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Thanks for replying. I am confused. I thought any word which starts with a vowel must have 'an' before it. So 'advanced' here must have 'an' before it. What you wrote means that the article is related to the word 'feature' and not related to 'advanced' as an adjective. If it is related to 'feature' then what is the use of putting 'an' here since 'feature' cones in the end of the sentence? Please explain in details so it can be clear for me. Thanks

Hello Sad,

'a' and 'an' are the same indefinite article. The only difference is that 'an' is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (not with a vowel, but a vowel sound). This is a purely phonological change -- in other words, grammatically, 'a' and 'an' are the same word; we only say 'an' instead of 'a' because it's easier to pronounce due to the vowel sound that follows it. This is somewhat similar to changing 'y' to 'e' in Spanish -- 'padres y hijos' is not correct, instead it is 'padres e hijos' -- though grammatically 'y' is a conjunction, not a determiner. But 'y' changes to 'e' based on the first sound in the word after it, not based on grammar -- this is just like how 'a' changes to 'an' based on the first sound in the word after it, not based on grammar.

Articles are used in a noun phrase, i.e. they go with a noun (e.g. a safety feature). Sometimes there is an adjective between the article and the noun (e.g. an advanced safety feature), but the meaning of the article is the same and it modifies (tell us about) the noun, not the adjective.

Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Plus one more thing. 'An English language teacher' Using 'an' here, considered correct or not? Although it is referred to 'teacher' which does not take 'an' Please clarify Thanks

Hi Sad,

'an English teacher' is correct. My response below should hopefully help you understand this. If not, please see this page.

Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Dear all, if the first word the name of a person or a place, then we do not use "the" with namse like these, for examples: Victoria Station, Edinburg Castle, Buckingham Palace but we use "the" when say The Eiffel Tower - why?

Dear Sirs, Please look at the following sentence: "The Korean war never formally ended and the threat of a new devastating conflict has hung over the peninsula for decades." My question is about the article use before the noun threat. In this sentence, can I say:....and a threat of a new devastating... What if threat is used without an article (e.g.,...and threat of a new devastating...) since it appears to me that threat is an abstract noun in the sentence. Thank you very much for your wonderful support.

Hello cbenglish,

The definite article is used here because 'threat' is not general but is defined. It is not any devastating conflict which is referenced but a specific devastating conflict: renewed conflict in the aforementioned Korean War.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Sirs, Is the use of the before the phrase 'book nerd' in the following sentence correct? "You may not know this, but I am quite the book nerd – a voracious reader." Since the phrase 'book nerd' appears for the first time, I feel like it should be 'a book nerd.' Am I right in my thinking, or the both will be correct? Thank you very much.

Hello cbenglish,

Yes, it is correct but you could also say 'a book nerd'.

The phrase 'quite the...' is used with many nouns, often in a humorous way:

Your little boy is quite the explorer, isn't he?

You're quite the computer programmer, aren't you?

My boss is quite the little dictator.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Choose I play football at(a-the-no article ) school. Please explain the answer

Hello Adill,

We normally ask that our users tell us what they think the answer is. Most of the time, no article is used here, though 'a' and 'the' are also possible. It really depends on the context and meaning, which are missing here.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

How could we use the phrases “ in fact” or the word “indeed”? This is a quite complicated matter to learn this. I have read about their usages on the website, but could not understand unfortunately. Please explain in simple words how can we use it, why we use it and when we use it. Give some examples please if possible. Regards, Rox

Hello Rox4090,

Have you tried reading the entries for 'indeed' and 'in fact' in different dictionaries? I've put links to the Cambridge Dictionary, but I'd also recommend trying others, e.g. Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Longman and Collins. The definitions should help and then the example sentences should also be really useful.

If you have any specific questions after reading through those, please let us know.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, I'd like to ask a question about exclamator. Take an example: How interesting the films are! In writing, is it also correct to write "How interesting films are!". Can I leave out "the" in that case? Thanks in advance.

Hello clover315,

Yes, you can say this without the definite article. However, the meaning changes:

How interesting the films are! [a particular group or selection of films, such as those being shown at a film festival]

How interesting films are! [films in general]

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Is it neccessary to place determiners and quantifiers just before the nouns??

Hello Jaypee,

Adjectives and numbers come between determiners and quantifiers and the nouns they accompany:

The red house

The two sheep

Other than these the determiner or quantifier generally come immediately before the noun unless the word order is changed for rhetorical effect:

There are many problems, in my opinion.

There are many - in my opinion - problems.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Can adverb be preceded by determiner or quantifiers???

Hello Jaypee,

As is explained above, determiners and quantifiers come at the head of a noun phrase. In other words, they modify nouns. They do not modify adverbs. Only adverbs modify other adverbs.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Thanx

Hello, Are both correct? God forgive all of your sins. God forgive all your sins.

Hello Zeeshan Siddiqii,

Yes, both sentences are grammatically correct and there is no difference in meaning.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

i want to ask , why the word "any" use in positive sentences ? in the book I read any not for positive sentence but for negative sentence

Hello putridp9,

The determiner 'any' has two main meanings: one is to refer to indefinite quantities and the other means something like 'it doesn't matter which one'.

When 'any' is referring to indefinite quantities, we typically use it only in negative or interrogative sentences.

When 'any' means 'it doesn't matter which one' (which is the way it is used above), then it can be used in an affirmative sentences.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hello again and thanks for your support....I have a question about prepositions. Starting to write about a past holiday, what's the correct preposition to use before this noun? On my last holiday I went to.... Or For my last holiday I went to.... Thanks a lot.

Hello Ilariuccia,

In this context we would say 'for'. We could use 'on' when describing things that happened during the holiday:

For my last holiday I went to Cyprus.

On/During my last holiday I met a really nice guy who worked as a musician.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Is it right to say: I've learned English since I was five ? Is it formal? or should I say five years old when I was talking formally. Thanks

Hello Marwa.Mohamed,

You can say '...since I was five' or '...since I was five years old' here. Neither is informal, though the second sounds a little more offical than the first in my view.

Your sentence is not incorrect but I think the present perfect continuous would be a more natural choice:

I've been learning English since...

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

I found that alright.

Hi Task A and Task B have to be done/has to be done. in the above sentence what verb has to be used has/have?

Hello Pavan Kaur,

Since the subject ('Task A and Task B') is plural, the verb should also be plural ('have'). Though I'd probably rephrase it slightly if I were writing it as 'Tasks A and B have to be done'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Determiners and quantifiers

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