Basic Grammar Step by Step Second Edition
Mary W. Ng
Chapter 2
Determiners
Determiners are noun indicators. We place them before nouns. There are five kinds of determiners: articles, adjectives of quantity, demonstrative adjectives, interrogative adjectives and possessive adjectives.
| She ate an orange. | (article) |
| They ordered three pizzas. | (adjective of quantity) |
| That movie is funny. | (demonstrative adjective) |
| Which bus are you taking? | (interrogative adjective) |
| He left his books at home. | (possessive adjective) |
We will talk about possessive adjectives in Chapter 10 on page 55.
2.1 Definite and Indefinite Articles
Articles are determiners. We use them to point out nouns. There are two kinds of articles: definite and indefinite.
The definite article is the. We use the to point out a specific person, animal, thing, place or idea.
| They are talking to the teacher. |
| The spider is spinning a web. |
| The dress is made of silk. |
| I am going to the library. |
| How is the weather in Vancouver? |
The indefinite article is a or an. We use a or an to point out any person, animal, thing, place or idea.
| She is a singer. |
| Dan caught a fish. |
| I peeled an apple. |
| They left an hour ago. |
Here are some rules for using a or an:
- We use a before words that begin with a consonant. Consonants are
letters of the alphabet other than a, e, i, o, u.
a book a fork a hat a pan
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