Englishfor English speakers
a
Determinative
—
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
—
A is the first letter of the alphabet.
The letter "a" comes before "b".
—
In some schools, an A is a very high grade.
Ron got an A on his earth science test.
new
Adjective
—
If something is new, it is not old.
They had a new car.
In 1900, the idea was very new.
—
If somebody is new, they are not experienced.
They hired a new worker.
Europe
Proper noun
—
Europe is a northern continent near Asia and Africa.
The United Kingdom, France, and Spain are all in Europe.
in
Preposition
—
Used to show that something is inside something else.
The cat is in the box.
—
Used to show that someone is at home, or is available.
Is John in?
The Doctor is now in.
—
Used to show movement towards the inside.
The rain came in through the window.
the
Determiner
—
Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
—
Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
—
Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
—
Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
changing
—
adjective
marked by continuous change or effective action
global
Adjective
—
If something is global it includes the whole world.
The weather is changing, and this is not just in one or two places. The change is global.
The Olympics and the world cup of soccer are the two largest global sporting events.
system
Noun
—
A group of things that work together; a way of doing something.
This coloured paper is part of my system for keeping lists of people.