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What are determiners? What are articles? What are quantifiers? What is the difference between determiners and grammar articles? Are determiners or grammar articles parts of speech? What are determiners? Determiners are words that are used with nouns to clarify the noun. They can clarify: * to define something or someone * to state the amount of people, things or other nouns * to state possessives * to state something or someone is specific * to state how things or people are distributed * to state the difference between nouns * to state someone or something is not specific There are different types of determiners. There type of determiner depends on the type of noun. Singular nouns always need a determiner. Plural nouns the determiner is optional. Uncountable nouns the determiner is also optional. There are about 50 different determiners in the English language they include: * Articles: a, an, the * Demonstratives: this, that, these, those, which etc. * Possessives: my, your, our, their, his, hers, whose, my friend's, our friends', etc. * Quantifiers:few, a few, many, much, each, every, some, any etc. * Numbers: one, two, three, twenty, forty * Ordinals: first, second, 1st 2nd, 3rd, last, next, etc. What are articles? Articles are used to clarify if a noun is specific or if a noun is not specific. They are used before the nouns or adjective. There are 2 kinds of articles: * Definite articles - are used for specific nouns. * "The" - is a definite articles Indefinite articles - are used for non specific nouns. * "A- An" are indefinite articles * It is used to refer to a noun that is not something or someone specific such as a pen, an apple, a bus). * " A" or "An" is used when it is not important as to which the nounis refering to (example: an apple on the table, a pen on the table or a book from the room). * It is unknown as to which the noun is referring to (example: a teacher in the hall, a letter in the mail box, a car in the street). * "A" is used if the letter before the next word starts with a constenent (not a vowel a, e, i, o, u). * An is used if the letter for the next word starts with a vowel (a, e, I, o, u). Examples: * I see a dog in the street. * * The girls see the big black dog on the other side of the street. ** * Please bring me a pen.* * Please bring me the black pen that is on my desk.** * I think that is a teacher from the school.* * I think that is the math teacher.** A refers to something that is not specific, it is not clear or important as to which dog, pen or teacher. ** The refers to a specific pen "the black pen" not just any pen, "the big black dog" not just any dog, and "math teacher" not just any teacher. For example: "I saw an elephant this morning." "I ate a banana for lunch." A and an are also used when talking about your profession:- For example: "I am an English teacher." "I am a builder." Note! You use a when the noun you are referring to begins with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y or z), for example, "a city", "a factory", and "a hotel". You use an when the noun you are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) Pronunciation changes this rule. It's the sound that matters, not the spelling. If the next word begins with a consonant sound when we say it, for example, "university" then we use a. If the next word begins with a vowel sound when we say it, for example "hour" then we use an. We say "university" with a "y" sound at the beginning as though it were spelt "youniversity". So, "a university" IS correct. We say "hour" with a silent h as though it were spelt "our". So, "an hour" IS correct. (Lots of people get this wrong - including native speakers.) Definite Article - the (determiners) Strong pronunciation sound thee sound Weak pronunciation sound tho sound You use the when you know that the listener knows or can work out what particular person/thing you are talking about. For example: "The apple you ate was rotten." "Did you lock the car?" You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about. For example: "She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen." We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe. For example: the North Pole, the equator We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas For example: the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing. For example: the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc.. However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an. For example: "I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing." "What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her." The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation: For example: "Harry's Bar is the place to go." "You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?" !Note - The doesn't mean all:- For example: "The books are expensive." = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.) "Books are expensive." = (All books are expensive.) No article We usually use no article to talk about things in general:- Inflation is rising. People are worried about rising crime. (Note! People generally, so no article) You do not use an article when talking about sports. For example: My son plays football. Tennis is expensive. You do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally. For example: Information is important to any organisation. Coffee is bad for you. What are quantifiers? Quantifiers are words that are used to state quantity or amount of something without stating the actually number. Quantifiers answer the questions "How many?" and "How much?" Quantifiers can be used with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Quantifiers must agree with the noun. There are 3 main types of quantifiers. Quantifiers that are used with countable nouns, quantifiers that are used with uncountable nouns. and the 3rd type are quantifiers that are used with either countable nouns or uncountable nouns.
* There are a few apples. There are enough apples. * There are a people at the meeting. There are enough people to hold a meeting. There are not a lot people, at the meeting, but there are enough * I know a little English. He know enough English to manage. * I have a little money. *few/little - means that is not enough of something. * There are few apples. There are not enough apples. * There are few people. There are not enough people at the meeting. We can't hold a meeting, because there are not enough people. * There is little money. We can't buy a lot of expensive food. * If things for the holiday. I don't have enough money, then we will stay home and have a great time. * They know little English. They can't get around very well. They don't know enough English to manage. 1) How many kinds of articles are there in English? 1 2 3 4 5 Answer 2 2) An article always comes with a pronoun adjective noun verb preposition Answer noun 3) An article is a kind of pronoun conjunction noun adjective adverb Answer adjective 4) Which is not correct? a ant the dog an elephant the monkey a cat Answer a ant 5) Which is not correct? a shirt an hat the necktie the pajamas a shoe Answer an hat 6) Which is not correct? a mile a kilometer a inch a foot a meter Answer a inch 7) Which is not correct? an article an object an adverb an adjective an noun Answer an noun 8) Which is not correct? I see a cat. I see her cat. I see cat. I see the cat. I see that cat. Answer I see cat. 9) How many articles are in the sentence: That was the best movie I have seen in a year. 0 1 2 3 4 Answer 2 10) How many articles are in the sentence: I saw a monkey and an elephant at the zoo. 0 1 2 3 4 Answer 1 1. Are you shopping for ___ health club to join so you can get in shape? a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer a 2. Shop wisely! You could end up choosing ___ wrong club and losing more money than pounds. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer c 3. You may find out too late that ___ health clubs aren't for you. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer d 4. ___ San Diego fitness experts recommend thoroughly checking out several health clubs before you join one. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer d 5. First, know what you want and need in ___ fitness facility, and don't pay for what you'll never use. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer a 6. If you only want exercise classes, ___ exercise studio without weight machines and locker rooms may work for you. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer b 7. If you're looking for ___ place to only do bodybuilding, you'll be happy in a basic gym. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer a 8. You may be in ___ market for a full-service health club; then, make sure it offers lots of activities. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer c 9. Look for a place near your house, and check out ___ exercise instructors and personal trainers. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer c 10. They should be educated in physical education or certified by ___ organization such as the American Council on exercise. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer b 11. Certified instructors have at least some knowledge of anatomy, exercise physiology, injury prevention and ___ cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer d 12. You should evaluate ___ equipment and make sure fitness machines are modern and in working order. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer c 13. Try to talk to other members of the club. Find out what they believe are ___ advantages and disadvantages there. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer c 14. Look in ___ locker room, workout room, and shower--everywhere should be clean. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer c 15. ___ locker room sanitation is usually a good indication of how clean other areas are. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer d 16. Finally, before you sign ___ agreement to join, read the contract carefully. a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed Answer b 1. This is ___ easy question. Answer a 2. Please speak ___ little louder. Answer an 3. May I have your ___ phone number? Answer no article is needed 4. I have never seen ___ UFO. Answer a 5. May I ask you ___ question? Answer a / the 6. David is ___ best student in our class. Answer the 7. What is ___ name of the next station? Answer the 8. He has ___ my car today. Answer no article is needed 9. I went to ___ sea during my summer vacation. Answer the 10. Is there ___ public telephone near here? Answer a a. a b. an c. the d. no article is needed |