Grammar ?

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workingmom
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:47 am

Grammar ?

Post by workingmom »

Do the articles "a", "an", "the" pass for as being adjectives.

Also, I would add a comma after "Suddenly", "However", however I see some of the GL Assessment tests not including them.

I am not sure.
ontarget
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:08 am

Re: Grammar ?

Post by ontarget »

No, they are articles, not adjectives.

I think you are right about suddenly and needing to put a comma after it.
ontarget
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:08 am

Re: Grammar ?

Post by ontarget »

And the same for However at the start of a sentence.
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Grammar ?

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Not always true....for example...

However hard I try, I cannot ride a horse.
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Grammar ?

Post by ToadMum »

My immediate response was that 'a', 'an' and 'the' were not adjectives, but a quick Google search found at least one source which stated that they are. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark it; I'm fairly sure it wasn't a UK site, though.

One can see that 'a' and 'an' could be described as adjectives describing number, I suppose?
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
piggys
Posts: 1636
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:29 am

Re: Grammar ?

Post by piggys »

'The' is a definite article. 'A' and 'an' are indefinite articles. Toad mum I'm struggling to comprehend how they could be adjectives; could you clarify please ?
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Grammar ?

Post by ToadMum »

piggys wrote:'The' is a definite article. 'A' and 'an' are indefinite articles. Toad mum I'm struggling to comprehend how they could be adjectives; could you clarify please ?

Not really being serious there - I was just flummoxed to see from the precis that someone somewhere regards any of them as adjectives, but not curious enough to investigate the thinking behind it :lol: . The only thing I could think of was 'a' / 'an' denoting the singleness of something, therefore 'number', but tbh that's a bit lame.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
moved
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Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: Grammar ?

Post by moved »

Articles are adjectives as they describe the noun following them.
'a' book rather than 'the' book
piggys
Posts: 1636
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:29 am

Re: Grammar ?

Post by piggys »

Nope. You are confusing the concept of description with the concept of identification. 'The' book or 'a' book merely identifies the noun. It doesn't describe it. Trendy newspeak calls articles 'determiners' but I'm rather puritanical when it comes to grammar. I noticed in this year's English year 6 SATs that a whole load of new grammatical terms have been invented by the Whitehall cronies. Just to confuse matters further !
salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Grammar ?

Post by salsa »

Oh! I've called them determinate and indeterminate articles all my life.
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