Articles worksheet for Class 1 with answers (free PDF): 40 questions on a, an and the, the three rules in a child's words, and the mistakes Class 1 children make most

Articles are the first grammar rule a Class 1 child is tested on, and the one most often got wrong in a way that is not really a mistake: the child writes "a apple" because the rule was taught as "an before a vowel" and a six-year-old does not yet know what a vowel is. Taught by sound ("say it: a apple, an apple; which one is easy to say?") it takes a week. This worksheet has 40 questions in three parts, with the answer and the rule for every one, as a printable PDF and on the page, and the three rules written the way a child hears them.

Download the articles worksheet for Class 1 with answers as a PDF (40 questions, answer key with the rule for each, A4, free). The same 40 questions are below.

The three rules, in a child's words

1. a before a word that starts with a consonant sound: a ball, a cat, a dog, a kite. "Say it: a ball. Easy."
2. an before a word that starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u): an apple, an egg, an ice cream, an orange, an umbrella. "Say it: a apple. Hard. An apple. Easy." It is the first sound that matters, not the first letter, which is why it is an hour but a uniform; those two are for Class 2 and 3.
3. the for one particular thing that we both know: the sun, the moon, the door of this room, the book we were just reading. The test is the question "which one?". If the child can point to it, or we have already said it once, it is the.

Part A: write a or an (15 marks)

1. ___ apple
2. ___ ball
3. ___ egg
4. ___ cat
5. ___ umbrella
6. ___ orange
7. ___ dog
8. ___ ice cream
9. ___ kite
10. ___ elephant
11. ___ hat
12. ___ owl
13. ___ fish
14. ___ ant
15. ___ bus

Part B: fill in a, an or the (15 marks)

16. I have ___ red pencil.
17. She ate ___ orange.
18. ___ sun is hot.
19. Ravi has ___ umbrella.
20. There is ___ cow in the field.
21. ___ moon comes out at night.
22. I saw ___ elephant at the zoo.
23. This is ___ book. ___ book is new.
24. Mina is ___ good girl.
25. Please open ___ door.
26. Do you want ___ ice cream?
27. ___ earth goes round ___ sun.
28. I need ___ eraser.
29. We saw ___ aeroplane in ___ sky.
30. My father is ___ doctor.

Part C: each sentence has one wrong article; write it correctly (10 marks)

31. I have a apple.
32. She has an bag.
33. A sun is yellow.
34. He saw a owl.
35. Give me an pen.
36. This is the apple. An apple is red.
37. I want a egg.
38. A moon is round.
39. It is a elephant.
40. Close a window, please.

Answers, with the rule

Score out of 40: 36 to 40, articles are secure; 28 to 35, practise the vowel-sound words (umbrella, owl, egg, ice cream), which are the ones children guess; under 28, read Part A aloud together every day for a week, listening for the first sound, before doing Part B again.

The mistakes Class 1 children make most, and the fix for each

How to practise at home, five minutes a day

Articles are learned by ear, not by rule, so the practice is spoken. Each day, five words from the house: the child says "a" or "an" before each (a spoon, an egg, a cup, an onion, a towel), then one sentence with the in it ("the fridge is cold"). After a week, Part A of this worksheet again; after two weeks, Part B. Written practice comes after the ear is right, not before. The same method, for the whole of Class 1 and 2 English, is in our guide to how to teach a Class 2 child at home.

How we teach Class 1 and 2 English online

A 30-minute 1-on-1 class, a parent alongside, on a shared whiteboard: reading aloud, the grammar point of the week by sound and then on paper, and a story. Our tutors are a team of 20+ women educators with master's degrees, teaching online since 2018, in English, Hindi or Punjabi, to children in India, the Gulf, the UK, the US and Australia. The first class is free; bring this worksheet, marked. Details on the grammar and writing page.

Questions parents ask

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