Articles and Determiners

What are Articles and Determiners?

Think of determiners as the "signposts" of a sentence. They stand in front of nouns to tell you which one you are talking about or how many there are. Articles are the most common type of determiners!

1. The Articles: A, An, and The

Articles tell us if we are talking about any old thing or one specific thing.

"A" and "An" (The "Any" Words) We use these when we are talking about one thing, but it’s not a specific one.

• Use "A" before words that start with a consonant sound (like b, c, d, f...).

• Example: A cat, a house, a big apple.

• Use "An" before words that start with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).

• Example: An apple, an elephant, an igloo.

"The" (The "Specific" Word)

We use the when we are talking about one specific thing that we already know about.

• Example: "I saw a dog. The dog was brown." (First it was just any dog, then it became a specific dog!)

2. Other Common Determiners

Besides articles, we use other words to "determine" or point out nouns.

Demonstratives (Pointing Words) These tell us how close or far something is.

• This / These: For things that are near you. ("This book in my hand.")
• That / Those: For things that are far away. ("That star in the sky.")

Possessives (Ownership Words) These tell us who the noun belongs to.

• My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Their.
• Example: "My backpack is blue."

Quantifiers (Number Words) These tell us "how much" or "how many."

• Some, Many, All, Few, One, Two.
• Example: "I have some stickers."

The Determiner Rule

Determiners almost always come at the very beginning of a noun phrase. > You say: "The big, red bus." You don't say: "Big, red the bus."

Lesson Summary

• A/An: Use for one general thing. (An is for vowels!)
• The: Use for a specific thing.
• Determiners: Words like this, that, my, and some that come before nouns.