Start-up 11 | Virgínia Barros, Vanessa Reis Esteves, Luísa Barros

Determiners
There are two types of determiners: general determiners
(definite article) and specific determiners (indefinite
article). Label the boxes below.
A ___________________
Specific determiner B ___________________
General determiner
• The music I downloaded was • An interview is always a stressful
fantastic. experience.
• This job advertisement is really • A good example of a successful
confusing. person is Steve Jobs.

Specific determiners can be: the, demonstrative NOTE:

You cannot use
adjectives (this, that, these, those) and possessive more
than one deter
determiners (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) and are miner
before a noun:
used with singular and plural nouns that are specific. • She told me
that my
• The interview was nerve-racking. experience wa
s
• These candidates don’t have the necessary interesting.
Not: the my ex
qualifications. perience!
General determiners have two forms and are used with
singular countable nouns that are not specific.

• A + consonant (sound)
• An + vowel (sound)
a boss; a question; a horse
an interview, an experience
• A + “u” when we pronounce
• An + silent “h”
it “y”
an hour
a university
 The A/An
a) Before singular/plural nouns which are specific. a) Before single countable nouns which are general.
The T-shirt that I want is in the wash. She’s looking for a job. (any job)
b) Before proper (unique) nouns. b) After the verb be.
I saw the pyramids in Egypt. I am a student.
c) Before the names of cinemas, hotels, museums, c) After the verb have.
newspapers and ships. He has a good C.V.
He read that in the Times.
d) Before the names of rivers, seas, a group of islands d) After prices.
or states, mountain ranges, desserts, oceans. The strawberries are 2€ a kilo.
The Dead Sea has lots of salt.
e) Before names with the expression “of”. e) Before distances.
The Queen of England is getting old. He ran a kilometre without stopping.
f) Before names of people in the plural. f) After speed.
The Smiths are coming for dinner tonight. He drove 120 kilometres an hour.
g) Before countries and nationalities in the plural. g) With frequency.
The Americans are a proud nation. I go to the gym twice a week.
h) Before titles without the person’s name. h) Before the time.
The President is giving a speech today. The interview is at a quarter past nine.
i) After adjectives used as plural nouns and the Note: A/an is not exactly the same as one.
superlative. I ate a cake. (any cake)
They say the happiest people are not the I ate one slice of cake. (one as in the number –
rich. quantity)
 Complete the gaps with a, an or the.

the airport when b.______a group

We were just landing at a.______
the It was
of tourists began queuing to enter c.______ plane.
a
already d.______ quarter to eleven. We had arranged for
a
e.______ the
friend to fetch us. We waited for him at f.______
a
entrance but he had had g.______ problem and couldn’t come.
a
We decided to hire h.______ car as we wanted to drive to
the the
i.______ countryside during j.______ stay.
 Complete the gaps with a, an or the.

a
She didn’t know a.______ word of English when she started
the teacher very nice. c.______
classes. She found b.______ The
a
other students were friendly but there was d. ______ boy who
a
looked at her insistently. She felt e.______ bit embarrassed
the lesson, she noticed he
and tried to ignore him. After f.______
the corridor. She smiled and
was waiting for her in g.______
an
thought: Am I going to meet h.______ interesting guy at once?
The boys she had met before
No, this was impossible. i.______
had all disappointed her.