Basics 03. Grundlagen Englisch nouns, articles and determiners

Nouns, articles & determiners
a ….. = one thing or a person
Rachel works in a bank.
Can I ask a question?
There’s a woman at the bus stop.
I haven’t got a computer.
Englisch Grundlagen, Nouns, articles and determiners

Nouns, articles & determiners
an before a/e/i/o/u (if pronounced as vowel!)
Do you want an apple or an orange?
Where’s there an umbrella?
That’s an interesting question.
This is an unusual animal.
But: a university ? /juːnɪˈvɜːsəti/
a European ? /jʊərəˈpiːən/
Englisch Grundlagen, Nouns, articles and determiners

Nouns, articles & determiners
Singular Plural
a flower ? some flowers
a train ? two trains
one week ? a few weeks
this student ? these students
a nice place ? some nice places
Spelling rules (buses, dishes, etc.):
Appendix 3 Spelling, p152-153
Englisch Grundlagen, Nouns, articles and determiners

Nouns, articles & determiners
Some things are collective plural in English:
Do you wear glasses?
Can I borrow your scissors?
You’ve got nice jeans/trousers.
Where did you buy these shorts.
She doesn’t like wearing tights.
Have you seen my pyjamas?
? also: a pair of
Englisch Grundlagen, Nouns, articles and determiners

Nouns, articles & determiners
Irregular plural forms:
one man/woman ? two men/women
a child ? many children
one foot ? two feet
this sheep ? these sheep
a fish ? some fish
a mouse ? two mice
a person ? two people
one criterion ? two criteria
Englisch Grundlagen, Nouns, articles and determiners

Nouns, articles & determiners
Englisch Grundlagen, Nouns, articles and determiners
Determiners are used to make uncountable nouns countable:
Please give me 2kg of rice.
I would like some coffee.
Do you have a lot of time?
There isn‘t much space in my flat.
I only have (a) little time. Make it quick.

Nouns, articles & determiners
Englisch Grundlagen, Nouns, articles and determiners
some and any
(?rules apply for ‘somebody‘, ‘anything‘, etc.)
pos.: I have some apples.
neg.: I don‘t have any apples.
ques.: Do you have any apples?
but:
offer: Would you like some coffee? (yes)
expectation: Have you got some news? (yes)
‘no limit‘: You can do any exercise you want to.