Grammar for ielts fiona Aish & Jo Tomlinson ■L& 11

The indefinite article (a/an): A/an
is used with singular nouns:
1 
When the listen e r/re a d er does not know the thing we are referring to because it is m entioned 
fo r the firs t tim e or is unspecific/unim portant:
There is a new em ploym ent law on retirem ent ages.
We need an assistant.
2 
When using adjectives before a noun:
High taxation on the rich is a very unfair system.
3 
When using quantities such as fractions and large num bers to mean 'one':
a third, a m illion, a hundred
U
When we ta lk about one m em ber of a group or class:
An em ployer m ust be aware of em ploym ent 
law. (any employer)
He's a banker, (one of a job type]
Grammar for IELTS
languagedownload.ir

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Unit 9
No article 
is used:
1 
When re ferring to a noun in general (this is com m on in academic w ritin g ). Usually the noun is 
in the p lu ra l:
Jobs are essential if vou w ant to make money.
Economics is an essential part of politics.
2 
W ith uncountable nouns, when the noun is not a specific group:
Jobs are essential if vou w ant to make monev.
3 
With m ost proper nouns (names):
She w orks fo r Gooqle.
I have another bank account in Switzerland.
Note:
These rules cover m ost article usage, but as so often in gram m ar, there are exceptions.
Practice exercises
Com plete the spaces w ith
the, a, an
o r no a rtic le (-) and w rite the ru le num bers.
1 
Economic advisors t o ______government warned against not regulating larger businesses.
R u le :
______
2 
I believe that there should b e ______system to manage economic instability.
R ule :
______
3 ______inflation is a constant w orry f o r ______ em ployers. 
R u le :
______
R u le :
______
U
_____ Toyota has one o f _______highest revenues fo r any company in Japan.
R u le :
______
R ule :
______
5 
Every company ne ed s______good staff. 
R u le :
______
6 
My fa th e r i s ______em ploym ent lawyer. 
R ule :
______
7 ______w orld economy, although presently unstable, w ill soon recover. 
R u le :
______
! G ra m m a r tip : Proper nouns or names, can som etim es take articles. The best way to 
\
decide is to th in k of w hether the proper noun is a part of a group. If it is, then it may 
| take 
the,
e.g. 
the UN
(a group of nations), 
the United States
(a group of states), 
the
\ Seychelles
(a group of islands).
2
C om plete the spaces in the te xt below w ith
the, a, an
o r no a rtic le (-).
(1 )___ third of a ll employees in (2 )____ UK see 'taking a s ickie ’ as an acceptable part of
(3 )___ w ork, nothing more than lig h t-h e a rte d fle x ib ility w ith w orking hours, yet taking
days off when not actually sick is costing (4 )____economy (5 )____ billions of pounds
(6 )___ year in (7 )____ UK alone. As such, (8 )____ reasons fo r these days off of w ork need
to be addressed to counteract (9 )____'sick c u ltu re ’ em bracing society.
The reasons fo r these sick’ days are quite complex. One of (10)___ main reasons fo r this
kind of absence is 'w o rk fa tig u e ’, (11)____fact that (12)____ people are bored w ith th e ir
jobs. As one leading professor states, 'jobs have become more fragm ented and as such,