When the wind blows all the windows rattle

That doesn’t sound . . . very interesting lunch.<>3 I had . . . very bad night; I didn’t sleep . . . wink.<>4 He is . . . vegetarian; you won’t get . . . meat at his house. He’ll give you . . . nut cutlet.

Last time I had . . . nut cutlet I had . . . indigestion.<>5 . . . travel agent would give you . . . information about . . . hotels.<>6 We’d better go by . . . taxi—if we can get . . . taxi at such . . . hour as 2 a.m.<>7 . . . person who suffers from . . . claustrophobia has . . . dread of being confined in . . . small space, and would always prefer . . . stairs to . . . lift.<>8 Do you take . . . sugar in . . . coffee?

I used to, but now I’m on . . . diet. I’m trying to lose . . . weight.<>9 . . . man suffering from . . . shock should not be given anything to drink.<>10 You’ll get . . . shock if you touch . . . live wire with that screwdriver. Why don’t you get . . . screwdriver with . . . insulated handle?<>11 It costs fifty-five and . . . half pence and I’ve only got . . . fifty pence piece.

You can pay by . . . cheque here.

But can I write . . . cheque for . . . fifty-five and . . . half pence?<>12 . . . Mr Smith is . . . old customer and . . . honest man.

Why do you say that? Has he been accused of . . . dishonesty?<>13 I’m not . . . wage-earner; I’m . . . self-employed man. I have . . . business of my own.

Then you’re not . . . worker; you’re . . . capitalist!<>14 When he was charged with . . . murder he said he had . . . alibi.<>15 . . . friend of mine is expecting . . . baby. If it’s . . . girl she’s going to be called Etheldreda.

What . . . name to give . . . girl!<>16 I have . . . hour and . . . half for lunch.

I only have . . . half . . . hour—barely . . . time for . . . smoke and . cup of coffee.<>17 I hope you have . . . lovely time and . . . good weather.

But I’m not going for . . . holiday; I’m going on . . . business.<>18 He looked at me with . . . horror when I explained that I was . . . double agent.<>19 I wouldn’t climb . . . mountain for ?1,000! I have . . . horror of . . . heights.<>20 I have . . . headache and . . . sore throat. I think I’ve got . . . cold.

I think you’re getting . . . flu.<>21 . . . Mr Jones called while you were out (neither of us knows this man). He wants to make . . . complaint about . . . article in the paper. He was in . . . very bad temper.<>22 If you go by . . . train you can have quite . . . comfortable journey, but make sure you get . . . express, not . . . train that stops at all the stations.<>23 . . . few people know (hardly anyone knows) that there is . . . secret passage from this house to . . . old smugglers’ cave in the cliffs.<>24 I’m having . . . few friends in to . . . coffee tomorrow evening. <> Would you like to come?

I’d love to, but I’m afraid I’m going to . . . concert.<>25 It’s time you had . . . holiday. You haven’t had . . . day off for . . . month.<>26 He broke . leg in. skiing accident. It’s still in . . . plaster.<>27 I want . . . assistant with . . . knowledge of French and . . . experience of . . . office routine.<>28 I see that your house is built of . . . wood. Are you insured against . fire?<>29 The escaping prisoner camped in . . . wood but he didn’t light . . . fire because . . . smoke rising from the wood might attract . . . attention.<>30 I had . . . amazing experience last night. I saw . . . dinosaur eating . . . meat pie in . . . London park.

