{"id":4109,"date":"2016-12-09T10:11:46","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T18:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=4109"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:42:39","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:42:39","slug":"review-english-determiners-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/review-english-determiners-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of English determiners: “A” and “An”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we’ll review the use of “a” and “an” with a learning activity. These activities are a follow-up to a previous post about determiners in English. The exercise is directly related to the numbered rules from the Magoosh TOEFL Blog grammar lesson “Using ‘A’ and ‘An’<\/a>.” So open the link to that post right now. You’ll need to check my earlier post for the rules I’ll reference in the activity below.<\/p>\n

Activity: The rules for using “a” and “an” in English<\/h2>\n

Instructions:<\/strong> Each sentence below contains either “a,” “an,” or no determiner at all. After each sentence, say which determiner is used, and then say\u00a0why<\/em> the determiner is used. Consult my original post on a\/an<\/em><\/a> to give your reasons. The first three have been done for you.<\/p>\n

\"english<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. She ate spaghetti for dinner.
    \nDeterminer used:\u00a0<\/strong>none
    \nReason:<\/strong> “Spaghetti” is an uncountable noun, and uncountable nouns do not have “a” or “an.”
    \nEditor’s note:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>This comes from Rule 1 in the original post, “    Using ‘A’ and ‘An’ in English<\/a>.”<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Their employees filed an harassment complaint.
    \nDeterminer used:<\/strong> an
    \nReason:<\/strong>\u00a0Although “harassment” starts with a consonant, it starts with an unstressed syllable beginning with “h.” Because of this, it is possible to use “a” or “an” before the word. This writer has chosen to use “an.”
    \nEditor’s note:<\/em><\/strong> This answer comes from Rule 2, Exception 3 of     the original post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. I rode my bike for a kilometer.
    \nDeterminer used:\u00a0<\/strong>a
    \nReason:<\/strong> “A” can be a substitute for the word “one” when talking about a single item that is countable.
    \nEditor’s note:<\/strong> This answer comes from Rule 2 of the original post that I have linked a few times above.<\/em><\/li>\n
  4. Some people feel English is a universal global language.
    \nDeterminer used:
    \n<\/strong>Reason:<\/strong><\/li>\n
  5. That\u00a0mysterious fighter jet has a U.S. flag image on it.
    \nDeterminer used:
    \n<\/strong>Reason:\"english<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. My baby elephant\u00a0weighs about a thousand kilograms.
    \nDeterminer used:
    \n<\/strong>Reason:<\/strong><\/li>\n
  7. Spiders have eight legs and six eyes\u00a0and look very creepy.
    \nDeterminer used:
    \n<\/strong>Reason:<\/strong><\/li>\n
  8. It’s hard to think\u00a0on an empty stomach.
    \nDeterminer used:
    \n<\/strong>Reason:<\/strong><\/li>\n
  9. He drew an x and an o.
    \nDeterminer used:
    \n<\/strong>Reason:<\/strong><\/li>\n
  10. I hope\u00a0to read a new novel every month.
    \nDeterminer used:
    \n<\/strong>Reason:<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Notes on the answers<\/h2>\n

    For each question above, it’s possible that more than one rule from my original post<\/a> may be relevant. You can choose to give just one reason for the use of a determiner, or you could give two or three reasons for each answer. That’s up to you. What’s important is that you really think about the different rules and make an effort to understand how the grammar of “a” and “an” looks when it’s used in English sentences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Today we’ll review the use of “a,”and “an” with a learning activity. These activities are a follow-up to a previous post about determiners in English. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-4109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview of English determiners: "A" and "An" - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today we'll review the use of English determiners "a" and "an" with a learning activity. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}