Determiners: a, an, the and some

Little words before nouns

Before many naming words we put a tiny helper word. These helpers are called determiners. 🔤

a dog 🐶, an apple 🍎, the sun 🌞, some cookies 🍪

a and an

Both a and an mean one of something. We choose by the sound the next word starts with.

• Use a before a consonant sound: a dog 🐶, a cat 🐱, a ball ⚽
• Use an before a vowel sound: an apple 🍎, an egg 🥚, an umbrella ☂️

Say it out loud. "An dog" sounds bumpy. "A dog" sounds smooth! 🐶

the

We use the for a special thing that everyone already knows about. There is only one!

• the sun 🌞
• the moon 🌙
• the teacher 👩‍🏫

Please pass me the book on the table. 📚

some

We use some when there is more than one, but we are not counting exactly.

• some cookies 🍪🍪
• some water 💧
• some friends 👫

A helpful table

Word	Use it for	Example
a	one (consonant sound)	a dog 🐶
an	one (vowel sound)	an egg 🥚
the	a special known thing	the sun 🌞
some	more than one	some cookies 🍪

Try it

Pick the right word:

1. I saw ___ owl. (a / an) 🦉
2. Look at ___ moon. (the) 🌙
3. I want ___ grapes. (some) 🍇

Great work!

Now you can pick the right little word before any noun. These small words make your reading sound just right.

Next, try Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives and Pronouns: He, She, They.