You mean you had . . . nightmare. Anyway, dinosaurs didn’t eat . . . meat.<>31 I’ll pay you . . . hundred . . . week. It’s not . . . enormous salary but after all you are . . . completely unskilled man.<>32 If you kept . . . graph you could see at . . . glance whether you were making . . . profit or . . . loss.<>33 . . . little (hardly anything) is known about the effect of this drug; yet . . . chemist will sell it to you without . . . prescription.<>34 I have . . . little money left; let’s have dinner in . . . restaurant.<>35 Would it be . . . trouble to you to buy me . . . newspaper on your way home?<>36 . . . man is . . . reasoning animal. (note that ‘-‘ indicates that no article is required.)
la,- 2-,-,-;a 3 a, a 4 a,-; a; a,- 5A,-,- 6-,a,an 7 A, -, a, a,-, a 8-,-;a,- 9A,- 10 a, a; a, an II a, a;-: a, -,a 12-, an, an;- 13 a, a; a; a, a 14-, an 15 A, a; a; a, a 16 an, a;-, an,-, a, a 17 a,-; a,- 18-,a 19 a; a,- 20 a, a; a; — 21 A; a, an; a 22-,a, an, a 23-,a, an 24 a,-; a 25 a: a, a 26 a, a:- 27 an, a,-,- 28-;- 29 a, a,-,- 30 an; a, a, a: a;-I 31 a, a; an, a 32 a, a, a, a 33-,a, a 34 a, a 35 a, a 36-,a Insert the if necessary. 1 . . . youngest boy has just started going to . . . school; . . . eldest boy is at . . . college.<>2 She lives on . . . top floor of an old house. When . . . wind blows, all . . . windows rattle.<>3 . . . darkness doesn’t worry . . . cats; . . . cats can see in . . . dark.<>4 My little boys say that they want to be . . . spacemen, but most of them will probably end up in . . . less dramatic jobs.<>5 Do you know . . . time?

Yes, . . . clock in . . . hall has just struck nine.

Then it isn’t . . . time to go yet.<>6 He was sent to . . . prison for . . . six months for . . . shop-lifting.<> When . . . six months are over he’ll be released; . . . difficulty then will be to find . . . work.

Do you go to . . . prison to visit him?<>7 I went to . . . school to talk to . . . headmistress. I persuaded her to let Ann give up . . . gymnastics and take . . . ballet lessons instead.<>8 . . . ballet isn’t much use for . . . girls; it is much better to be able to play . . . piano.<>9 I am on. night duty. When you go to . . . bed, I go to . . . work.<>10 Peter’s at . . . office but you could get him on . . . phone. There’s a telephone box just round . . . corner<>11 He got. bronchitis and was taken to . . . hospital. I expect they’ll send him home <> at . . . end of . . . week.

Have you rung . . . hospital to ask how he is?<>12 Ann’s habit of riding a motorcycle up and down . . . road early in . . . morning annoyed . . . neighbours and in . . . end they took her to . . . court.<>13 He first went to . . . sea in a Swedish ship, so as well as learning . . . navigation he had to learn . . . Swedish.<>14 . . . family hotels are . . . hotels which welcome . . . parents and . . . children.<>15 On . . . Sundays my father stays in . . . bed till ten o’clock, reading . . . Sunday papers.<>16 Then he gets up, puts on . . . old clothes, has . . . breakfast and starts . . . work in . . . garden.<>17 My mother goes to . . . church in . . . morning, and in . . . afternoon goes to visit . . . friends.<>18 Like many women, she loves . . . tea parties and . . . gossip.<>19 My parents have . cold meat and . . . salad for . . . supper, . . . winter and . . . summer.<>20 During . . . meal he talks about . . . garden and she tells him . . . village gossip.<>21 We have a very good train service from here to . . . city centre and most people go to . . . work by train. You can go by . . . bus too, of course, but you can’t get a season ticket on . . . bus.<>22 . . . dead no longer need . . . help. We must concern ourselves with . . . living. We must build . . . houses and . . . schools and . . . playgrounds.<>23 I’d like to see . . . Mr Smith please.

Do you mean . . . Mr Smith who works in . . . box office or . . . other Mr Smith?<>24 Did you come by . . . air?

