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Unit 5 Articles & Quantifiers

Objectives
1. To be able to perceive what Articles and Quantifiers are
2. To be able to apply Articles and Quantifiers in various contexts
3. To be able to communicate in English with correct Articles and Quantifiers in various
contexts

5.1 Articles: a, an, the, no article

We use ‘a / an’
1. when we first describe something or make general statement about something not known or
without any details. ‘An’ is used when the word it describes begins with a vowel.
I saw a man at the front door.
That’s an interesting idea.
2. to mean one
There is an orange on the tale.
Can I have a glass of water?
3. to give an example when trying to describe something or some words.
A teacher is someone who teaches us at school.
4. to describe one of a class of things or people
My father is a teacher.
5. to tell rates or speech
He earns 15,000 Baht a month.
He drives at 100 km an hour.
6. with ‘a headache’ or ‘a cold’ etc.
I have a bad cold.
He had an earache.
Note However, most of illness words use zero article.
I’ve got flu.
7. with the expression ‘what a…!’ ‘such a…!’
What a beautiful day!
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8. to describe one example of a set of things.

This is a Shakespeare. (a work of Shakespeare)

We use ‘the’
1. to describe things or people already mentioned
I saw a man at the door. The man is my uncle.
2. when a noun is made definite by the details following it.
She is the woman who won the contest last week.
3. when we know what is being talk about.
Are you going to the hospital?
Bring me the key before you go.
4. with nationality adjectives that refer to all the people of the nationality.
The Japanese love tea.
The French drink wine.
5. the singular noun that describe a class of things.
The car has taken over the city.
6. with similar objects when we think of as the only one.
Let’s go to the river.
I love to take a walk in the forest.
7. with the name of oceans
We cruised across the Pacific.
8. when there is only thing of something.
The earth goes round the sun.
9. with the musical instrument.
I play the guitar.

We use ‘zero article’ or ‘no article’

1. to describe a general or uncountable noun.
Water boils at 100°C.

Some people think men process information differently from women.

2. with proper noun, except the one follows by details describing it.
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Charlie lives in Boston. He is the Charlie I talked about.

3. with general examples both countable and uncountable.
Doctors always work hard.
Water is very important for human beings.
4. to talk about school subjects
I don’t like mathematics, I like geography.
5. to talk about days, months or part of the day.
See you on Monday.
My university starts in August.
6. to talk about names of languages, meal names, the names of cities, most countries,
continents, most street, and the names of airports, station, single lakes and mountains, etc.
He used to live in Australia.
She speaks Chinese.
What time will you have lunch?
They live in London. (But we say ‘the United Kingdom and ‘the U.S.A.)
We flew from Suvannahbhumi Airport.
7. with expressions such as ‘at home’, ‘ at school’, ‘in hospital’, ‘in prison’ and ‘in bed’ when
we speak in general.
She was at home yesterday.
8. with ‘such …’ to emphasize plural and uncountable nouns.
It’s such delicious ice cream.
They are such naughty kids.

Exercise 1 Underline the correct word.

1. I buy a new shirt. The / A shirt is red.
2. I don’t like going to see the / a dentist.
3. She ordered the / a cup of tea.
4. The / A laboratory is where experiments have been done.
5. He doesn’t work as the / a teacher. He is a / an engineer.
6. Who left a / the window open?
7. A / an hotel is more comfortable that a hostel.
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8. I went to a / the post office today and they said I haven’t received any mail yet.
9. The / - Republic of Slovenia lies at a / the heart of the / - Europe.
10. The / - weather here is ideal for the / - vacation.

Exercise 2 Complete the text with a / an / the or zero article.

1. A: I have _______ idea. Let’s go on _______ trip this Sunday.
B: OK.
2. A: Did you have fun with _______ trip yesterday?
B: Of course, I did.
3. A: You’d better have _______ good reason for not showing up.
B: I do.
4. A: Did you think that I believe _______ reason Tim gave for not coming?
B: Not really.
5. A: Where is my dress?
B: It’s in _______ basket.
A: OK. I think I’ll wear _______ blue one then.
6. A: I think we should buy _______ new basket.
B: I agree. This one is very old. It’s _______ one we bought several years ago.
7. A: ______pork is a kind of _______ meat.
B: I like _______pork. _______ pork we had for dinner yesterday was excellent.
8. A: What happened to your bike? _______ front wheel is bent.
B: I ran into _______ pole.
A: Did you damage _______ pole?
B: A little.
9. A: I left _______ note on a car I ran to in a parking lot.
B: What did you write on _______ note?
A: My name and telephone number. I also wrote _______ apology.
10. A: What’s wrong with your laptop?
B: Something was wrong with _______ screen. I see a few dark spots on it.
A: Can you show me where _______ spots are?
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Exercise 3 Complete the sentences with a / an / the or zero article.

