Nouns, Articles & Demonstratives
How to talk about things: singulars, plurals, and pointing things out.
- check_circleI can name things in singular and plural
- check_circleI can use a, an and the with everyday objects
- check_circleI can point things out with this, that, these and those
Discover
Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.
Look at my desk. This is my laptop, and these are my books. That is my brother’s chair across the room, and those are his shoes under it — he always leaves them there!
On my desk, there is a lamp, a notebook, and two pens. The notebook is full of new words I’m learning. I have a lot of notebooks now — actually, I have five notebooks in my bag.
My desk is small, but it’s enough for me. I like keeping things simple: a laptop, a lamp, and a cup of coffee. That’s all I need to study.
Learn
Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.
When we talk about the world around us, we need to know how to name things (nouns), how to specify which one we mean (articles), and how to point to them (demonstratives).
Singular and Plural Nouns
A noun is a person, place, or thing. In English, most nouns are made plural by just adding -s.
- one car → two cars
- one student → three students
But there are some spelling rules:
- If the word ends in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add -es. (bus → buses, watch → watches)
- If the word ends in a consonant + y, change the y to -ies. (city → cities, baby → babies)
Articles: A, An, The & Zero Article
A / An
Use a or an with singular nouns when you are talking about one thing in general.
- Use a before a consonant sound: a book, a car, a university
- Use an before a vowel sound: an apple, an hour
The
Use the when the listener knows exactly which thing you are talking about. You can use it with singular or plural nouns.
“I bought a book yesterday. The book is very good.”
Zero Article
We do not use any article when talking about things in general (plural) or uncountable things.
- “I love
themusic.” → “I love music.” - “Cats are independent.” (all cats in general)
Demonstratives: This, That, These, Those
We use demonstratives to point to objects depending on if they are near to us or far away, and if there is one or many.
| Near (Here) | Far (There) | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular (1) | This is my phone. | That is my house. |
| Plural (2+) | These are my keys. | Those are my shoes. |
- Plural: +s · bus→buses · city→cities · irregular: man→men, child→children
- a + consonant sound · an + vowel sound (an hour, a university)
- the = both people know exactly which one
- Near: this / these · Far: that / those
Practice
Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.
Use It
Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.
Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?