No, I came by . . . sea. I had a lovely voyage on . . . Queen Elizabeth II.<>25 . . . most of . . . stories that . . . people tell about . . . Irish aren’t true.<>26 . . . married couples with . . . children often rent . . . cottages by . . . seaside for . . . summer holidays.<>. . . men hire boats and go for . . . trips along . . . coast; . . . children spend . . . day on . . . beach and . . . poor mothers spend . . . most of . . . time doing . . . cooking and cleaning.<>27 It’s usually safe to walk on . . . sand, but here, when . . . tide is coming in, . . . sand becomes dangerously soft. . . . people have been swallowed up by it.<>28 When . . . Titanic was crossing . . . Atlantic she struck an iceberg which tore a huge hole in her bow. . . . captain ordered . . . crew to help . . . passengers into . . . boats.<>29 Everywhere . . . man has cut down . . . forests in order to cultivate . . . ground, or to use . . . wood as . . . fuel or as . . . building material.<>30 But . . . interference with . . . nature often brings . . . disaster. . . . tree-felling sometimes turns . . . fertile land into a dustbowl.<>31 . . . people think that . . . lead is . . . heaviest metal, but . . . gold is heavier.<>32 Our air hostess said, ‘. . . rack is only for . . . light articles. . . . heavy things such as . . . bottles must be put on . . . floor.’<>33 . . . windows are supposed to let in . . . light; but . . . windows of this house are so small that we have to have . . . electric light on all . . . time.<>34 There’11 always be a conflict between . . . old and . . . young. . . . young people want . . . change but . . . old people want . . . things to stay . . . same.<>35 . . . power tends to corrupt and . . . absolute power corrupts absolutely.<>36 You can fool some of . . . people all . . . time, and all . . . people some of . . . time; but you cannot fool all . . . people all . . . time. (As before ‘-‘ indicates that no article is required, ‘(the)’ indicates that the article is optional.) 1 The,-, the,- 2 the; the, the 3-,-,-, the 4-,- 5 the; the, the;- 6-,-,-; the, the,-; the 7 the, the;-,- 8-,-,the 9-; -,- 10 the, the; the II-,-; the, the; the 12 the, the, the, the, — 13-,-,- 14-, -,-,- 15-,-, the 16-,-,-, the 17-, the, the, — 18-,- 19-,-, -,-,- 20 the, the, the 21 the, -; -,the 22 The, -; the;-,-,- 23-; the, the, the 24-;-; the 25-, the,-, the 26-, -,-,the, the; The,-,the; the, the, the, the, -, the, the 27 -, the, the; — 28 the, the; The, the, the, the 29 -, -, the, the, -,- 30-,-,-;-,- 31-,-, the, — 32 The, -;-,-,the 33-, (the), the, the, the 34 (the), (the); -,-,-,-, the
35-. — 36 the, the, the, the, the, the Insert a, an or the if necessary. 1 There was . . . knock on . . . door. I opened it and found . . . small dark man in . . . blue overcoat and . . . woollen cap.<>2 He said he was . . . employee of . . . gas company and had come to read . . . meter.<>3 But I had . . . suspicion that he wasn’t speaking . . . truth because . . . meter readers usually wear . . . peaked caps.<>4 However, I took him to . . . meter, which is in . . . dark corner under . . . stairs <> (. . . meters are usually in . . . dark corners under . . . stairs).<>5 I asked if he had . . . torch; he said he disliked torches and always read . . . meters by . . . light of . . . match.<>6 I remarked that if there was . . . leak in . . . gaspipe there might be . . . explosion while he was reading . . . meter.<>7 He said, ‘As . . . matter of . . . fact, there was . . . explosion in . . . last house I visited; and Mr Smith, . . . owner of . . . house, was burnt in . . . face.’<>8 ‘Mr Smith was holding . . . lighted match at . . . time of . . . explosion.’<>9 To prevent . . . possible repetition of this accident, I lent him . . . torch.<>10 He switched on . . . torch, read . . . meter and wrote . . . reading down on . . . back of . . . envelope.<>11 I said in . . . surprise that . . . meter readers usually put . . . readings down in . . . book.<>12 He said that he had had . . . book but that it had been burnt in . . . fire in . . . Mr Smith’s house.<>13 By this time I had come to . . . conclusion that he wasn’t . . . genuine meter reader; and . . . moment he left . . . house I rang . . . police.<>14 Are John and Mary . . . cousins?