1. Jane is wearing _____ jeans today. Jane likes to wear _______ jeans she bought from the U.S.
2. Everyone has _______ problems in _______life.
3. That book is about _______ life of Steve Job.
4. Listening to _______jazz music is what I like.
5. _______ music I like is jazz.
6. In _______ recent newspaper article, I read about _______ Australian swimmer who was
saved from _______ shark by_______ group of dolphins. When _______ shark attacked
_______ swimmer, _______dolphins cased it away. They saved _______ swimmer’s life.
7. Everybody needs to have _______ cell phone. When you have _______ cell phone, you don’t
need to have _______ watch. You can use _______ cell phone instead of watches.
8. Exercising every day is _______ key to live _______ healthy life. If you don’t enjoy _______
exercise, do something else. Eat enough _______ fruit and vegetables. Remember a saying
‘_______ apple _______ day keeps the doctor away.’
9. The bridge was designed by _______ engineer. _______ name of _______ engineer is
unknown. However, _______ bridge is _______ most famous bridge in town.
10. _______ first day of _______ trip to Hong Kong was quite hard. We didn’t know _______
way to _______ hotel we would stay.

Exercise 4 Complete the sentences with a / an / the or zero article.

Do exams make pupils lose interest?

(1) _______ children could be turned off their favorite subjects for (2) _______ life if
they are pushed too hard to take (3) _______ exams, (4) _______ psychologists are warning. (5)
_______ study of 11-year-old found that those who had taken exams to win (6) _______ school
place rapidly lost (7) _______ interest in their work after (8) _______ exams were over. Other
children, who did not take (9) _______ same kind of tests, did not have (10) _______ same
experience. In this study, (11) _______group of researchers measured (12) _______ motivation
of children in (13) _______ science, (14) _______English and (15) _______ maths. Before (16)
_______ exams (17) _______ children all appeared very motivated, but as soon as (18) _______
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exam were over, that changed, and their motivation went down. Motivation stayed (19) _______
same among another group who took normal school tests. Researchers think it is possible that
some children can be put off (20) _______ subject permanently by an exam.

Note. From Macmillan English Grammar in Context (p.121), by V. Micheal, 2008, Oxford: Macmillan

5.2 Quantifiers: some, any

We use ‘some’
1. with plural countable and uncountable nouns in positive sentences.
I have some work to finish.
There are some books on the table.
2. in question that are invitations, offers or requests.
Would you like some water?
3. in question that we expect ‘yes’ answer.
Do you have some money to give me?
4. to mean ‘not all’
I’d like to have some of the apples in thee fridge.
Some people are afraid to tell the truth.

We use ‘any’
1. in negative sentences and questions with plural noun.
Are there any oranges in the fridge?
There aren’t any oranges in the fridge.
2. in negative sentences and questions with uncountable noun and singular verb.
There isn’t any water left in the fridge.
Is there any water left in the fridge?

Exercise 1 Underline the correct word.

1. I’m going to buy some new shoe / shoes.
2. Mark has got some new chair / chairs.
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3. Paul’s going to buy some new furniture / furnitures.

4. It’s difficult to get some cheap land / lands in Bangkok.
5. My girlfriend will make some bread / breads.
6. I’ve just got some good news / new.
7. I need some information / informations.
8. I don’t like any milk / apple.
9. I listened to some music / musics.
10. I bought some perfume / hat.

Exercise 2 Complete the sentences with some / any.

A: Let’s go for a picnic tomorrow.
B: OK. We’ll make (1) ________ salads. What do we need?
A: We haven’t got (2) ________ eggs. Can you buy (3) ________ eggs.
B: Yes, sure. What about salad dressing?
A: We’ve got (4) ________. I’ll but (5) ________ cheese.
B: OK. Is there (6) ________ juice in the fridge?
A: No, I’ll get (7) ________.
B: Great Do we have (8) ________ apples or grapes?
A: We’ve got apples.
B: I’ll get (9) ________ grapes then. Oh! I don’t have (10) ________ money. I forgot my
wallet.

