Determiners

1 Here is a short poem written by a teenage girl.

Complete the gaps with a, the, that or a possessive determiner.

Once Upon a. _____ Love by Sierra Vaughn but I’m hoping one day,
What we have is something new, we’ll have k. _____ new start.
b. _____ love for each other has always been So as time goes by and others come through,
true. I still remember l. _____ love
We met in c. _____ very uncertain way, and everything about you.
but if it wasn’t for d. ,
I wouldn’t know you today.
You’re e. _____ life, f. _____ world, g.
_____ everything indeed
h. _____ love just keeps growing like i. _____
sunflower seed.
What we had, I cannot explain,
but you never argued or never complained.
Over j. years, we fell apart,

2 Complete the gaps in the quotes below with a, an or the.

“Music is a. _____ only language in which you cannot say b. _____ mean or sarcastic thing.”
John Erskine (American educator, pianist and composer: 1879-1951)

“I’m tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That’s deep enough. What do you want,
c. _____ adorable pancreas?”
Jean Kerr (Irish-American author and playwright: 1922-2003)

“I never saw d. _____ ugly thing in my life: for let e. _____ form of f. _____ object be what it may - light,
shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.”
John Constable (British painter: 1776-1837)

Omission of the article

3 Fill in the gaps with the. If the article can be omitted, write an X.

a. Joanna has lived in 1. _____ main cosmopolitan centres of the world: in 2. _____ Tokyo, 3. _____ Paris,
4. _____ London, 5. _____ New York and 6. _____ Madrid.
b. After a day’s work, I usually go 1. _____ home, have dinner and curl up on 2. couch watching a film
or series.
c. Q: Where is 1. _____ Douro River? A: In 2. _____ city of Porto.
d. 1. Grace Kelly was in two of 2. _____ Alfred Hitchcock’s best pictures: 3. _____ Dial M for Murder and
4. _____ Rear Window.

4 Make sentences with and without the and the following words: school, prison, church, bed and
hospital. What is the difference in meaning between both usages?

EXAMPLE: I go to church every Sunday, I find mass inspiring.

Can I meet you in front of the church on Saturday at 3pm?