No, they aren’t . . . cousins; they are . . . brother and . . . sister.<>15 . . . fog was so thick that we couldn’t see . . . side of . . . road. We followed . . . car in front of us and hoped that we were going . . . right way.<>16 I can’t remember . . . exact date of . . . storm, but I know it was . . . Sunday because everybody was at . . . church. On . . . Monday . . . post didn’t come because . . . roads were blocked by . . . fallen trees.<>17 Peter thinks that this is quite . . . cheap restaurant.<>18 There’s been . . . murder here.

There isn’t . . . body.

Then how do you know there’s been . . . murder?<>19 Number . . . hundred and two, — . . house next door to us, is for sale. It’s quite . — . nice house with . . . big rooms. . . . back windows look out on . . . park.<>20 I don’t know what . . . price . . . owners are asking. But Dry and Rot are . . . agents. You could give them . . . ring and make them . . . offer.<>21 . . . postman’s little boy says that he’d rather be . . . dentist than . . . doctor, because . . . dentists don’t get called out at . . . night.<>22 Just as . . . air hostess (there was only one on the plane) was handing me . . . cup of . . . coffee . . . plane gave . . . lurch and . . . coffee went all over . . . person on . . . other side of . . . gangway.<>23 There was . . . collision between . . . car and . . . cyclist at . . . crossroads near . . . my house early in . . . morning. . . . cyclist was taken to . . . hospital with . . . concussion. . . . driver of . . . car was treated for . . . shock. . . . witnesses say that . . . car was going at . . . seventy miles . . . hour.<>24 Professor Jones, . . . man who discovered . . . new drug that everyone is talking about, refused to give . . . press conference.<>25 Peter Piper, . . . student in . . . professor’s college, asked him why he refused to talk to . . . press.<>26 We’re going to . . . tea with . . . Smiths today, aren’t we? Shall we take . . . car?

We can go by . . . car if you wash . . . car first. We can’t go to . . . Mrs Smith’s in . . . <> car all covered with . . . mud.<>27 He got . . . job in . . . south and spent . . . next two years doing . . . work he really enjoyed.<>28 It is . . . pleasure to do . . . business with such . . . efficient organization.<>29 . . . day after . . . day passed without . . . news, and we began to lose . hope.<>30 Would you like to hear . . . story about . . . Englishman, . . . Irishman and . . . Scotsman?

No. I’ve heard . . . stories about . . . Englishmen, . . . Irishmen and . . . Scotsmen before <> and they are all . . . same.<>31 But mine is not . . . typical story. In my story . . . Scotsman is generous, . . . Irishman is logical and . . . Englishman is romantic.