Exercise 3 There is one mistake in each sentence. Find and correct the mistakes.
1. He hasn’t got some books on him.
___________________________________________________________________________
2. There aren’t no difficult questions.
___________________________________________________________________________
3. How many books have you read so far? - ‘Any.’
___________________________________________________________________________
4. Would you like any ice cream?
___________________________________________________________________________
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5. Please don’t offer me coffee. I don’t want none.

___________________________________________________________________________
6. I ask him for any help.
___________________________________________________________________________
7. Have you written some email yet?
___________________________________________________________________________
8. There are any cookies in the jar.
___________________________________________________________________________
9. Can we have any more potatoes, please?
___________________________________________________________________________
10. My mom will make any sandwiches?
___________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 4 Complete each sentence about endangered species with a/an, some / any.

1. When the last member of ________ species dies, we say that the species has become extinct.
2. There aren’t ________ dinosaurs left alive because they died out millions of years ago.
3. ________ plants, birds and animals are still in danger from human beings.
4. This is often because human beings destroy the habitats of animals, so that they don’t have
________ food to eat.
5. When ________ animal of a plant becomes extinct, this can affect the plants and animals
which depend on it for food.
6. For example, there aren’t ________ dodos left alive.
7. This bird once lived on the island of Maurritius where there weren’t ______ animals to eat it.
8. It couldn’t fly, and was ________ easy meal for dogs and rats brought to the island by
Europeans in the 16thh century.
9. Within a hundred years, the dodo became extinct, and although we still have ________
paintings of dodos, there aren’t ________ preserved examples.
10. Scientists have recently found ________ some bones on the island, but nothing else is left of
the dodo.
Note. From Macmillan English Grammar in Context (p.124), by V. Micheal, 2008, Oxford: Macmillan
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5.3 Quantifiers: much, many, (a) few, (a) little, enough

We use ‘much’ and ‘many’

1. in negative sentence when talking about mass quantity.
I don’t have much money. (many + plural count noun)
There aren’t many students in this class. (much + uncountable noun)
2. in questions.
Do many students come today?
Is there much rain in the forest?
3. in question with ‘how’
How much luggage have you got?
How many times have you been to the Us?
4. in positive statement in formal writing.
Many people hunt wild animals for sport. Much damage has been caused by this kind of
hunting.

‘a lot (of)’, lots (of)

1. They are used to talk about a large number of countable and uncountable nouns.
I met a lot of / lots of people.
There was a lot of / lots of rain last night.

‘a few’ and ‘a little’

1. We use ‘a few’ to talk about a small amount of countable nouns in a positive way.
There are a few tigers left in the forest.
2. We use ‘a little’ to talk about a small amount of uncountable nouns in a positive way.
There is a little water in the glass.

‘few’, ‘very few’, ‘only a few’

1. They’re used to talk about countable nouns in a negative way.
There are few / very few / only a few biscuits left in the jar.
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‘little’, ‘very little’, ‘only a little’

1. They’re used to talk about uncountable nouns in a negative way.
There is little / very little / only a little orange juice left in the jug.

‘(not) enough (of)’

1. Use them to say that something is sufficient both countable and uncountable nouns.
Have we got enough milk?
There are enough glasses for everyone.
We have got enough (of them).
2. Use them to say that something is not sufficient both countable and uncountable nouns.
There is not enough information to make a decision.
I haven’t got enough scientists to do this experiment.

Exercise 1 Rewrite the questions by using a few or a little instead of some.

1. Would you like some orange juice?
___________________________________________________________________________
2. Would you like some cookies?
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Shall I make some salads?
___________________________________________________________________________
4. Can I bring you some flowers?
___________________________________________________________________________
5. Would you like to add some sugar in the coffee?
___________________________________________________________________________
6. Would you like some milk in your coffee?
___________________________________________________________________________
7. Would you like to get some advice?
___________________________________________________________________________
8. Can I bring you some books?
___________________________________________________________________________
9. Shall I bring your children some presents?
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___________________________________________________________________________
10. Would you like some cheese?
___________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 2 Complete the sentences with ‘much’ or ‘many’.

