Here is the story.

I saw a cat. The cat was sitting on a fence. The fence was painted brown. The
cat jumped off the fence when it saw a mouse. The mouse ran into a hole when
it saw the cat so the cat didnt catch the mouse.
1. Underline the nouns
2. Circle the articles (a, an and the)
3. Check your answers from the dictation.

RULE 1
When do we use a? .
.
When do we use the?
.

4. A Cat, A Rat, and a Bird

Fill in the blanks with a, an or the.
_________ cat was sleeping next to _________ fence. While _________ cat
was sleeping, _________ bird and _________ rat were sitting on _________
fence talking. _________ rat complained to _________ bird that he was
bored. _________ bird agreed with _________ rat so _________ bird turned
to _________ rat and said, I wish _________ cat wasnt sleeping because
then we could have some fun teasing him and running away.
_________ rat thought that would be fun. He told _________ bird what he
would say to _________cat if _________ cat were awake. Both _________
rat and _________ bird thought that was really funny. They were laughing so
hard that they didnt see that _________ cat had woken up. _________ cat
didnt know why _________ rat and _________ bird were laughing, but he
knew _________ opportunity when he saw one. He jumped onto _________
fence and ate both _________ rat and _________ bird.

5. Read Text A and Text B. Underline the nouns. Circle the articles. Are the
articles correct?
Text A:

Scientists have discovered a new planet orbiting the sun. The

planet is slightly larger than the moon.

Circle:

YES

or

No

Text B:

A car crashed into a tree this morning. The driver was killed and a
passenger was seriously injured when the tree fell onto the car.

Circle:

YES

or

No

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Read Text A and Text B.

For each the write:
I (introduced before)
U (unique)
or
O (obvious).

7. Fill the blanks with a an or the using RULE 1 and RULE 2:

________ president of Malaysia said that ________ large bomb
exploded in ________ capital city. ________ bomb was on ________
bus. ________ driver was killed along with ________ passenger sitting
near him.

Actually the articles are correct in Text A and Text B.

RULE 2

Use the instead of a or an if you know the listener or reader

already knows what you are talking about.

i) For example if the noun is the only one (unique)

People
the Queen of
England
the Prime Minister
of Malaysia

Named Places
and Things
the Sun, the
Moon
the Cameron
Highlands

Superlatives

Ordinals

the largest lion

the first day of

the month
the second prize

the smallest
mouse

ii) Or if from the story it is obvious to the listener or reader

I am going to the doctor today. (obviously my doctor)

A dog bit me because the owner didnt have him on his lead.
(obviously the owner is the owner of the dog)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Extra Practice
8.

________ aeroplane crashed this afternoon. ________ pilot sent ________

message shortly before ________ crash. ________ passenger said he saw
smoke coming from ________ engine on ________ right side of ________
plane.

9.

________ Ministry of Education has started ________ competition for

________ best story of the year. ________ winner of ________ competition
will receive ________ trip to England and 2,000RM in spending money.
________ second place contestant will receive ________ prize of 1,000RM.

10.

Three cars crashed on Oak Street. ________ driver in one car was hurt along
with ________ passenger in another car. ________ driver was taken to the
hospital. ________ passenger was treated on ________ road.

Adapted from and 2007 www.bogglesworldesl.com