Englishfor English speakers
a
Determinative
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A is used when the following word could be any of a certain type.
Compare "A book I saw on the shelf" and "The book I gave you yesterday".
a
Noun
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A is the first letter of the alphabet.
The letter "a" comes before "b".
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In some schools, an A is a very high grade.
Ron got an A on his earth science test.
captive
Noun
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A captive is a prisoner, usually in a war.
Put the captives back in jail.
Settlers often became captives of marauding Indians during the colonial wars in America.
in
Preposition
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Used to show that something is inside something else.
The cat is in the box.
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Used to show that someone is at home, or is available.
Is John in?
The Doctor is now in.
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Used to show movement towards the inside.
The rain came in through the window.
the
Determiner
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Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
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Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
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Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
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Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
land
Noun
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Land is the part of the Earth that is not water
The Earth is 70% water, and 30% land.
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A land is a country or region
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Land is an area of ground that can be used for farming, making buildings, etc.
All this land belongs to me.
land
Verb
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When you land, you fall onto the ground.
He jumped off the wall and landed on his feet.
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When an airplane lands, it comes down from the air onto the ground.
The plane landed in Chicago.
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When you land an airplane, you use the controls to bring it down on the ground.
The pilot landed the big plane.