Primary 5 ( ) Grammar Note
Nouns with and without Articles
We use the article the …
1. to talk about a specific person or thing
2. when there is only one of something
3. before the names of mountains, oceans, rivers
and deserts
4. before countries whose names are phrases
5. before the names of hotels and museums
6. with nouns related to nature and the
environment
7. with certain types of transportation
8. with musical instruments
9. with certain media
10. with certain venues for entertainment
11. with directions and locations
We do not use an article …
1. with plural nouns and uncountable nouns
when we talk about things in general
2. before noon, night and midnight when talking
about the time of the day
3. before the names of parks, squares, lakes and
mountains
4. before the names of people, streets. cities,
continents and countries
5. before the words bed, church, home, hospital,
prison, school and university when we talk
about the functions, not names, of these places
6. with the words space and nature
7. with means of transport, e.g. car, bus, and train I got to the exhibition venue by bus.
8. with days and months
9. with the words TV and television
10. with certain illnesses
11. with the names of meals
Name: _________________ ( )
Example
I attend a fashion exhibition in Japan. The exhibition
took place in Kyoto.
Sonomi attended the University of Tokyo.
The earth moves around the sun.
The Pacific Ocean and the Sahara Desert are the
largest ocean and desert respectively.
Mr Lam lived in the United States when he was
young. Now he lives in the United Kingdom.
Both the Peninsula and the Hong Kong Museum of
Art are in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The weather today is fine. Let’s go to the
countryside.
Judy takes the bus to school every day.
Lucy plays the guitar and the piano well.
Grandpa switched on the radio to listen to the news.
I go to the cinema every week. Sometimes, I watch
drama performances at the theatre too.
Take the path on the right and you will reach the top
of the hill an hour later.
Example
She has already gained recognition from fashion
designers worldwide.
Mrs Tam usually has dinner at eight o’clock at night
and goes to bed at midnight.
Tai Mo Shan is the highest mountain in Hong Kong.
Last week, I attended a fashion exhibition in Japan.
The exhibition took place in Kyoto.
On her way to school, she saw fallen leaves on the
ground.
She decided to design a scarf that connects people
with nature.
Sonomi always returns to Japan in April.
Mr Ho watches TV every night.
Glora has cancer, so she goes to the hospital every
week.
I had lunch with Sonomi yesterday.
1
Grammar Practice
A. Fill in the blanks with ‘the’ where necessary. Put a ‘✗’ if no article is needed. (Success in Grammar
2 Unit 6 P.111)
1. Don’t look at ________ sun directly. It hurts your eyes.
2. We’re going to ________ Space Museum tomorrow.
3. A: Where is ________ Mira Hotel? B: It’s in ________ Tsim Sha Tsui.
4. You have to apply for a visa before going to ________ United States.
5. I like going to ________ countryside. I feel closer to ________ nature.
6. My elder brother is entering ________ university next year.
7. I always listen to ________ news in ________ morning.
8. Please write down your name at ________ top of the page.
9. Our family never watch ________ TV while having ________ dinner.

B. You are writing an article about jeans. Complete your article using ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’. Put a cross
(✗) if you do not need an article. (Oxford English 2B Unit 6 P.50)

Why Jeans rule the world

‘Whenever you go in the world, people are more likely to be wearing (1) ________ jeans than any other
trousers,’ says Danny Miller, who is (2) ________ author of (3) ________ book called Blue Jeans.

Miller travelled all over the world—from (4) ________ Philippines to (5) ________ Brazil—to carry out his
research. He stopped in (6) ________ city in each country and counted the first 100 people who walked past.
He found that almost half of (7) ________ population was wearing jeans in every country.

(8) ________ tailor in (9) ________ US called Jacob Davis used materials from (10) ________ company
called Levi Strauss to create (11) ________ item that has become the most popular piece of clothing today.
At first, only labourers on the farms and mines wore jeans, but it wasn’t long before their popularity spread
across (12) ________ world.

Nowadays, people wear jeans on all occasions, whether they are relaxing at (13) ________ home or going
out for (14) ________ dinner. People like (15) ________ denim because it changes the way it looks over
(16) ________ time. It fades in (17) ________ sun and gets softer and more comfortable too.

My favourite jeans at the moment are (18) ________ pair that my mum gave me. She wore them when she
was at (19) ________ university. (20) ________ pockets have holes in them, but I don’t mind because they
are so comfortable!