Cheatsheet: Nouns and determiners

Nouns and determiners

Articles: a, an, the

Point	Rule	Example
Form	a before a consonant sound, an before a vowel sound	a book / an apple
a / an	one thing, a job, or a first mention	She's a doctor.
the	a thing we both know, or already mentioned	There's a cat. The cat is black.
the	the only one; superlatives and ordinals	the sun / the best / the first time
A2the	rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges	the Thames / the Atlantic / the Alps
A2the	countries with a plural name, Kingdom or States	the UK / the USA / the Netherlands
B1the	the + adjective means a group of people	the rich / the young
No article	plural and uncountable nouns in general; meals; names	I like dogs. / We have lunch at two.
A2No article	home, work, school, bed; transport after by	go home / at work / by bus
B1No article	hospital, prison, church for their purpose; the for the building	He's in hospital.
Trap	the first sound decides, not the letter	a university / an hour
Trap	most countries take no article	I live in Spain.

Plurals

Point	Rule	Example
Most nouns	+ s	two books
-s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z	+ es	bus → buses / box → boxes
consonant + y	y → ies	city → cities
vowel + y	+ s	boy → boys
A1-o / -f / -fe	some + es; -f / -fe → ves	potato → potatoes / knife → knives
Irregular	no -s: man, woman, child, person	three children
A1foot, tooth, mouse	irregular	feet / teeth / mice
A1jeans, trousers, glasses	plural only, plural verb	My jeans are new.
A1Sound of -s	/s/ after voiceless sounds, /z/ after voiced sounds, /ɪz/ after /s z ʃ tʃ dʒ/	cups /kʌps/ · dogs /dɒɡz/ · buses /ˈbʌsɪz/
Trap	people takes a plural verb	The people are nice.
A1Trap	sheep and fish keep one form	two sheep

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Point	Rule	Example
Countable	a / an in the singular, -s in the plural	a book / two books
Uncountable	masses, materials, ideas: no a / an, no plural	I like music.
Verb	a singular verb, also for news	The water is cold. / The news is good.
Unit	count it with a unit; the unit takes the plural	a glass of water / a piece of advice / two cups of coffee
A2Groups of things	groups of things are uncountable too	furniture / luggage / homework
A2Both	some nouns are both; the meaning changes	I like coffee. ≠ Two coffees, please.
Trap	advice and information: some, or a piece of	a piece of advice / some advice
Trap	work is uncountable; a job is countable	She has a good job.

Quantifiers: some, any, much, many

Use	Plural countable noun	Uncountable noun
Affirmative	some apples / a lot of apples	some milk / a lot of milk
Negative	not any apples / not many apples	not any milk / not much milk
Question	any apples? / many apples?	any milk? / much milk?
How…?	How many apples?	How much milk?
A2Offer, request	Would you like some apples?	Can I have some milk?
A2A small number or amount	a few apples	a little milk
A2None: no + noun	no apples	no milk
B1Not enough	few apples	little milk
B1None: none of + noun	None of the apples	None of the milk

This, That, These, Those

Use	Near	Far
Before a singular noun	this bag	that bag
Before a plural noun	these shoes	those shoes
Alone, with is	This is my bag.	That is my bag.
Alone, with are	These are my keys.	Those are my shoes.
Introducing people	This is Ana.	—
On the phone	Hi, this is Tom.	Is that Ana? (US: Is this Ana?)
A1Instead of a known noun	I like this one.	I like that one.
A1Time: now / then	this morning	that day
A1Something just said or done	—	That's great!

Possessive 's

Point	Rule	Example
Singular noun	+ 's	Ana's car
Plural in -s	+ '	my parents' house
Irregular plural	+ 's	the children's room
Two owners	's on the last name	Tom and Ana's flat
's or of	's for people and animals, of for things	the end of the film
Without the noun	someone's home or shop	at the doctor's
Word order	owner first, thing after, no article	my sister's phone
Trap	Whose asks about the owner; Who's means who is	Whose bag? ≠ Who's there?