Oh, if it’s . . . fantastic story I’ll listen with . . . pleasure.<>32 My aunt lived on . . . ground floor of . . . old house on . . . River Thames. She was very much afraid of . . . burglars and always locked up . . . house very carefully before she went to . . . bed. She also took . . . precaution of looking under . . . bed to see if . . . burglar was hiding there.<>33 ‘. . . modern burglars don’t hide under . . . beds,’ said her daughter. I’ll go on looking just . . . same,’ said my aunt.<>34 One morning she rang her daughter in . . . triumph. 1 found . . . burglar under . . . bed . . . last night,’ she said, ‘and he was quite . . . young man.’<>35 . . . apples are sold by . . . pound. These are forty pence . . . pound.<>36 It was . . . windy morning but they hired . . . boat and went for . . . sail along . . . coast. In . . — afternoon . . . wind increased and they soon found themselves in . . . difficulties.<> (Two words separated by an oblique, e.g. the/his, indicate that either is a possible answer. The first word is normally the preferred answer.) 1 a, the; a, a 2 an, the, the 3 a, the,-,- 4 the, a, the,-.-.(the) 5 a,-,the, a 6 a, a/the, an, the 7 a,-, an, the, the, the, the 8 a, the, the 9 a, a 10 the, the, the, the, an 11-.-.(the), a 12 a, the, 13 the, a, the, the, the 14-;-,-,- 15 The, the, the; the, the 16 the, the, a,-: (the), the, the,- 17 a 18 a; the; a: a 19 a, the: a, -; The, the 20-,the; the; a, an 21 The, a, a,-,- 22 the, a, — , the, a, the, the, the, the 23 a, a, a, the, -, the; The, -, -; The, the, -; -, the,-, an 24 the, the, a 25 a, the, the 26-,the; the;-,the;-,a, — 27 a, the, the,- 28 a,-, an 29-,-, -,- 30 a, an, an, a:-, -, -, -, the 31 a; the, the, the: a, — 32 the, an, the; -, the, -: the, the, a 33-,-; the 34-; a, the, -,a 35-, the; a 36 a, a, a, the; the, the, — Insert a, an, the, or my, his, her, our, your, their if necessary. 1 He took off . . . coat and set to work.<>2 Why are you standing there with . . . hands in . . . pockets?<>3 At most meetings . . . people vote by raising . . . right hands.<>4 The bullet struck him in . . . foot.<>5 They tied . . . hands behind . . . back and locked him in a cellar.<>6 He took . . . shoes off and entered on . . . tiptoe.<>7 Someone threw . . . egg which struck the speaker on . . . shoulder.<>8 I have . . . headache.<>9 I have . . . pain in . . . shoulder.<>10 The windscreen was smashed and the driver was cut in . . . face by broken glass.<>11 He was . . . very tall man with . . . dark hair and . . . small beard, but I couldn’t see . . . eyes because he was wearing . . . dark glasses.<>12 He tore . . . trousers getting over a barbed wire fence.<>13 Brother and sister were quite unlike each other. He had . . . fair wavy hair; . . . hair was dark and straight.<>14 She pulled . . . sleeve to attract his attention.<>15 She pulled him by . . . sleeve.<>16 ‘Hands up!’ said the masked man, and we all put . . . hands up.<>17 Ask . . . woman in front of you to take off . . . hat.<>18 He stroked . . . chin thoughtfully.<>19 If you’re too hot why don’t you take off . . . coat?<>20 I saw him raise . . . right hand and take . . . oath.<>21 The lioness bit him in . . . leg.<>22 You should change . . . wet shoes, or you’ll catch another cold.<>23 There was a shot and a policeman came out with . . . blood running down . . . face.<>24 We shook . . . hands with . . . host.<>25 He fell off his horse and injured . . . back.<>26 The barman seized the drunk by . . . collar.<>27 Leave . . . coats in . . . cloakroom; don’t bring them into . . . theatre.<>28 He fell down a flight of stairs and broke . . . rib.<>29 He pointed to a woman in . . . green dress.<>30 He is . . . thoroughly selfish man; he wouldn’t lift . . . finger to help anyone.<>31 You’ll strain . . . eyes if you read in . . . bad light.<>32 She was on . . . knees, scrubbing . . . kitchen floor.<>33 He has . . . horrible job; I wouldn’t like to be in . . . shoes.<>34 You’ve got . . . shirt on inside out.<>35 ‘Pull up . . . socks,’ said his mother.<>36 I hit . . . thumb with a hammer when I was hanging the picture. 1 his 2 your, your 3 -, their 4 the 5 his, his 6 his, — 7 an, the 8 a 9 a, my 10 the II a,-, a, his,- 12 his 13-, her 14 his 15 the 16 our 17 the, her 18 his 19 your 20 his, the 21 the 22 your 23-, his 24-.our/the 25 his 26 the/his 27 your, the, the 28 a 29 a 30 a, a 31 your, (a) 32 her, the 33 a, his 34 your 35 your 36 my Insert a/an or one if necessary. 1 . . . of my friends advised me to take . . . taxi; another said that there was quite . . . good bus service.<>2 . . . friend of mine lent me . . . book by Meredith. I’ve only . . . more chapter to read. Would you like . . . loan of it afterwards?

No, thanks. I read . . . of his books . . . few years ago and didn’t like it. Besides I have . . . library book to finish. If I don’t take it back tomorrow I’ll have to pay . . . fine.<>3 . . . man I met on the train told me . . . rather unusual story.<>4 Most people like . . . rest after . . . hard day’s work, but Tom seemed to have . . . inexhaustible supply of energy.<>5 I’ve told you . . . hundred times not to come into . . . room with . . . hat on.<>6 It’s unlucky to light three cigarettes with . . . match.

