A1 English grammar worksheet
Choosing a, an, the or no article at all, depending on what the noun means and how it sounds.
12 gap-fill exercises on Articles: a, an, the and zero article, the first thing most beginners get wrong in English. Answer in the browser and the rule appears with each answer, or print the PDF and work through it on paper.
This A1 sheet is free on the web. The graded set from A2 to C2 lives in the oqou app, where A1 is part of Pro as well.
Practise it here
After each answer you get the rule, written in English. That is deliberate: the sheets are made to be worked through in the language you are learning.
Exercise 1 of 12
What amazing idea!
Choose the word that fills the gap.
A1 English grammar worksheet
Print it
The same worksheet as a print-ready A4 PDF, with the answer key on the last page. Free to use in a classroom, and free to share.
Download the PDFArticles: a, an, the and zero article
What ___ amazing idea!
What ___ useful tool!
I found ___ great jacket in the sale yesterday.
I bought a jacket yesterday, but ___ jacket was too small.
It was a lovely day and ___ sun was shining brightly.
Everyone knows that ___ capital of Italy is Rome.
My father always drinks ___ with his breakfast, never tea or coffee.
Most people think ___ are very independent animals.
She never has ___ left at the end of the month.
There's ___ university just outside the town centre.
There's ___ apple in the fruit bowl if you'd like one.
We waited for ___ hour before the bus came.
Answer key
What an amazing idea!
We use an before a word that starts with a vowel sound, like amazing.
What a useful tool!
We use a before a word that starts with a consonant sound, like useful.
I found a great jacket in the sale yesterday.
The first time we mention something, we usually say a, not the.
I bought a jacket yesterday, but the jacket was too small.
We say the when we talk about the same thing again.
It was a lovely day and the sun was shining brightly.
There is only one sun, so we say the sun, not a sun.
Everyone knows that the capital of Italy is Rome.
A country has only one capital, so we say the capital.
My father always drinks milk with his breakfast, never tea or coffee.
Uncountable nouns like milk take no article when we mean the thing in general.
Most people think cats are very independent animals.
Plural nouns take no article when we talk about all of them, not particular ones.
She never has money left at the end of the month.
Money is uncountable, so it takes no article and never a or an.
There's a university just outside the town centre.
University starts with a consonant sound, so we say a university.
There's an apple in the fruit bowl if you'd like one.
Apple starts with a vowel sound, so we say an apple.
We waited for an hour before the bus came.
Hour starts with a vowel sound because the h is silent, so we say an hour.
The rest of the English grammar set
The oqou app carries the full graded set, one worksheet per CEFR level, alongside the reading it is meant to support. Grammar practice is part of Pro.
- A2Past simple and past continuous14 exercisesIn the app
- A2Comparatives and superlatives12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Countable and uncountable: some, any, much, many, a few12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Going to and will12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Adverbs of frequency and word order12 exercisesIn the app
- A2Verb + -ing or verb + to-infinitive12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Present perfect and past simple14 exercisesIn the app
- B1Must, have to, should: obligation and advice12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Relative clauses, defining and non-defining12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Reported speech and backshift12 exercisesIn the app
- B1The passive: present and past simple12 exercisesIn the app
- B1Used to and would for past habits12 exercisesIn the app
- B2The three conditionals16 exercisesIn the app
- B2Modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Wish, if only and the unreal past12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Passive reporting: it is said that, he is thought to12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Future perfect and future continuous12 exercisesIn the app
- B2Concession and contrast: although, despite, whereas, however12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Inversion and fronting for emphasis14 exercisesIn the app
- C1Cleft sentences: it-clefts and wh-clefts12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Reduced and prepositional relative clauses12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Verb patterns that change meaning: stop, remember, go on, regret12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Alternatives to if: unless, provided that, as long as, otherwise12 exercisesIn the app
- C1Hedging and cautious language12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Participle clauses, ellipsis and nominalisation15 exercisesIn the app
- C2The mandative subjunctive and formal that-clauses12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Register: Latinate verb or phrasal verb12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Modality in formal and legal register: shall, be to, may12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Correlative structures: the more... the more, such... that, no sooner... than12 exercisesIn the app
- C2Reporting and distancing: allege, purport, be said to12 exercisesIn the app
Questions about the worksheets
Are these grammar worksheets really free?
Yes. The A1 worksheet for every language is free on this site, both to practise online and to download as a PDF, with no account and no email. You may print them for a class.
Where are the A2, B1 and higher worksheets?
In the oqou app, one worksheet per CEFR level per language, as part of Pro. A1 is free here on the web and part of Pro in the app, which is a deliberate exception rather than an oversight.
Can I use these with my students?
Yes. Print the PDF, hand it out, keep the answer key. A link back to this page is appreciated but not required.