1. I haven’t visit __________ countries in Europe.
2. There isn’t __________ money in my bank account.
3. I didn’t receive __________ invitations.
4. There is too __________ furniture in this living room.
5. How __________ sausages have you had?
6. I can’t go out tonight because I have too __________ homework to do.
7. I couldn’t find __________ information about the report I have to finish.
8. How __________ salt have you put in the soup?
9. The doctor has so __________ patients to handle in a day.
10. He’s collected __________ stamps since he was a child.

Exercise 3 Complete the text with ‘many’, ‘much’, ‘few’, ‘lots’ and ‘little’.
(1)____________ people nowadays try to follow a healthy diet, although not (2)____________
experts agree about what this is. In fact (3)____________ of people assume that ‘diet’ is
something connected with losing weight. Diet simply refers to the kind of food and how
(4)____________ of it we eat. There are very (5)____________ foods that we can describe as
completely ‘unhealthy’, and not (6)____________ foods have zero nutritional value. However, if
you eat (7)____________ of chocolate and fried food and take (8)____________ exercise, then
your diet would probably be describe as ‘unhealthy’. (9)____________ experts recommend that
we all eat (10)____________ of fruit and vegetables, and eat very (11)____________ fatty food.
People are often surprised when they discovered how (12)____________ fat there is in popular
fast foods such as burgers and pizzas, or how (13)____________ calories there are in soft drinks.
Unfortunately, (14)____________ of us can resist this kind of food, and there are not
(15)____________ people who are prepared to give up chocolate or chips. There are
(16)____________ easy answers to the question ‘what is a healthy diet?’. However, if we eat
(17)____________ of different kinds of food, drink (18)____________ of water, and make sure
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we take (19)____________ of exercise, then we will be going in the right direction. After all,
none of us are perfect!

Note. From Macmillan English Grammar in Context (p.128), by V. Micheal, 2008, Oxford: Macmillan

Exercise 4 Complete the text about Antarctica. Write little / a little or few / a few.

The coldest continent

Antartica is a snow-covered continent. The average temperature at the South Pole is -51° Celsius.
(1)____________ plants or animals con live on the land - it is too cold for them. The animal life
is found on and in the sea. There are (2)____________ scientists from different countries who
live and work on special bases in Antarctica. On midsummer’s day (22 December) there is
daylight for 24 hours and during this period (3)____________ tourist ships and planes come to
see this strange land. But in the winter there is (4)____________ daylight for months. It must be
a terrible place in the winter. The snow is always there- winter and summer- but in fact
(5)____________ snow falls in the year (an average of 15-20 centimeters). People say that
Antarctica can be a beautiful place. At first, it appears rather frightening, but after
(6)____________ time, some people fall in love with it.

Note. From Essential Grammar in Use supplementary Exercises (p.93), by N. Helen and M. Raymond, 2011, Dubai: Oriental Press.
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5.4 Quantifiers: none, all, each, every

Use ‘none’ to mean ‘not any’ or ‘not one’ with both countable and uncountable nouns.
I have two brothers but you have none.
I bought a lot of milk yesterday but now there is none.

Use ‘no’ with a noun to describe zero quantity.

There is no coffee.
I have no car.
They have no problems.

Use ‘none of’ to mean ‘not one’ of a group.

None of the students has come to the class.
None of the books is interesting.
None of us is Chinese.

Use ‘each (of)’ (+ singular noun + singular verb)

1. to mean the separate member of a group
Each pen costs 20 Baht.
2. with one.
There are 20 pens on the shelf. Each one costs 20 Baht.
3. after a subject or at the end of a sentence.
The students of this class each received good grades.

Use ‘every’ with a singular noun to mean all the member of a group together.
Every student in this class received good grades.

Use ‘most (of)’ to mean ‘nearly all’.

Most students came to class.
Most of our / the class came to the party.
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Use ‘all (of)’

1. with a plural noun and verb.
All students have come to the class.
All of them are my friends.
All of the / my class have done the homework.
2. after be or auxiliary verb.
You are all wrong.
You must all do your homework.

Exercise 1 Complete the sentence with ‘every’ or ‘all’

1. Yesterday it rained _____________ day.
2. My family buys a newspaper _____________ day, but sometime we don’t read it.
3. I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. I’ll stay home _____________ day.
4. I’m addicted to coffee. I need to drink coffee _____________ day.
5. Babara gets up at 6 o’clock _____________ morning.
6. How often do you play tennis? - _____________ week.
7. I saw my ex-boyfriend at the party. He wasn’t nice at all. He didn’t speak to me
_____________ evening.
8. My family and I usually go on a trip for two or three weeks _____________ summer.
9. The weather was very nice last week. We spent _____________ afternoon having some fun
outdoors.
10. My sister loves fashion. She buys new dresses _____________ week.

