A/An/The vs. No Article – English Grammar Exercises for B1
You are introducing your family members and their jobs to a foreign friend who is visiting your home. Choose the correct article (A, B, C, or D) to complete the conversation naturally.
1 Let me show you some family photos! This is my father. He is ______ doctor at the city hospital.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
2 My mother works in finance. She is ______ accountant for a large international firm.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
3 My older brother just graduated from college. Now, he works as ______ software engineer.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
4 He is incredibly smart. He actually works for ______ European tech company.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
5 My younger sister is still studying. She is ______ university student in London.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
6 What about my grandparents? Well, they were both ______ teachers before they retired.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
7 This is my uncle on my mother’s side. He is ______ artist who paints beautiful landscapes.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
8 In fact, he is ______ head of the art department at the local college.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
9 His wife, my aunt, is ______ excellent chef. She cooks the best Italian food!
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
10 She recently opened a restaurant downtown. ______ restaurant is becoming very famous.
(A) A
(B) An
(C) The
(D) No article
11 My cousin David has a very stressful job. He is ______ police officer.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
12 His sister wants to go into politics. She hopes to be ______ honest politician one day.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
13 This is my brother-in-law. He is ______ entrepreneur and runs his own startup.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
14 My youngest cousin loves space and science. He dreams of becoming ______ astronaut.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
15 My father-in-law helps build houses. He is ______ electrician by trade.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
16 Both of my parents-in-law are very hardworking ______ people.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
17 Have I told you about my best friend, Sarah? She works as ______ flight attendant.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
18 She gets to travel the world, but finding ______ good job in aviation was quite difficult for her.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
19 As for me, I am currently unemployed, but I am applying to be ______ manager at a retail store.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
20 It takes ______ hour to get to the city center for my interviews, but I don’t mind the commute.
(A) a
(B) an
(C) the
(D) no article
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (A) a
Explanation: When stating someone’s profession in English, you MUST use an indefinite article (a/an). The noun “doctor” starts with a consonant sound, so we use “a”.
Distractor Analysis: (D) “no article” is a classic mistake for Vietnamese learners who directly translate “Bố tôi là bác sĩ” into “My father is doctor.” This is grammatically incorrect in English.
2 (B) an
Explanation: “Accountant” starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u). Therefore, we must use “an” to state her profession.
3 (A) a
Explanation: “Software engineer” is a singular profession starting with a consonant sound (/s/). We must use “a”.
4 (A) a
Explanation: This is a tricky B1 pronunciation trap! Even though “European” starts with the vowel letter ‘E’, it is pronounced with a consonant ‘Y’ sound (/jʊərəˈpiːən/). Therefore, it takes “a”, not “an”.
5 (A) a
Explanation: Similar to question 4, the word “university” starts with a vowel letter but a consonant sound (/juː/). Therefore, she is “a university student.”
6 (D) no article
Explanation: We use “a/an” for singular professions. Because “teachers” is plural, we do not use any article to talk about their profession generally.
7 (B) an
Explanation: “Artist” is a singular profession starting with a vowel sound. We use “an”.
8 (C) the
Explanation: While we use “a/an” for general professions, we use “the” for specific, unique titles where there is only one person in that position. There is only one “head of the art department”, so he is the head.
9 (B) an
Explanation: The adjective “excellent” comes before the profession “chef.” Because “excellent” starts with a vowel sound, the article changes to “an” (an excellent chef).
10 (C) The
Explanation: This follows the narrative rule. The restaurant was introduced in the previous sentence (“opened a restaurant”). Now that it is specific and known to the listener, it becomes “The restaurant”.
11 (A) a
Explanation: “Police officer” is a singular profession starting with a consonant sound. It requires “a”.
12 (B) an
Explanation: This is another classic pronunciation trap! The word “honest” starts with a consonant letter, but the ‘h’ is silent. It is pronounced with a vowel sound (/ˈɒn.ɪst/), so it must take “an”.
13 (B) an
Explanation: “Entrepreneur” starts with a vowel sound (/ɒn/). We must use “an”.
14 (B) an
Explanation: “Astronaut” starts with a vowel sound. We use “an”.
15 (B) an
Explanation: “Electrician” starts with a vowel sound. We use “an”.
16 (D) no article
Explanation: “People” is a plural noun. When speaking generally about plural nouns, we do not use an article.
17 (A) a
Explanation: “Flight attendant” is a singular profession starting with a consonant sound. We use “a”.
18 (A) a
Explanation: The phrase “a good job” uses the indefinite article because it refers to any single job in that category, not one specific job that the listener already knows about.
19 (A) a
Explanation: You are applying to be one of many managers (a general profession). It takes “a”. (If you were applying for the single top position, you would say “the general manager”).
20 (B) an
Explanation: Like “honest”, the word “hour” has a silent ‘h’. Because it starts with a vowel sound (/aʊər/), it takes “an”.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 The “Profession” Rule:
In English, you cannot state a singular profession without an article. You must view the person as “one member of a larger group.”
- Incorrect: My sister is nurse.
- Correct: My sister is a nurse. (She is one of many nurses in the world).
2 Plural Professions:
If the subject is plural, simply drop the “a/an”. Do not add “the” unless you are talking about specific people the listener already knows.
- Correct: They are engineers.
- Incorrect: They are the engineers. (Unless you mean a specific team of engineers already mentioned).
3 The Sound Rule (A vs. An):
The choice between “a” and “an” depends entirely on pronunciation, not spelling.
- Use A before consonant sounds: a doctor, a teacher, a university (sounds like Y), a European (sounds like Y).
- Use An before vowel sounds: an actor, an engineer, an honest man (silent H), an hour (silent H).
4 Unique Job Titles:
If a job title is unique (only one person holds that specific position in the company/place), you switch from “a/an” to “the“.
- Example: She is an accountant. -> She is the Head of Accounting.