Q1.
B. Complete the following passage with suitable Articles (a, an and the).
Once upon ........... time, there live ........... monkey on ........... oak tree. One day, ........... monkey saw ........... old man with ........... bag. ........... naughty monkey snatched the bag. Inside ........... bag was ........... apple, ........... pear, ........... olive and ........... carrot. It gave ........... pear to ........... elephant and ........... carrot to ........... bear.
It kept ........... olive and ........... apple inside ........... empty box. While ........... monkey slept, ........... dog found ........... apple and stole it. The monkey was left with only ........... olive to eat.
It kept ........... olive and ........... apple inside ........... empty box. While ........... monkey slept, ........... dog found ........... apple and stole it. The monkey was left with only ........... olive to eat.
Answer
Here is the completed passage. The articles are marked for you.
Once upon a time, there live a monkey on an oak tree. One day, the monkey saw an old man with a bag. The naughty monkey snatched the bag. Inside the bag was an apple, a pear, an olive and a carrot. It gave the pear to an elephant and the carrot to a bear.
It kept the olive and the apple inside an empty box. While the monkey slept, a dog found the apple and stole it. The monkey was left with only the olive to eat.
It kept the olive and the apple inside an empty box. While the monkey slept, a dog found the apple and stole it. The monkey was left with only the olive to eat.
The three rules you need:
- a — before a word that begins with a consonant sound: a monkey, a pear, a dog.
- an — before a word that begins with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u): an apple, an olive, an elephant, an oak tree, an old man.
- the — when we talk about one particular thing that everybody already knows about, usually because it has been named once before.
| Blank | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Once upon ___ time | a | the way every story begins |
| there live ___ monkey | a | we meet this monkey for the first time |
| on ___ oak tree | an | oak begins with a vowel sound |
| One day, ___ monkey saw | the | the same monkey we already know |
| saw ___ old man | an | old begins with a vowel sound |
| with ___ bag | a | the bag is new to us |
| ___ naughty monkey | The | the monkey we already know; it starts the sentence, so a capital T |
| Inside ___ bag | the | the bag that was just named |
| was ___ apple | an | vowel sound, and it is new |
| ___ pear | a | consonant sound, and it is new |
| ___ olive | an | vowel sound, and it is new |
| and ___ carrot | a | consonant sound, and it is new |
| It gave ___ pear | the | that one pear, already named |
| to ___ elephant | an | vowel sound; a new elephant |
| and ___ carrot | the | that one carrot, already named |
| to ___ bear | a | consonant sound; a new bear |
| It kept ___ olive | the | that one olive from the bag |
| and ___ apple | the | that one apple from the bag |
| inside ___ empty box | an | empty begins with a vowel sound |
| While ___ monkey slept | the | our monkey again |
| ___ dog found | a | this dog comes into the story now |
| found ___ apple | the | that same apple in the box |
| only ___ olive to eat | the | that same olive in the box |
The one idea behind the: Use a or an the first time you name something. Use the every time after that, because now the reader knows exactly which one you mean. Watch the apple in this story: first “an apple”, then “the apple”.
Careful — go by the sound, not the letter: We say an oak tree and an old man, because those words begin with a vowel sound. But we say a uniform, because uniform begins with a “yoo” sound.
A mistake in the book: The passage on page 132 prints “there live a monkey”. The story is being told about the past, so it should be “there lived a monkey”. Fill in the article as shown above, and write lived when you copy the sentence out.