Exercise 2 Complete the sentences by using the given words.

all all of the none of the some some of the
1. ______________ children should go to school.
2. The classroom is nearly empty because ______________ students are out in the field.
3. I can’t buy anything because ______________ shops are closed.
4. We like the restaurant. ______________ food here is quite expensive, but everything is
delicious.
5. ___________ people say that he’s the most generous teacher in this school, but I don’t agree.
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6. ______________ computers here are working. Does anyone have a laptop?

7. My sister is very diligent. She has read books______________ morning.
8. We can’t stay here. ______________ rooms are booked. They’re not available.
9. He spent ______________ his money on his new car.
10. ______________ universities in Bangkok have started yet.

Exercise 3 Complete the description of Nomi’s weekend with ‘every’ and ‘all’.

Naomi had a bad weekend. On Friday evening, (1)_________ time she tried to sit down
to eat dinner, the telephone rang. Later, she shouted at her brother John and he sat on the sofa
(2)_________ evening and didn’t speak anymore.
On Saturday, it rained (3)_________ day, so she didn’t go out. She watched a program on
TV - some kind of singing competition - but she thought that the singers were terrible. In the
evening, it was still raining. But she needed some fresh air, so she went to the park.
(4)_________ person she saw looked wet and miserable!
That night in bed, she could hear the people in the next-door apartment. They were
having a party and making a lot of noise, so she was awake (5)_________ night.
On Sunday, she went to her grandmother’s. She did this (6)_________Sunday, and
usually she loved it. But this Sunday (7)_________ the buses were late, and she arrived in a bad
mood. ‘I’ll be happy to go back to work tomorrow,’ she thought.

Note. From Essential Grammar in Use supplementary Exercises (p.89), by N. Helen and M. Raymond, 2011, Dubai: Oriental Press.

Exercise 4 Complete the text with ‘most of’, ‘all of’ and ‘none of’
However hard they try to solve the problem, (1)_____________ the world’s large cities
suffer from traffic problems. (2)_____________ them were not planned to cope with so many
vehicles, so the streets are narrow, and there is not enough space for parking. A number of
different solutions to this problem have been suggested, but (3)_____________ them has been
completely successful. For example, many cities try to discourage the use of private cars in the
center, but even so it is impossible to keep (4)_____________ the traffic away. As
(5)_____________ the larger shops, offices, hotels, railway stations etc. are in the center of the
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city, there will always be a need for buses and taxis and some private cars. An obvious answer is
to move (6)_____________ the hotels, offices, and large stations out of the city center. It would
be impossible to move (7)_____________ them, but it would still make the situation better. The
new areas would have plenty of parking an public transport, so they would have
(8)_____________ the problems of the old city center.

Note. From Macmillan English Grammar in Context (p.132), by V. Micheal, 2008, Oxford: Macmillan

Test yourself
1. Each / Every of our biscuits is individually wrapped.
2. I think most / every people love chocolate.
3. Don't worry. No / None of these foods contain shrimps.
4. Are you going to stay at home all / each day?
5. My brother and my sister have every / each / most got one child.
6. Every / all / none parent wants the best for his or her children.
7. They handed each / every / no of them a picture.
8. Don’t forget to take one tablet every / each / all 4 hours.
9. Joey is always angry. That's why he has a few / a little friends.
10. The party was so much fun. There were only a little / a few people I knew there.
11. Simon : Have you received any applications for the job that you advertised in the paper last
week?
Lance : Yes, but only a little / a few.
12. Rodney feels that his life is very dull and boring. He has very few / very little adventures.
13. We drank a little / a few wine yesterday.
14. I usually eat a few / a little things in the morning.
15. I have got a lot of / much of / lot of books in my library.
16. There are a lots of / much / lots of writers but there aren't many / much readers.
17. Is there much/ many ink left in the printer?
18. Is fencing a / an / the popular sport in a/ the / - world?
19. I'd like a / the / - glass of orange juice please.
20. We have a / the / - beautiful garden. A / The / - garden is full of flowers.
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References