That’s only . . . superstition. Only . . . idiot believes in superstitions.<>7 He says . . . caravan is no good; he needs . . . cottage.<>8 . . . plate is no good; we need . . . dozen.<>9 Last time there was . . . fog here . . . plane crash-landed in . . . field near the airport. The crew had . . . lucky escape. . . . man broke his leg; the rest were unhurt.<>10 You’ve been . . . great help to me; . . . day I will repay you.<>11 My car broke down near . . . bus stop. There was . . . man waiting for . . . bus so I asked him for . . . advice.<>12 He took . . . quick look at my car and said, ‘Buy . . . new . . . .’<>13 There was . . . woman there. The rest were men.

There shouldn’t have been even . . . woman. It was meant to be . . . stag party.<>14 Don’t tell . . . soul! Not even your wife!

Of course not! I’d never tell . . . secret to . . . woman.<>15 Most of the staff had been there for only . . . very short time, but . . . man had been there . . . year and . . . half, so he knew . . . little more than the rest.<>16 Could you lend me . . . dictionary, please? I’m trying to do . . . crossword puzzle.

I’m afraid I’ve only got . . . dictionary, and Tom’s borrowed it.<>17 . . . chop won’t be enough for Tom; he’ll want two; he’s . . . small man but he’s got . . . big appetite.<>18 1 want . . . volunteers for . . . dangerous job,’ said the captain. There was . . . long silence.<> ‘Isn’t there even . . . man who will take . . . risk?’ he asked. . . . voice called out from the back, ‘Will there be . . . reward?’<>19 I have . . . flat on the top floor. You get . . . lovely view from there.<>20 . . . day a new director arrived. He was . . . ambitious, bad-tempered man, and the staff took . . . instant dislike to him.<>21 Suddenly . . . bullet struck . . . street lamp . . . little to Bill’s left. He looked up and saw . . . man with . . . gun standing at . . . open window.<>22 Bill fired back twice. . . . bullet hit the wall, the other broke . . . pane of . . . glass. He heard . . . angry shout.<>23 . . . day—it was . . . dry day with . . . good visibility—Tom was driving along . . . country road in . . . borrowed car.<>24 You’re making . . . mistake after another. Have you . . . hangover, or something?

No, but I had . . . very bad night last night. The people next door were having . . . party.

. . . bad night shouldn’t have such . . . effect on your work. I often have three bad nights in succession. I live in . . . very noisy street.<> 1 One, a, a 2 A, a: one; a; one, a; a: a 3 A, a 4 a, a, an 5 a, a/the, a/your 6 one; a; an 7 a, a 8 One, a 9 (a), a, a; a; One 10 a; One 11 a/the; a, a/the;- 12 a, a, one 13 one; one; a14 a; a, a 15 a, one, a, a, a 16 a, a; one 17 One, a, a 18-, a; a; one, a; A, a 19 a; a 20 One; an, an 21 a, a/the, a; a, a, an 22 One, a. -, an 23 One, a,-, a, a 24 one; a; a; a; One, an; a

Хотите еще английского? Велкам СЮДА

Yes, I managed to get one The plural of one used in this way is some Did you get tickets?

Yes, I managed to get some 5 a little/a few and little/few A a little/little (adjectives) are used before uncountable nouns: a little salt/little salt a few/few (adjectives) are used before plural nouns. a few people/few people All four forms can also be used as pronouns, either alone or with of: Sugar?

