A / AN
Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels),
'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u)
Examples:
A boy
An apple
A car
An orange
A house
An opera
NOTE:
An before an h mute - an hour, an honour.
A before u and eu when they sound like 'you': a european, a university, a unit
The indefinite article is used:
"¢ to refer to something for the first time:
An elephant and a mouse fell in love.
Would you like a drink?
I've finally got a good job.
"¢ to refer to a particular member of a group or class
Examples:
o with names of jobs:
John is a doctor.
Mary is training to be an engineer.
He wants to be a dancer.
o with nationalities and religions:
John is an Englishman.
Kate is a Catholic.
o with musical instruments:
Sherlock Holmes was playing a violin when the visitor arrived.
(BUT to describe the activity we say "He plays the violin.")
o with names of days:
I was born on a Thursday
"¢ to refer to a kind of, or example of something:
the mouse had a tiny nose
the elephant had a long trunk
it was a very strange car
"¢ with singular nouns, after the words 'what' and 'such':
What a shame!
She's such a beautiful girl.
"¢ meaning 'one', referring to a single object or person:
I'd like an orange and two lemons please.
The burglar took a diamond necklace and a valuable painting.
Notice also that we usually say a hundred, a thousand, a million.
NOTE: that we use 'one' to add emphasis or to contrast with other numbers:
I don't know one person who likes eating elephant meat.
We've got six computers but only one printer.
There is no article:
"¢ with names of countries (if singular)
Germany is an important economic power.
He's just returned from Zimbabwe.
(But: I'm visiting the United States next week.)
"¢ with the names of languages
French is spoken in Tahiti.
English uses many words of Latin origin.
Indonesian is a relatively new language.
"¢ with the names of meals.
Lunch is at midday.
Dinner is in the evening.
Breakfast is the first meal of the day.
"¢ with people's names (if singular):
John's coming to the party.
George King is my uncle.
(But: we're having lunch with the Morgans tomorrow.)
"¢ with titles and names:
Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth's son.
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
Dr. Watson was Sherlock Holmes' friend.
(But: the Queen of England, the Pope.)
"¢ After the 's possessive case:
His brother's car.
Peter's house.
"¢ with professions:
Engineering is a useful career.
He'll probably go into medicine.
"¢ with names of shops:
I'll get the card at Smith's.
Can you go to Boots for me?
"¢ with years:
1948 was a wonderful year.
Do you remember 1995?
"¢ With uncountable nouns:
Rice is the main food in Asia.
Milk is often added to tea in England.
War is destructive.
"¢ with the names of individual mountains, lakes and islands:
Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in Alaska.
She lives near Lake Windermere.
Have you visited Long Island?
"¢ with most names of towns, streets, stations and airports:
Victoria Station is in the centre of London.
Can you direct me to Bond Street?
She lives in Florence.
They're flying from Heathrow.
"¢ in some fixed expressions, for example:
by car
by train
by air
on foot
on holiday
on air (in broadcasting) at school
at work
at University
in church
in prison
in bed
THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE.
1. Function
The demonstratives this, that, these, those ,show where an object or person is in relation to the speaker.
This (singular) and these (plural) refer to an object or person near the speaker. That (singular) and those (plural) refer to an object or person further away. It can be a physical closeness or distance as in:
Who owns that house? (distant)
Is this John's house? (near)
Or it can be a psychological distance as in:
That's nothing to do with me.. (distant)
This is a nice surprise! (near)
2. Position
a) Before the noun.
b) Before the word 'one'.
c) Before an adjective + noun.
d) Alone when the noun is 'understood'.
Examples:
This car looks cleaner than that one.
This old world keeps turning round
Do you remember that wonderful day in June?
I'll never forget this.
THE POSSESSIVES
Possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives show who the thing belongs to.
PERSON ADJECTIVES PRONOUNS
1st (I) my mine
2nd (you) your yours
3rd (he) his his
(she) her hers
(it) it its
Plural
1st (we) our ours
2nd (you) your yours
3rd (they) their theirs
NOTE: In English, possessive adjectives and pronouns refer to the possessor, not the object or person that is possessed.
Example:
Jane's brother is married to John's sister.
Her brother is married to his sister.
Examples:
a. Peter and his sister.
b. Jane and her father.
c. Do you know where your books are?
d. Is this their picnic? No, it is ours.
e. I think this is your passport. Yes, it is mine.
THE POSSESSIVES.
Possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives show who the thing belongs to.
PERSON ADJECTIVES PRONOUNS
1st (I) my mine
2nd (you) your yours
3rd (he) his his
(she) her hers
(it) it its
Plural
1st (we) our ours
2nd (you) your yours
3rd (they) their theirs
NOTE: In English, possessive adjectives and pronouns refer to the possessor, not the object or person that is possessed.
Example:
Jane's brother is married to John's sister.
Her brother is married to his sister.
Examples:
a. Peter and his sister.
b. Jane and her father.
c. Do you know where your books are?
d. Is this their picnic? No, it is ours.
e. I think this is your passport. Yes, it is mine.
