WrongGovernment should invest more in education.
RightThe government should invest more in education.
Unique institutions — the state, the government, the parliament — take «the».
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Grammar
Articles: a / an / the
Uzbek and Russian have no articles, which makes this the most frequent error of all.
Why this moves your band
Band 7 for Grammatical Range and Accuracy requires that most sentences are error-free. An article slip makes even a short sentence faulty, so it is the fastest way to lose the band.
The rule
- 1Use «a/an» the first time you mention a singular countable noun; use «the» once the reader knows which one you mean.
- 2Use «the» with unique things, superlatives and ordinals: the government, the best, the first.
- 3Use no article with plurals and uncountables in a general sense.
Wrong and right
WrongMy father is engineer.
RightMy father is an engineer.
A singular job title needs a/an.
WrongThe people prefer the cars to the public transport.
RightPeople prefer cars to public transport.
General statements take no article: «people», «cars», «public transport».
Check after writing
- Does every singular countable noun have an article or determiner?
- Is «the» only where you mean one specific thing?
- Are there stray «the»s left in your general statements?
Practice
Pick one answer for each question — the right answer and the rule appear straight away. Nothing is saved.
1. internet has changed the way people shop.
2.My sister works as architect in Tashkent.
3. unemployment is a serious problem in many rural areas.
4.Tashkent has largest population of any city in Uzbekistan.
5.I bought a laptop last month, but laptop already needs repairing.
6.Most doctors agree that regular exercise improves mood.
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