A little, please Only a few of these are any good B a little, a few (adjectives and pronouns) a little is a small amount, or what the speaker considers a small amount, a few is a small number, or what the speaker considers a small number. only placed before a little/a few emphasizes that the number or amount really is small in the speaker’s opinion: Only a few of our customers have accounts But quite placed before a few increases the number considerably: / have quite a few books on art (quite a lot of books) C little and few (adjectives and pronouns) little and few denote scarcity or lack and have almost the force of a negative: There was little time for consultation. Little is known about the side-effects of this drug. Few towns have such splendid trees. This use of little and few is mainly confined to written English (probably because in conversation little and few might easily be mistaken for a little/a few). In conversation, therefore, little and few are normally replaced by hardly any A negative verb + much/many is also possible: We saw little = We saw hardly anything/We didn’t see much. Tourists come here but few stay overnight = Tourists come here but hardly any stay overnight. But little and few can be used more freely when they are qualified by so, very, too, extremely, comparatively, relatively etc. fewer (comparative) can also be used more freely. I’m unwilling to try a drug I know so little about They have too many technicians, we have too few There are fewer butterflies every year. D a little/little (adverbs) 1 a little can be used- (a) with verbs: It rained a little during the night. They grumbled a little about having to wait. (b) with ‘unfavourable’ adjectives and adverbs: a little anxious a little unwillingly a little annoyed a little impatiently (c) with comparative adjectives or adverbs: The paper should be a little thicker Can’t you walk a little faster? rather could replace a little in (b) and can also be used before comparatives (see 42), though a little is more usual. In colloquial English a bit could be used instead of a little in all the above examples. 2 little is used chiefly with better or more in fairly formal style’ His second suggestion was little (= not much) better than his first. He was little (= not much) more than a child when his father died It can also, in formal English, be placed before certain verbs, for example expect, know, suspect, think: He little expected to find himself in prison He little thought that one day Note also the adjectives little-known and little-used: a little-known painter a little-used footpath 6 the (the definite article) A Form the is the same for singular and plural and for all genders: the boy the girl the day the boys the girls the days B Use The definite article is used. 1 When the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be unique: the earth the sea the sky the equator the stars 2 Before a noun which has become definite as a result of being mentioned a second time: His car struck a tree; you can still see the mark on the tree 3 Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause: the girl in blue the man with the banner the boy that I met the place where I met him 4 Before a noun which by reason of locality can represent only one particular thing: Ann is in the garden (the garden of this house) Please pass the wine, (the wine on the table) Similarly, the postman (the one who comes to us), the car (our car), the newspaper (the one we read). 5 Before superlatives and first, second etc. used as adjectives or pronouns, and only: the first (week) the best day the only way C the + singular noun can represent a class of animals or things. The whale is in danger of becoming extinct. The deep-freeze has made life easier for housewives But man, used to represent the human race, has no article If oil supplies run out, man may have to fall back on the horse. the can be used before a member of a certain group of people: The small shopkeeper is finding life increasingly difficult the + singular noun as used above takes a singular verb. The pronoun is he, she or it The first-class traveller pays more so he expects some comfort. D the + adjective represents a class of persons: the old = old people in general (see 23) E the is used before certain proper names of seas, rivers, groups of islands, chains of mountains, plural names of countnes, deserts, regions the Atlantic the Netherlands the Thames the Sahara the Azores the Crimea the Alps the Riviera and before certain other names the City the Mall the Sudan the Hague the Strand the Yemen the is also used before names consisting of noun + of + noun the Bay of Biscay the Gulf of Mexico the Cape of Good Hope the United States of America the is used before names consisting of adjective + noun (provided the adjective is not east, west etc ) the Arabian Sea the New Forest the High Street the is used before the adjectives east/west etc + noun in certain names the East/West End the East/West Indies the North/South Pole but is normally omitted Smith Africa North America West Germany the, however, is used before east/west etc when these are nouns the north of Spam the West (geographical) the Middle East the West (political) Compare Go north (adverb in a northerly direction) with He lives in the north (noun an area in the north) F the is used before other proper names consisting of adjective + noun or noun + of + noun the National Gallery the Tower of London It is also used before names of choirs, orchestras, pop groups etc the Bach Choir the Philadelphia Orchestra the Beatles and before names of newspapers (The Times) and ships (the Great Britain) G the with names of people has a very limited use the + plural surname can be used to mean ‘the family’ the Smiths = Mr and Mrs Smith (and children) the + singular name + clause/phrase can be used to distinguish one person from another of the same name We have two Mr Smiths Which do you want- 1