Grade 3 English worksheet focusing on articles "a," "an," and "the" with fill-in-the-blank exercises.

Let’s go step by step to figure out which article — a, an, or the — goes before each word.

Step 1: Remember the rules

- Use a before words that start with a consonant *sound* (like “b”, “c”, “d”, etc.)
- Use an before words that start with a vowel *sound* (like “a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, “u”)
- Use the when we’re talking about something specific or already known

But in this worksheet, most of these are general nouns — not specific things — so we’ll mostly use a or an. We only use the if it’s a special case (like “the police” or “the sun”).

Also, remember: It’s about the *sound*, not just the letter! For example:
- “hour” starts with ‘h’ but sounds like “our” → so we say an hour
- “university” starts with ‘u’ but sounds like “yoo” → so we say a university

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Now let’s go through each word one by one:

#### Left Column:

1. advice → uncountable noun → usually no article, but sometimes “some advice”. But since we must pick from a/an/the → no article fits perfectly, but in some contexts “the advice” is used. However, for Grade 3 level, they might expect no article — but wait, the instruction says “write what may come before”, so maybe leave blank? Actually, looking at common usage:
→ Often used without article, but if forced, “the” can be used for specific advice. But for general, none. Let’s check others first.

Actually, let’s think again — many of these are uncountable or plural and don’t take “a” or “an”. So perhaps the correct answer is often nothing — but the worksheet says “write what may come before this word a, an or the” — implying one of them might fit.

Wait — let’s look at standard answers for such worksheets.

Common practice:
- Uncountable nouns (like advice, flour, furniture, information, milk, sleep) → usually no article, BUT sometimes “the” if specific.
- Countable singular → needs a/an/the
- Plural countable → usually no article unless specific (“the computers”)

But since this is Grade 3, they probably want us to put a or an where possible, and the only when required.

Let me reframe: The task is to write what *may* come before — meaning, which article could grammatically go there in some context.

So even if it’s not always used, if it *can* be used, we write it.

For example:
- “advice” → you can say “the advice he gave” → so the is possible
- “answer” → “an answer” (if starting with vowel sound) → “answer” starts with /æ/ → consonant sound → a
Wait — “answer” starts with ‘a’, which is a vowel letter, but the sound is /æ/ — which is a consonant sound? No — /æ/ is a vowel sound!

Hold on — important correction:

In English, the rule is based on sound, not spelling.

- If the word begins with a vowel sound → use an
- If it begins with a consonant sound → use a

Examples:
- “apple” → /æ/ → vowel sound → an apple
- “umbrella” → /ʌ/ → vowel sound → an umbrella
- “hour” → /aʊ/ → vowel sound → an hour
- “university” → /juː/ → consonant sound (like “you”) → a university

So let’s apply this correctly.

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Let’s go list by list carefully.

Left Column:

1. advice → uncountable → typically no article, but can use “the” for specific → the (since “a” or “an” doesn’t work)
2. answer → starts with /æ/ → vowel sound → an
3. bed → /b/ → consonant → a
4. biology → /baɪ/ → consonant sound → a
5. chair → /tʃ/ → consonant → a
6. computer → /k/ → consonant → a
7. computers → plural → usually no article, but “the computers” is possible → the
8. educated person → “educated” starts with /ɛ/ → vowel sound → an
9. egg → /ɛ/ → vowel → an
10. elephant → /ɛ/ → vowel → an
11. expensive car → “expensive” starts with /ɪ/ → vowel sound → an
12. fantastic answer → “fantastic” starts with /f/ → consonant → a
13. fish → can be countable or uncountable. As countable: “a fish”; as uncountable: no article. Since it’s singular here, likely a

Wait — “fish” as singular countable → “a fish”

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Right Column:

1. flour → uncountable → the (for specific), otherwise no article → but since we must choose, the
2. flower → /f/ → consonant → a
3. furniture → uncountable → the
4. heavy suitcase → “heavy” starts with /h/ → consonant → a
5. honest mistake → “honest” starts with silent ‘h’ → sounds like “on est” → /ɒ/ → vowel sound → an
6. hourly wage → “hourly” → silent ‘h’ → /aʊ/ → vowel sound → an
7. hungry man → “hungry” starts with /h/ → consonant → a
8. idea → /aɪ/ → vowel → an
9. information → uncountable → the
10. milk → uncountable → the
11. passport → /p/ → consonant → a
12. police → usually “the police” → the
13. sleep → uncountable → the (as in “the sleep I had last night”)

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Now let’s compile the answers clearly.

Note: For uncountable nouns, “a” or “an” never works — only “the” or nothing. Since the worksheet asks for “what may come before”, and “the” can come before them in specific contexts, we’ll use “the” for those.

Final decisions:

Left Column:
- advice → the
- answer → an
- bed → a
- biology → a
- chair → a
- computer → a
- computers → the
- educated person → an
- egg → an
- elephant → an
- expensive car → an
- fantastic answer → a
- fish → a

Right Column:
- flour → the
- flower → a
- furniture → the
- heavy suitcase → a
- honest mistake → an
- hourly wage → an
- hungry man → a
- idea → an
- information → the
- milk → the
- passport → a
- police → the
- sleep → the

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Final Answer:

Left Column:
the advice
an answer
a bed
a biology
a chair
a computer
the computers
an educated person
an egg
an elephant
an expensive car
a fantastic answer
a fish

Right Column:
the flour
a flower
the furniture
a heavy suitcase
an honest mistake
an hourly wage
a hungry man
an idea
the information
the milk
a passport
the police
the sleep