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.
little
Adjective
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If something is little, its size is not big.
I just ate a tiny little piece of the cake.
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A little while, distance, etc. is not long.
Could you just wait a little while more?
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A little person or animal is young.
Two little boys were fighting on the playground.
little
Determinative
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Little money, room, help, etc. is a small amount of it; not much.
They understood little or no French.
He was busy and had little time for children.
Try to spend as little of your money as possible.
We saw little of her after the first day.
Little is known about the problem.
The building was destroyed leaving little more than rock and glass.
She's a quiet person with little to say about these things.
This has little to do with him and a lot to do with you.
We saved what little was left.
thick
Adjective
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If something is thick, there is some distance from one side to the other.
He was a workman with big hands and thick fingers.
The tree was too thick to put his arms around.
The ice on the lake is about 40 cm thick in the winter.
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If something is thick it has a lot of stuff in it.
I am warm because I have a thick coat.
The dog has beautiful, thick hair.
The oil moved slowly because it was so thick.
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If a liquid is thick, it can't flow very quickly.