Countable nouns with a/an and some

Exercise 1 

What are these things? Use a dictionary if necessary.

1) an ant? ________

2) ants and bees? ________

3) a cauliflower? ________

4) chess? ________  

5) a pigeon, an eagle and a crow? ________

6) a skyscraper? ________

7) Earth, Mars, Venus and Jupiter? ________

8) a tulip? ________

9) the Nile, the Rhine and the Mekong?  ________

10) a violin, a trumpet and a flute? ________

Who were these people?

11) Beethoven? ________

12) Shakespeare? ________

13) Albert Einstein? ________

14) Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy? ________

15) Marilyn Monroe? ________

16) Michael Jackson and John Lennon? ________

17) Van Gogh, Renoir and Picasso? ________

Show answers

1)

1  It’s an insect.

2  They’re insects.

3  it's a vegetable.

4  it's a game. / it's a board game.

5  They're birds.

6  it's a (tall/high) building.

7  They're planets.

8  it's a flower.

9  They're rivers.

10  They're musical instruments.

12  He was a writer / a poet / a playwright / a dramatist.

13  He was a scientist / a physicist.

14  They were US presidents / American presidents / presidents of the USA.

15  She was an actress / a film actress / a film star / a movie star.

16  They were singers.

17  They were painters / artists.

Exercise 2 

Read about what these people do, and say what their jobs are. Choose from:

chef     interpreter      journalist      nurse

plumber      surgeon      tour guide      waiter

1) Sarah looks after patients in hospital. ________

2) Gary works in a restaurant He brings the food to the tables. He ________

3) Jane writes articles for a newspaper. ________

4) Kevin works in a hospital. He operates on people. ________

5) Jonathan cooks in a restaurant. ________

6) Dave installs and repairs water pipes. ________

7) Martina takes visitors round her city and tells them about it. She ________

8) Lisa translates what people are saying from one language into another so that they can understand each other. ________

Show answers

2)

1  She’s a nurse

2  He's a waiter.

3  She's a journalist.

4  He's a surgeon.

5  He's a chef.

6  He's a plumber.

7  She's a tour guide.

8  She's an interpreter.

Exercise 3 

Put in a/an or some where necessary. If no word is necessary, leave the space empty.

1) I've seen ________ good films recently.

2) What's wrong with you? Have you got ________ headache?

3) I know a lot of people. Most of them are ________ students.

4) When I was ________ child, I used to be very shy.

5) Would you like to be ________ actor?

6) Questions, questions, questions! You’re always asking ________ questions!

7) What ________ beautiful garden!

8) _____ birds, for example the penguin, cannot fly.

9) Do you like staying in ________ hotels?

10) I've been walking for three hours. I've got ________ sore feet.

11) I don’t feel very well this morning. I’ve got ________ sore throat.

12) Maria speaks ________ English, but not very much.

13) Ifs a shame we don't have ________ camera. I'd like to take ________ picture of that house.

14) Those are ________ nice shoes. Where did you get them?

15) I'm going shopping. I want to buy ________ new shoes.

16) You need ________ visa to visit ________ countries, but not all of them.

17) Jane is ________ teacher. Her parents were ________ teachers too.

18) I don't believe him. He's ________ liar. He's always telling ________ lies.

Show answers

3)

1  some

2  a

3  –

4  a

5  an

6  – (You're always asking questions!)

7  a

8  Some

9  – (Do you like staying in hotels?)

10  – (I've got sore feet.)

11  a

12  some

13  a … a

14  – (Those are nice shoes.)

15  some

16  You need a visa to visit some countries

17  Jane is a teacher. Her parents were teachers too.

18  He's a liar. He's always telling lies.

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