Money proverbs Articles practice Updated 25 March 2018
Add “a”, “an”, “the” or “–” (= nothing) to the sentences below. For each gap, only one of those is correct (in the original money proverb), and usually only one is possible.
______________ money makes _____________ world go round.
__________ bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
In ___________ God we trust, all others must pay ___________ cash. – American Saying
____________ penny saved is _____________ penny earned. – Benjamin Franklin.
_________ fool and his money are soon parted.
____________ rising tide lifts all boats.
Lend your money and lose _________ friend.
______________money doesn’t grow on _____________ trees.
___________ money is ___________ root of all evil.
Never look ____________ gift horse in _____________ mouth.
One law for __________ rich and another for ___________ poor.
______________ best things in life are free.
___________ more you get, __________ more you want.
There’s no such thing as ____________ free lunch.
__________ time is ______________ money.
You can have too much of ____________ good thing.
Only after _______ last tree has been cut down, only after _______ last river has been poisoned, only after _______ last fish has been caught, only then will you find that __________money cannot be eaten. – Cree Indian Prophecy
__________poverty is no disgrace, but it’s also no great honour. – Yiddish
________ fool may earn money, but it takes ________ wise man to keep it. – Scotland
____________ heart free from worry is better than ________ full purse. – Saudi Arabia
Money is only good for ________ weekday, _________ holiday, and ______ rainy day. -Russia
________________ rich get richer and ____________ poor get poorer
Neither ____________ lender nor _______________ borrower be- Shakespeare
With money you can buy _________ house, but not ________ home.
With money you can buy _______ clock, but not ________time.
With money you can buy _________ bed, but not ________sleep.
With money you can buy __________ book, but not _________ knowledge.
With money you can buy _________ doctor, but not ________ good health.
With money you can buy __________ position, but not __________ respect.
With money you can buy ___________blood, but not _____________ life. – All China
If you pay _____________ peanuts, you get ____________ monkeys.
Grammar rules
Match the rules below with at least one example above and use them to help you fill the gaps:
A/ an
If it is one of many possible things, we use A/ An (e.g. “Can I borrow a pencil please?”)
If it basically means “one…”, we use A/ An
A/ An + noun can be used to make general statements about things (e.g. “A cat eats mice”)
The
If it is the only one (in the world, room, country etc), we use The
If we know which one, we use The
If it basically means “this/ that…”, we use The
We use The with adjectives to mean some groups of people (e.g. The young)
We use The with superlative adjectives (The…est or The most…)
There are some special expressions with The + comparative, The + comparative
We usually use A the first time we talk about something and The from then on
Zero article
Uncountable nouns and plural nouns with a general meaning don’t need an article (—)
Meanings
Match these descriptions of what the proverbs mean to the examples above
If you are given something for free, you will have to pay for it in some way sooner or later
If you are rich and famous, you can easily escape punishment from the police, taxes etc.
It’s better to invest in something sure than to double the risk and possible return
If you make the rich in the country get richer, that will make everyone else in the country richer too
Don’t ask too many questions about a great opportunity, just grab it!
All bad things happen because of people’s greed for money
You need money for everything you want to do
An idiot might get a good job, but they will soon spend or lose all their money
Discussion
Which sayings do you agree and disagree with?
Are there any proverbs or quotations about money in your own language that you agree or disagree with and can translate into English?
Do any of the proverbs here exist in your language, or are there ones that mean similar things?
Further reading
http://financialmethods.org/2009/06/10-money-proverbs-examined.html
Answer key Grammar rules
A/ an
If it is one of many possible things, we use A/ An (e.g. “Can I borrow a pencil please?”)
You can have too much of a good thing
If it basically means “one…”, we use A/ An
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A/ An + noun can be used to make general statements about things (e.g. “A cat eats mice”)
A fool and his money are soon parted.
The
If it is the only one (in the world, room, country etc), we use The
Money is the root of all evil
If we know which one, we use The
Never look a gift horse in the mouth
If it basically means “this/ that…”, we use The
We use The with adjectives to mean some groups of people (e.g. The young)
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer
We use The with superlative adjectives (The…est or The most…)
The best things in life are free
There are some special expressions with The + comparative, The + comparative
The more you get, the more you want
We usually use A the first time we talk about something and The from then on
Zero article
Uncountable nouns and plural nouns with a general meaning don’t need an article (—)
Money doesn’t grow on trees
Meanings
Match these descriptions of what the proverbs mean to the examples above
If you are given something for free, you will have to pay for it in some way sooner or later
There’s no such thing as a free lunch
If you are rich and famous, you can easily escape punishment from the police, taxes etc.
One law for the rich and another for the poor
It’s better to invest in something sure than to double the risk and possible return
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
If you make the rich in the country get richer, that will make everyone else in the country richer too
A rising tide lifts all boats
Don’t ask too many questions about a great opportunity, just grab it!
Never look a gift horse in the mouth
All bad things happen because of people’s greed for money
Money is the root of all evil
You need money for everything you want to do
Money is only good for a weekday, a holiday and a rainy day
An idiot might get a good job, but they will soon spend or lose all their money
A fool may earn money, but it takes a wise man to keep it
Discussion questions
Do any of the proverbs have different meanings from what you imagined? What did you think they meant?
Are there similar expressions in your own language or other languages you know?
Are there any of these that don’t exist in your language? What do you think that says about the culture of your country and the countries the other sayings come from?
Which of the expressions do you think should exist in your language?
Which do you think you are most likely to use in English?
Extra practice
Give your partner hints, starting with an explanation about what it needs and then moving to words that is in the expression, until they say the proverb you have chosen just as it is above
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