Focus: Grammar in action

It's extremely challenging to know whether we need the definite article (the) before a noun or not. In this lesson, I'll be sharing some guidelines, but don't expect yourself to remember these fully straight away.

The more you hear English, the more you'll develop a feeling for when to use 'the' and when not to use it. In the meantime, don't worry about it too much. Mistakes with articles seldom lead to misunderstandings.

Step 1:

Watch the video lesson two or three times, and make some notes for yourself.

Step 2:

When you have finished the video lesson, download the Exercise PDF below and do the exercises.

Step 3:

When you've finished the exercises, download the ZIP file below.

Use the Answer key PDF to check and correct your answers.

Then, use the Audio file to build strong reflexes through two listening activities:

Activity 1: Listen & write (or type) each correct answer.

Activity 2: Listen & repeat each correct answer out loud several times without looking at the text.

Step 4:

Continue practising this topic by taking the quiz.

You need to get a minimum score of 80% in each quiz to receive your Certificate of Completion, so repeat the quiz until you score above 80%. You can take each quiz up to 10 times.