Englishfor English speakers
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.
day
Noun
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A day is a measure of time.
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24 hours
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Seven days make one week
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The time between midnight and the following midnight (or between sunset and sunset in Jewish reckoning)
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The time between sunrise and sunset, when it is daylight
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The part of a day spent at work or school
He spent two days at work means that on two days he went to work; he did not spend 48 hours at work.
before
Preposition
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If mathx/math happens before mathy/math, mathx/math happens first and mathy/math happens second.
He worked in a gas station before he became famous.
Put out the fire before the house burns down.
I have not been there before.
She finished before me.
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in front of something
She stood before him, looking into his eyes.
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until
It took a few moments before I realized that she was joking.
yesterday
Pronoun
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Yesterday is the day before today.
Yesterday, I went to the store.
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Yesterday is the past in general.
His clothes are like yesterdays fashion.
I met her yesterday morning.
yesterday
Noun
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Yesterdays are days in the past.
He remembered all his yesterdays.
was
Verb
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A form of the verb be used to talk about yourself, or another person in the past.
I was singing in the shower.
Who was that girl you were talking to?
my
Pronoun
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My things are things that belong to me.
Is this my book, or is it yours?
birthday
Noun
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The day you were born.
They will need your birthday on the application.
My birthday is September 14, 1972.
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The same day of the year you were born, happening every year. Often there is a party for a person's birthday.
My birthday is September 14.
We celebrated my birthday a week late this year.