Quantifiers with countable
and uncountable nouns
Adjectives and adjectival phrases that describe quantity are shown below. Some can only go with countable nouns (friends, cups, people), and some can only go with uncountable nouns (sugar, tea, money, advice). The words in the middle column can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
Only with
uncountable nouns With uncountable
and countable nouns Only with
countable nouns
How much? How much? or How many? How many?
a little no/none a few
a bit (of) not any a number (of)
- some (any) several
a great deal of a lot of a large number of
a large amount of plenty of a great number of
- lots of -
+ noun
Note: much and many are used in negative and question forms.
Example:
"¢ How much money have you got?
"¢ How many cigarettes have you smoked?
"¢ There's not much sugar in the cupboard.
"¢ There weren't many people at the concert.
They are also used with too, (not) so, and (not) as :There were too many people at the concert - we couldn't see the band.
It's a problem when there are so many people.
There's not so much work to do this week.
In positive statements, we use a lot of:
"¢ I've got a lot of work this week.
"¢ There were a lot of people at the concert.
A few and few, a little and little
These expressions show the speaker's attitude towards the quantity he/she is referring to.
A few (for countable nouns) and a little (for uncountable nouns) describe the quantity in a positive way:
"¢ "I've got a few friends" (= maybe not many, but enough)
"¢ "I've got a little money" (= I've got enough to live on)
Few and little describe the quantity in a negative way:
"¢ Few people visited him in hospital (= he had almost no visitors)
"¢ He had little money (= almost no money)
Some and Any
Some and any are used with countable and uncountable nouns, to describe an indefinite or incomplete quantity.
Some is used in positive statements:
"¢ I had some rice for lunch
"¢ He's got some books from the library.
It is also used in questions where we are sure about the answer:
"¢ Did he give you some tea? (= I'm sure he did.)
"¢ Is there some fruit juice in the fridge? (= I think there is)
Some is used in situations where the question is not a request for information, but a method of making a request, encouraging or giving an invitation:
"¢ Could I have some books, please?
"¢ Why don't you take some books home with you?
"¢ Would you like some books?
Any is used in questions and with not in negative statements:
"¢ Have you got any tea?
"¢ He didn't give me any tea.
"¢ I don't think we've got any coffee left.
More examples:
SOME in positive sentences.
a. I will have some news next week.
b. She has some valuable books in her house.
c. Philip wants some help with his exams.
d. There is some butter in the fridge.
e. We need some cheese if we want to make a fondue.
SOME in questions:
a. Would you like some help?
b. Will you have some more roast beef?
ANY in negative sentences
a. She doesn't want any kitchen appliances for Christmas.
b. They don't want any help moving to their new house.
c. No, thank you. I don't want any more cake.
d. There isn't any reason to complain.
ANY in interrogative sentences
a. Do you have any friends in London?
b. Have they got any children?
c. Do you want any groceries from the shop?
d. Are there any problems with your work?
Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO
Some + -thing -body -one -where
Any +
No +
Compound nouns with some- and any- are used in the same way as some and any.
Positive statements:
"¢ Someone is sleeping in my bed.
"¢ He saw something in the garden.
"¢ I left my glasses somewhere in the house.
Questions:
"¢ Are you looking for someone? (= I'm sure you are)
"¢ Have you lost something? (= I'm sure you have)
"¢ Is there anything to eat? (real question)
"¢ Did you go anywhere last night?
Negative statements:
"¢ She didn't go anywhere last night.
"¢ He doesn't know anybody here.
NOTICE that there is a difference in emphasis between nothing, nobody etc. and not ... anything, not ... anybody:
"¢ I don't know anything about it. (= neutral, no emphasis)
"¢ I know nothing about it (= more emphatic, maybe defensive)
More examples:
SOMETHING, SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE
a. I have something to tell you.
b. There is something to drink in the fridge.
c. He knows somebody in New York
d. Susie has somebody staying with her.
e. They want to go somewhere hot for their holidays.
f. Keith is looking for somewhere to live.
ANYBODY, ANYTHING, ANYWHERE
a. Is there anybody who speaks English here?
b. Does anybody have the time?
c. Is there anything to eat?
d. Have you anything to say?
e. He doesn't have anything to stay tonight.
f. I wouldn't eat anything except at Maxim's.
NOBODY, NOTHING, NOWHERE
a. There is nobody in the house at the moment
b. When I arrived there was nobody to meet me.
c. I have learnt nothing since I began the course.
d. There is nothing to eat.
e. There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris in the Spring.
f. Homeless people have nowhere to go at night.
ANY can also be used in positive statements to mean 'no matter which', 'no matter who', 'no matter what':
Examples:
You can borrow any of my books.
b. They can choose anything from the menu.
c. You may invite anybody to dinner, I don't mind.
The Ministry of the High and Secondary Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan
The centre of Secondary Vocational Education
The Academic Lyceum under
Kokand State Pedagogical Institute
The Student of 8.05 group
Mr Nodir Meliev
The work of
