Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one. Some sentences have two correct answers. Choose both.
1After the accident, he spent three nights in ............... before he was discharged.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
British English uses "hospital" with no article when someone is there as a patient ("in hospital"); American English usually says "in the hospital" with the same meaning.
2She speaks ............... at home with her grandparents, but uses English at work.
Wrong!
Use "Spanish" with no article for the language in general.
3We grabbed ............... at the station cafe before the early train.
Wrong!
Use "breakfast" with no article when you mean the meal in general.
4The committee agreed that ............... is essential if the policy is to work in practice.
Wrong!
Use "trust" with no article when the abstract noun has a general meaning.
5He was sent to ............... for six months after the fraud conviction.
Wrong!
Use "prison" with no article when someone is there as a prisoner.
6If you want to sound natural, avoid putting ............... before plural nouns when you mean people in general.
Wrong!
Use "the" here because the advice is about not adding that article before general plural nouns.
7The lecturer insisted that ............... is not the same as being right.
Wrong!
Use "knowledge" with no article when the abstract noun has a general meaning.
8She went to ............... to pick up her niece, not to study.
Wrong!
Use "the school" when you mean the building or place, not attending as a student.
9Can we meet on ............... instead of Tuesday?
Wrong!
Use "Monday" with no article in the time expression "on Monday", just as with "Tuesday".
10We had terrible ............... all week in the mountains.
Wrong!
Use "weather" with no article after an adjective like "terrible"; it is uncountable, so "a weather" is wrong.
11The report concluded that ............... is a matter of perspective, not a fixed rule.
Wrong!
Use "beauty" with no article when the abstract noun has a general meaning.
12In her memoir, she writes that ............... was the hardest part of starting over.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
Both "loneliness" and "the loneliness" work because the noun can mean the feeling generally or the specific experience described.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- After the accident, he spent three nights in hospital / the hospital before he was discharged.
- She speaks Spanish at home with her grandparents, but uses English at work.
- We grabbed breakfast at the station cafe before the early train.
- The committee agreed that trust is essential if the policy is to work in practice.
- He was sent to prison for six months after the fraud conviction.
- If you want to sound natural, avoid putting the before plural nouns when you mean people in general.
- The lecturer insisted that knowledge is not the same as being right.
- She went to the school to pick up her niece, not to study.
- Can we meet on Monday instead of Tuesday?
- We had terrible weather all week in the mountains.
- The report concluded that beauty is a matter of perspective, not a fixed rule.
- In her memoir, she writes that loneliness / the loneliness was the hardest part of starting over.