The English Language

ENGLISH ARTICLES

"A, An, The" definite and indefinite articles in English

Intermediate Level Exercise

Fill in each blank with the appropriate article. If no article is required, put a "0" in the blank. The nouns that the articles go with are in italics.

1. _______(a) Decline and Fall of ______(b) Roman Empire
2. ________(a) complexity of _______(b) problem of ______(c) decline and fall of the Roman Empire is made evident by _______(d) wide variety of causes that are emphasized in varying degrees by _______ (e) different authors.
3. Fortunately, ________(a) concise formulation of Edward Gibbon serves as _________(b) widely accepted basis for _______(c) modern discussion of _________(d) problem.
4. According to Gibbon, _________(a) empire reached its peak during _______(b) administration of ________(c) two Antonines.
5. After that, however, ________(a) extent of ________(b) Roman conquest became too great to be managed by _______(c) Roman government, and _______(d) decline began.
6. ______(a) military government was weakened and finally dissolved as ______(b) barbarians were allowed to constitute ______(c) ever-growing percentage of ______(d) Roman legions.
7. ______(a) victorious legions began to dominate and corrupt _______(b) government, weakening it at ______(c) time when it most needed ______(d) strength to overcome _______(e) other problems.

Answers

1. a) The
   b) the

2. a) The
   c) the
   d) the or a
   e) 0 -- plural; indefinite because the reader has no way of knowing which different authors the writer is referring to.

3. a) the
   b) a
   c) 0 -- uncountable; indefinite. can be either countable or uncountable; here it is being used in the abstract, uncountable sense. It is indefinite because there could be more than one modern discussion of the problem (the modification is not sufficient to make the noun unique).
   d) the

4. a) the
   b) the
   c) the or 0 -- plural; could be either definite or indefinite. The writer's use of the indicates that there were two and only two Antonine emperors. Use of 0 would indicate that there were more than two Antonine emperors.

5. a) the --
   b) the -- Conquest in this context is uncountable, meaning "the area or territory which was conquered." Because the preceding adjective, Roman, is derived from a proper name (Rome), it makes the following noun unique in this context.
   c) the -- singular; definite. As in 5b, the preceding adjective, Roman, makes it clear which government is referred to in this context. However, note that in another context, it might be necessary to add a following modification in order to make the noun definite (e.g., "the Roman government of the third century A.D.")
   d) the

6. a) The
   b) 0 -- plural; indefinite (not previously mentioned, nor is there any other source of definiteness).
   c) an -- singular; indefinite. There could be more than one group, other than the barbarians, who constituted ever-growing percentages of the Roman legions; thus, modification is not sufficient to make the noun definite.
   d) the -- plural; definite. As in 5b and 5c, the preceding adjective, Roman, is sufficient to make it clear which legions are being referred to in this context. In another context, additional modification might be required to make the noun definite (e.g., "the Roman legions that invaded Britian in 6 B.C.")

7. a) 0 -- plural; probably indefinite. The author is not necessarily referring to any particular group of victorious legions; moreover, even though legions have been mentioned before, victorious legions have not; thus, the criterion of previous mention does not apply.
   b) the
   c) a or the
   d) the or 0 --  Both would be equally acceptable, it just depends on how the writer is thinking.
   e) 0