The word in is typically a preposition. Prepositions are function words rather than content words. Function words like prepositions don’t carry much meaning on their own, but convey meaning through their grammatical relationship with the other words in the sentence.
In English grammar, negatives are words—such as “no,” “not,” and “never”—that show something is untrue, not happening, or of zero quantity. For example, the sentence “Nobody wants this” means “zero people want this.” It’s the opposite of “Everybody wants this” or “Someone wants this.”
Common negatives include “not,” “none,” “nobody,” “nowhere,” and “nothing.” Some qualifiers—such as “barely” and “hardly”—are also negatives.
The main grammar rule for negatives is to only use one per sentence. A double negative is grammatically incorrect because two negatives in the same sentence cancel each other. For example, grammatically, “We never go nowhere” means “We always go somewhere” instead of “We never go anywhere.”
Negative sentences examples Kara has never seen an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
The candidate barely won the election.
Nothing is more important than friends and family.
Function words like “in,” “on,” “at,” and for (prepositions)—which are typically covered in grammar rather than vocabulary lessons when you’re learning a language—convey meaning by helping to show relationships between different parts of a sentence. Content words, on the other hand, like “definition” (a noun) or “define” (a verb), which we think of as “vocabulary,” carry a lot of meaning on their own.
Because for typically doesn’t mean very much as an individual word, knowing how it functions in terms of its part of speech is key to understanding what it communicates. “For” almost always functions as a preposition, helping to express ideas such as “intention,” “purpose,” “reason,” and “duration.”
For (preposition) in a sentence examplesI bought this shirt for Clive.
A modifier is an adjective, adverb, or group of words that describes or limits the meaning of one or more other words in a sentence. The word “modify” means “to change.” When used correctly, modifiers make writing more precise.
For example, by itself, the noun “shirt” isn’t very precise. However, when you add one or more modifiers, like in the examples below, “shirt” can have a variety of slightly different meanings. As the examples illustrate, a word or group of words can have more than one modifier in the same sentence.
Modifiers in sentences examplesErika made Cathy a blue and purple tie-dyed shirt.
The green button-down shirt in the laundry basket needs to be ironed.
My favorite flannel shirt, which belonged to my grandfather, has a hole in the front pocket.
Ordinal numbers—such as “second” and “95th”—provide helpful details about sequences and rankings. You can write ordinal numbers as words or numerals combined with “-st,” “-nd,” “-rd,” or “-th” (e.g., “17th”). Some style guidelines recommend words for “first” through “ninth” and numerals for “10th” and higher.
In a sentence, an ordinal number can play these roles:
A determiner that shows the position of a noun in a numbered sequence (“the fifth season of Stranger Things” or “the 90th percentile”)
An adverb that modifies a verb to show the order of events (e.g., “eat first and then watch TV”)
An adverb that modifies an adjective to show a noun’s ranking (e.g., “the second tallest building”)
When an ordinal number is a determiner, it goes after another determiner (e.g., the definite article “the” or the possessive adjective “your”).
Ordinal numbers examplesWe spent the thirdday of vacation snorkeling in Akumal.
Firstwrite your outline, and then start the first draft.
The thirdlongest river in the world is the Yangtze River.
Qualifiers are a type of adverb that amplifies or weakens the meaning of other words in a sentence (e.g., “barely noticeable”). A qualifier provides information about the intensity, frequency, or likelihood of an action or description. Some of the most common qualifiers include “very,” “really,” and “almost.”
In sentences, qualifiers usually go right before the adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs that they modify.
Qualifiers in sentences examplesThe temperature is slightlycolder today than yesterday.
I mostlyrelaxed all weekend except for mowing the lawn on Sunday.
Published on
January 27, 2025
by
Nicole Routh, M.Ed
Revised on
February 13, 2025
A cardinal number is a whole number (e.g., “three”) rather than a fraction (e.g., “one third”) or an ordinal number (e.g., “third”). In writing, cardinal numbers are determiners that show the quantities of nouns (e.g., “three cups of coffee”).
Cardinal numbers can go right before the nouns they modify or before other modifiers (e.g., adverbs and adjectives). When a noun has multiple determiners—such as the definite article “the” or the possessive adjective “my”—they always go before a cardinal number.
Depending on the style guidelines you’re using, you can write cardinal numbers as words (e.g., “seven”) or numerals (e.g., “11”). Some style guides recommend words for the cardinal numbers one through nine and numerals for 10 and greater.
Cardinal number examplesThe university awarded full scholarships to 15students.
Mythreeblackcats all have different personalities.
The manager hired fourhighlyqualified software engineers.
Published on
January 18, 2025
by
Nicole Routh, M.Ed
Revised on
March 18, 2025
The definite article “the” is a determiner that goes before a specific rather than a general version of a noun. The noun can be singular (e.g., “the house”) or plural (e.g., “the cars”). Definite articles can also modify countable nouns (e.g., “the song”) or uncountable nouns (e.g., “the music”).
The rules about when to use definite articles depend on two factors.
Singular, countable nouns always need a determiner:
The definite article “the” or another determiner (e.g., “Paul’s” or “that”) for a specific version (e.g., “I enjoyed the first song on Ringo’s new album”)
An indefinite article—“a” or “an”—for a general version (e.g., “I hope he releases a new album again soon”)
For plural nouns and uncountable nouns (nouns without a plural form), you have these options:
The definite article “the” or another determiner for specific versions (e.g., “The salt I bought today is from Portugal”)
Zero determiner for general versions (e.g., “I’m craving salt” or “Pretzels make me thirsty”)
In a sentence, “the” is located before the noun it modifies (if there are no other modifiers), the noun’s first adjective, or an adverb that modifies the noun’s first adjective.
Definite article examplesJames is the title of Percival Everett’s latest novel.
Louise served thehot artichoke dip on New Year’s Eve.
Theextremelyrare spider that the scientists discovered is harmless.
To use “the” correctly, follow the definite article guidelines below, or use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker.
Published on
January 16, 2025
by
Nicole Routh, M.Ed
Revised on
March 18, 2025
An indefinite article is a type of determiner that goes before a singular, countable noun. The two indefinite articles in English are “a” and “an.” Indefinite articles are for general or unspecified versions of nouns, and the definite article (or another determiner) is for specific versions (e.g., “a book” rather than “the book that I read last week”).
You can use an indefinite article before one of these words:
The noun it modifies (if there are no other modifiers)
The adverb that modifies the noun’s first adjective
When a noun has multiple modifiers, the article or other determiner is always the first modifier.
The choice between “a” or “an” depends on the pronunciation of the next word. Use “a” when the next word begins with a vowel sound and “an” when the next word begins with a consonant sound.
Indefinite article examplesThe neighbor needs to borrow anegg for arecipe.
Jeff wrote abeautifulsong about amountain.
Fatima had anespeciallyproductivemorning at work today.
Published on
December 3, 2024
by
Tom Challenger, BA
Revised on
April 11, 2025
We use is with singular nouns and “he,” “she,” and “it” (third-person pronouns) but are with plural nouns as well as “you” and “they.” However, deciding what is singular or plural, or which pronoun to use, can sometimes be tricky.
