be dark. |
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