Grammar 4 Complete the sentences with a, an, the or – (no article).
1 I wanted to be firefighter when I was a child.
2 Vatican City is smallest country in the world.
3 The company has invented a new kind of vacuum cleaner and everyone hopes they will present machine at their annual conference.
4 We live in 21st century.
5 I think that people will live longer in the future.
6 Liam wants to discuss an urgent issue with me, but he hasn't told me what issue is.
7 My uncle lives in Switzerland.
8 There’s island in the middle of the lake.
9 Wow! Look at Moon!
10 There were floods last year in Netherlands.

1. I wanted to be a firefighter when I was a child.

In this sentence, we use the indefinite article "a" before the word "firefighter" because it is referring to any firefighter, not a specific one.

2. Vatican City is the smallest country in the world.

In this sentence, we use the definite article "the" before the word "smallest" because it is specifying the superlative degree of "small" and referring to a specific country.

3. The company has invented a new kind of vacuum cleaner and everyone hopes they will present the machine at their annual conference.

In this sentence, we use the indefinite article "a" before the word "new" because it is referring to any new kind of vacuum cleaner. However, we use the definite article "the" before the word "machine" because it is referring to a specific machine that the company has invented.

4. We live in the 21st century.

In this sentence, we do not use any article before the ordinal number "21st century" because it is a general reference.

5. I think that people will live longer in the future.

In this sentence, we do not use any article before the word "people" because it is a general reference.

6. Liam wants to discuss an urgent issue with me, but he hasn't told me what the issue is.

In this sentence, we use the indefinite article "an" before the word "urgent" because it is referring to any urgent issue. However, we use the definite article "the" before the word "issue" because it is referring to a specific issue that Liam wants to discuss.

7. My uncle lives in Switzerland.

In this sentence, we do not use any article before the word "Switzerland" because it is a proper noun.

8. There’s an island in the middle of the lake.

In this sentence, we use the indefinite article "an" before the word "island" because it is referring to any island in the middle of the lake.

9. Wow! Look at the Moon!

In this sentence, we do not use any article before the word "Moon" because it is a proper noun (referring to Earth's moon).

10. There were floods last year in the Netherlands.

In this sentence, we use the definite article "the" before the word "Netherlands" because it is referring to a specific country.