The Use of Articles with the Names of Meals

Exercise 1. Explain the use of articles with nouns denoting meals.

1. Lunch was ready and we went in.

2. I’m sorry I can’t offer you dinner.

3. I’ll try to give you a decent lunch.

4. Mother told me to go out and buy some eggs for lunch.

5. After a light lunch everyone relaxed for a time.

6. He ordered a modest dinner.

7. On the evening of our departure the whole village turned out to give us the promised farewell dinner.

8. I arranged to give a lunch for them.

9. I was having tea with her.

10. I want you to have a nice breakfast.

11. We were talking about it before dinner.

12. Charles and I were alone at lunch.

Exercise 2. Insert articles where necessary.

1. We usually have ____ dinner at four.

2. What shall we buy for ___ supper?

3. They had ___ breakfast of bread-and-butter and an omelette.

4. ___ dinner is served.

5. After this splendid performance they sat down to ____ supper.

6. They had ___ filling but not-too-nourishing breakfast.

7. They decided upon ____ light supper.

8. ____ supper was fish and chips.

9. At last ___ dinner came to an end, but the three went on sitting for a while over their coffee.

10. I made his acquaintance at ____ official dinner.

11. The consul gave ____ luncheon in honour of our delegation.

12. He invited me to a restaurant and treated me to ___ expensive supper.

Exercise 3. Supply the required articles for nouns in the following sentences, paying special attention to those denoting meals.

1. ____ substantial tea was laid on ___ table.

2. ___ invitations to ___ dinner for sixteen people were sent out.

3. He said he would have ____ very good dinner on ­­­­____ train.

4. Hudson talked more during ____ dinner than was usual with him.

5. So after I had finished ___ supper I came back along ___ passage to ___ empty dark front room.

6. “Nevil is coming to ___ dinner,” she added.

7. She intended to have ___ glorious supper for my sake.

8. He was afraid he would be late for ___lunch.

9. But now and then Maude prepared ____ dinner for him in ___ apartment.

10. ___ lunch was finished and soon I left.

11. She had been smoking incessantly since they finished ____ supper.

12. ___ tea came in almost at once.

13. She made ____ long telephone call from ___ lobby and ate ____ quick lunch.

14. If he were kept late at ____ official dinner she would work herself into ___ fever of ___ apprehension.

15. ____ tea tasted of ___ straw.

16. He was giving ___ big lunch on ___ following day and at ___ end of ___ week ____ grand dinner.

17. ___ tea was over.

18. I found her in ___ kitchen, peeling ___ potatoes for ___ lunch.

19. But ____ hot bath and ___ good diner fixed him up.

20. She smelled strongly of ___ scent, but not so strongly as to disguise ___ fact that she had eaten at ___ dinner ___ dish highly flavoured with ___ garlic.

21. “For ____ lunch,” she said, “we could have ___ cold meat, ___ tea, ___ bread and butter, and ____ jam.”

22. I parked in front of ___ restaurant near ___ road and went in for ___ cold-lunch.

23. “___ dinner will be ready in ____ few minutes,” she said .

Exercise 4. Insert articles where necessary.

1. He said he had letters to write and if I would allow him, would remain in his room till ___ dinner was ready. (Jerome K. Jerome)

2. He came in one morning when I was having ___ breakfast on ___ terrace of ___ hotel and introduced himself. (Maugham)

3. I saw to it that he had ___ good dinner. (Jerome K. Jerome)

4. We had ___ cold bacon for ___ lunch that day. There was not much of it. I took it to be ___ bacon we had not eaten for ___ breakfast. But on ___ clean dish with parsley it looked rather neat. (Jerome K. Jerome)

5. Mr. Clay settled back in his chair, savoring his drink, expecting ___ good dinner. (I. Shaw)

6. ___ dinner was very sound. (Bennett)

7. Come and have ___ tea on ___ deck. (Bennett)

8. ___ little expedition down ___ river was delightful, and ___ little room overlooking ____ river into which they were shown for ___ dinner was delightful. (Dickens)

9. She … began to dress for ___ dinner to which she had been invited. (Austen)

10. When he arrived … ___ famous Contract was at ___ dinner. (Dreiser)

11. He assisted her …. in setting forth ___ neat luncheon, consisting of ___ cold chicken, ___ ham and ____ tarts. (Ch. Brontë)

12. ____ dinner was ____ grand one. (Austen)

13. I shall be glad to see you at ___ lunch at half past one. (Shaw)

14. He had given me ___ dinner, and ___ good one. (Snow)

Exercise 5. Use the proper article. Pay attention to the use of the article with the names of meals.

1. They got ___ hearty breakfast from ___ crew.

2. … dinner was to be at seven, ___ concert from eight to ten, ___ supper from ten to eleven.

3. ___ lunch was excellent, but I noticed that Isabel ate very little.

4. They arrested him after ___ breakfast.

5. At this point maid announced that ___ supper was served and Gilbert took his departure.

6. I was anxious to have ___ good comfortable breakfast ready before I called Joe.

7. After ___ supper she proposed ___ stroll in ___ park to enjoy ___ pleasant evening.

8. I’m going to find ___ place for ___ lunch.

9. There’s ___ bus after ___ lunch. That suits you?

10. ____ dinner was as good as it looked and smelled.

11. That’s ___ best dinner I’ve had in years.

12. He followed her into ___ front room, where ___ supper had been cleared from ___ table.

13. I thought I might give ____ little dinner next week – just for you and Denny and Hope.

14. After ____ dinner when coffee was brought in, ____ talk became medical.

15. That evening Denny arrived, as he had promised, for ___ supper.

16. Tonight they are giving him ___ farewell dinner and everyone will be there.

17. I’ve got ___ lecture at nine, so I should want ___breakfast at ___ quarter past eight.

18. He had ____ miserable lunch all alone.

19. She smiled at him. “Wash your hands and clean up. ____ supper is ready.”

20. I do think you might have caught ____ earlier train from Cambridge. I cooked ____ special dinner for you to welcome you come. All your favourite things.

21. “You sit down,” she said. “I’ll cook you ___ big breakfast.”

Exercise 6. Translate into English.

1. Мы позавтракали в восемь часов.

2. Завтрак состоял из хлеба с маслом, сыра и кофе.

3. Не опаздывайте к обеду.

4. Обед еще не готов.

5. Наши знакомые пригласили нас на обед.

6. По субботам у них обычно бывают гости к ужину.

7. Мы заказали обед из трех блюд.

8. В этой столовой вы всегда можете получить горячий завтрак.

9. Идите скорей к столу, обед стынет.

10. Что у нас будет к ужину?

11. Я зайду после обеда.