Mixed Articles Exercise 4: Places and Everyday English
B1–B2 · IntermediateThis fourth mixed-articles exercise concentrates on geographical names and also reviews everyday article choices with languages, professions, countable nouns, and superlatives.
Choose the correct (and most natural-sounding) response to complete each sentence.
1. Denver is located at the foot of __________ Rocky Mountains.
Correct answer: the — mountain ranges always take the — the Rocky Mountains, the Alps.
2. Toronto is located on __________ Lake Ontario.
Correct answer: no article — lakes take no article when used with the word Lake — Lake Ontario, not the Lake Ontario.
3. Seattle is located near __________ Canadian border.
Correct answer: the — we use the with unique geographical features — there is only one Canadian border.
4. Let's go to __________ Berlin!
Correct answer: no article — city names take no article — Berlin, not the Berlin.
5. __________ Rhine is the longest river in Germany.
Correct answer: The — rivers always take the — the Rhine, the Nile, the Thames.
6. __________ Sahara is the world's biggest desert.
Correct answer: The — deserts take the — the Sahara, the Gobi.
7. I spoke with __________ German lawyer that I told you about.
Correct answer: the — we use the with a specific person already known to the listener — the lawyer I mentioned.
8. Do you speak __________ German?
Correct answer: no article — languages take no article — speak German, not speak the German.
9. I need __________ bottle of water.
Correct answer: a — we use a with a singular countable noun being introduced for the first time.
10. Germany is one of __________ largest European countries.
Correct answer: the — superlatives require the — one of the largest.
Next exercise: Mixed Articles – Exercise 5 →
Did you know?
English actually has one of the simpler article systems among Germanic languages.
German's definite article ("the") changes form depending on the noun's gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) and its grammatical case, giving you six different words (der, die, das, den, dem, des) where English just has one: the.
Scandinavian languages take a completely different approach: Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish attach the definite article directly onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word. In Swedish, hund means "dog," and hunden means "the dog." Icelandic works the same way, and it doesn't have an indefinite article ("a/an") at all.
Meanwhile, languages like Russian, Polish, and Japanese have no articles whatsoever, which is a big reason why deciding between a, an, the, and no article is one of the most persistently tricky parts of English for speakers of those languages, even at advanced levels.
German's definite article ("the") changes form depending on the noun's gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) and its grammatical case, giving you six different words (der, die, das, den, dem, des) where English just has one: the.
Scandinavian languages take a completely different approach: Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish attach the definite article directly onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word. In Swedish, hund means "dog," and hunden means "the dog." Icelandic works the same way, and it doesn't have an indefinite article ("a/an") at all.
Meanwhile, languages like Russian, Polish, and Japanese have no articles whatsoever, which is a big reason why deciding between a, an, the, and no article is one of the most persistently tricky parts of English for speakers of those languages, even at advanced levels.
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