A, An, The, This, That & My, Your

Today: Use articles (a, an, the) and demonstratives (this, that, these, those) to talk about things clearly, and possessives (my, your, his, her) to say who things belong to.

Listen & Notice

I'm going to say three sentences. Just listen. What's the difference?

"I have a cat."
"I have the cat."
"I have my cat."

Do they mean the same thing? Or something different?

🎙 Speak: What do you think? Which one is YOUR cat? Which one is just ANY cat?

Why This Matters

In English, we have to tell the listener: "Is this something new I'm telling you about? Or something we already know?" We also say who owns things.

Without these little words, people get confused about what you're talking about. So we're fixing this today.

🎙 Speak: Look around you right now. Say something with "a" or "the" or "my."

A vs An: Simple Rule, Big Difference

I Do — Teacher Models

The Rule (Super Simple)

Rule: Use A before words that start with a consonant sound. Use AN before words that start with a vowel sound.

a book
a car
a dog
a table

an apple
an egg
an orange
an umbrella

Remember: A/An = ONE thing. Something new. Something the listener doesn't know yet.

We Do — Listen & Repeat

Say These Out Loud

Listen to me. Then you repeat:

"I need a pen." (Just any pen, I don't have one yet)

"I need an apple." (Any apple, new information)

"She is a teacher." (She has the job of teacher)

"It's an interesting idea." (First time I'm telling you about this idea)

🎙 Speak: Say these four sentences. Nice and slow. Don't worry about perfection.

You Do — Make Your Own

Create Three Sentences

Say three sentences about things in your room or your life. Use "a" or "an." One sentence for each:

Something you have (a notebook, a phone, etc.)
Your job or role (a teacher, an engineer, etc.)
Someone you know (a friend, an uncle, etc.)

🎙 Speak: Tell me your three sentences now.

The, This, That, These, Those

I Do — Teacher Models

THE: Something We Already Know

THE = I already told you about this thing. Or it's obvious. It's specific.

"I have a cat. The cat is brown." (First sentence: new cat. Second sentence: THE same cat we're talking about)

"I went to the shop." (We both know which shop — the one in our town)

"The sun is bright." (There's only one sun, so we always say THE)

I Do — Teacher Models

THIS / THAT / THESE / THOSE: Close or Far?

Close to Me	Far from Me
THIS (one thing close) This pen. This book.	THAT (one thing far) That pen. That book.
THESE (many things close) These pens. These books.	THOSE (many things far) Those pens. Those books.

Examples:

🎯 "This is my coffee." (The coffee in my hand, close to me)

🎯 "That is your coffee." (The coffee over there, far from me)

🎯 "These are beautiful flowers." (Flowers here, close)

🎯 "Those are beautiful flowers." (Flowers over there, far)

We Do — Point & Say

Practice: Point Around the Room

Point to something close to you. Say "This is..." Then point to something far. Say "That is..."

What do I say? Show example

"This is my pen." (Close to me)

"That is your window." (Far from me)

🎙 Speak: Point to something close, then far. Tell me what you see using "this" and "that."

I Do — Possessives

MY, YOUR, HIS, HER, ITS, OUR, THEIR

Possessives show who owns or belongs to something.

Person	Possessive Word	Example
I	MY	My phone. My house.
You	YOUR	Your coffee. Your family.
He	HIS	His book. His car.
She	HER	Her name. Her dog.
It	ITS	Its color. Its size.
We	OUR	Our classroom. Our plan.
They	THEIR	Their names. Their house.

Tip: Possessives never have an apostrophe in English. Never write "John's" when you mean the possessive — "John has his book." (His, not his's)

You Do — Tell About Your Things

Speak: Four Possessive Sentences

Say one sentence for each. About YOU, your family, your friends, and your things:

🎙 Speak: Tell me about your phone, your family, your friend, and your favorite thing. Use my/your/his/her/their.

A, An, The, This, That, My, Your — All Together

Mixed Practice

Which Word? A, An, The, This, That, My, Your?

1. "I have cat. cat is very friendly."

What words go here? Click to see

"I have a cat. The cat is very friendly."
First time: use "a" (new). Second time: use "the" (we know which cat now).

2. " coffee is hot. is my coffee."

What words go here? Click to see

"This coffee is hot. This is my coffee." (Or "That coffee..." if it's far from you)
Use "this" or "that" to show which coffee. Then "my" to say it belongs to you.

3. "She is teacher. name is Anna."

What words go here? Click to see

"She is a teacher. Her name is Anna."
Use "a" for her job. Use "her" to show her name belongs to her.

4. " books are on the table. are mine."

What words go here? Click to see

"These books are on the table. These are mine." (Or "Those books..." if far)
Use "these/those" (multiple, close/far). Use "mine" to show they belong to you.

🎙 Speak: Now create your own sentences for each pattern. Tell me.

Describe Your Space — 1 Minute

Choose one task. Speak about it for about one minute, using articles, demonstratives, and possessives naturally.

🏠

Your Room

Describe what you see. Point to things close (this) and far (that). Say what's yours.

👥

Your Family

Tell me about your family members. Use "my," "his," "her," "their."

☕

What You Use Today

Talk about things you use. "A phone, the phone, my phone, this phone."

Speaking Task

Your Task

Pick one card. Speak for about one minute. Try to use:

At least 3 times: "a" or "an"
At least 3 times: "the"
At least 2 times: "this," "that," "these," or "those"
At least 3 times: "my," "your," "his," "her," or "their"

1:00

🎙 Speak: Go. Don't plan too much. Just describe what you see or what you know.

What You Can Do Now

I can...

...use a, an, the, this, that, my, your and other possessives to talk about things clearly.

Quick Check

Memory Check — No Looking Back

1. When do you use "a" and when "an"?

Check your answer Click to reveal

"A" before consonant sounds (a book, a dog). "An" before vowel sounds (an apple, an umbrella).

2. What's the difference between "a cat" and "the cat"?

Check your answer Click to reveal

"A cat" = any cat, new information. "The cat" = a specific cat we both know about.

3. When do you use "this" and when "that"?

Check your answer Click to reveal

"This" = close to me. "That" = far from me. "These" = multiple things close. "Those" = multiple things far.

4. How do you say your phone in English?

Check your answer Click to reveal

"My phone." (Not "the phone" — that would be someone else's or a specific phone you already mentioned.)

Reflection

What Helped You Most?

Which activity made these words clearer for you?

🎯

The Comparison Table

Seeing the side-by-side rules helped

💬

Speaking Your Own Sentences

Creating my own examples helped

❓

The Multiple Choice

Guessing and then seeing the answer helped

⏱️

The One-Minute Speaking Task

Using them all together made sense

🎙 Speak: Pick one. Tell me why it helped.

One Final Task

🎙 Speak: Look around right now. Tell me: "This is... That is... My... is..."