Matières
Niveaux
Determiners
Fiche | Anglais
Secondaire
1-2
Determiners are words that mark nouns. Following a determiner is automatically a noun or a noun phrase. There are multiple types of determiners:
Articles
Articles are words that come before nouns and define them as specific or non-specific. They act like adjectives because they modify nouns.
There is the:
-
Indefinite article: a/an
-
Definite article: the.
Indefinite Article
A/an is used with singular nouns that are non-specific or unknown.
A/an = one
My brother wants a career.
He met a counselor.
He will be looking for an opportunity.
Meaning:
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The career could be any career (non-specific).
Meaning:
-
The counselor is unknown to us.
Meaning:
-
The opportunity is still non-specific or unknown to him and us.
A vs. An
Choosing between a or an depends on the sound of the following words.
|
Singular noun beginning with: |
A or An? |
Examples |
| Consonant sound | a | a screwdriver, a truck |
| Vowel sound | an | an ambulance, an elevator |
| Short U [uh] sound | an | an umbrella, an unboxing |
| Long U [yoo] sound | a | a university, a user |
| Silent H sound | an | an hour, an heir |
| Pronounced H sound | a | a horse, a hotel |
Definite Article
The is used with singular or plural nouns that are specific or known.
He met the manager.
The company hired him.
He is the happiest person in the world!
Meaning:
-
“the” refers to a known/specific manager: the manager who interviewed him before.
Meaning:
-
“the” refers to a known/specific company: the company which hired him.
Meaning:
-
“the” refers to a specific feature of that person.
Definite vs. Indefinite Articles
Choosing between a definite or an indefinite article changes the meaning of the following noun.
|
Definite article |
Examples |
Indefinite article |
Examples |
| a | Finding a job is easy. | the | Finding the perfect job is difficult. |
| Means: one job, any job | Means: this specific job, the one indicated | ||
| an | An accident can happen quickly. | the | My sister was lucky to survive the accident. |
| Means: an accident in general | Means: this specific accident to which we are referring |
Demonstrative Determiners
Demonstrative determiners modify the noun following it.
This and That
This book is small but that book is thick!
These and Those
These houses are all the same but those are all different.
This refers to:
-
Something near the speaker in time or place, something within reach.
That refers to:
-
Something farther from the speaker in time or place. Something out of reach.
These refers to:
- Multiple things near the speaker in time or place.
- Plural form of this.
Those refers to:
-
Multiple things farther from the speaker in time or place.
-
Plural form of that.
