Descriptive Information with Definite Indefinite Nouns

In this video, we'll be looking at descriptive information with definite and indefinite nouns. Let's begin. Descriptive information can be clause or phrase that comes after the noun and describes the noun. Descriptive information may or may not make noun definite or specific. You just need to consider if the speaker is referring to one item among many or if the speaker is referring to specific item. Let's look at some examples. I'd like cup of coffee from the cafe next door. So here we have from the cafe next door, as descriptive information that comes after the noun, cup of coffee. So in this sentence, the speaker is referring to one item among many. This is not telling us which specific cup of coffee the speaker is referring to, so it's not specific cup of coffee. Number two. The cup of coffee got was wonderful. So in this sentence, got" is descriptive information that comes after the noun, cup of coffee. So in this sentence, the speaker is referring to specific cup of coffee. So the cup of coffee got was wonderful. Only the cup of coffee got. This is not talking about any cup of coffee or any other cup. Number three. The dog in this picture is driving car. So "in this picture" is descriptive information about the dog. And in this sentence, it is telling us which dog the speaker is talking about, the dog in this picture not the dog in any other picture or any other dog around. So this is about specific dog. Number four. The dog he adopted last month is very well-behaved. So "he adopted" is descriptive information about the dog. So in this case, the dog is specific because we are talking about the dog he adopted, that dog only, not about any other dog or dogs in general. Number five. Do you have dog with long hair? So in this case, "with long hair" is descriptive information about "dog" but in this case it's not about specific dog. The speaker is referring to one item among many. Do you have any dog with long hair? Descriptive clauses may or may not make noun definite or specific. descriptive or adjective clause includes subject and verb and pronoun such as who, that, or which. So, again, just consider if the speaker is referring to any of the noun or the speaker is referring to specific noun. Here are some examples. The children who met yesterday were very happy. So in this sentence, "who met yesterday" is descriptive clause. We have subject, and verb, met, and pronoun, who. So this descriptive clause is telling me which children the speaker is referring to. The children who met yesterday were very happy, not any other children. This is about specific children. Number two. child who gets lot of attention will be happier than those who don't. So, again, we have descriptive clause, who gets lot of attention. In this case "who" is the pronoun and the subject of the clause and "gets" is the verb. It's about child but in this case the speaker is referring to any child. The speaker is not referring to specific child. So this is about any child or children in general. And we have number three. Children who get lot of attention will be happier than those who don't. So also we have the descriptive clause here about children. Okay. This time it's plural so it's the generic plural form. And, again, it's not about specific children. It's about any children. Articles with there is or there are. In general, there is and there are introduce new topics. Therefore, the noun that follows is usually indefinite because it's new topic. So the speaker and the listener both don't know which noun is being referred to. However, in cases where the noun is already known, "the" is used. So there are exceptions. Sometimes the noun is already known by the speaker and the listener. Here are some examples. There is child standing alone by the fence. So in this case we have there is and child and this is new topic. There is child standing alone by the fence. Again, there is some specific information about child but it is new topic. It's the first time this child is being mentioned so it is not specific noun. Number two. There is the mother of the child you met yesterday. So in this sentence, we are talking about specific mother, one mother, the mother of the child you met yesterday not any mother or another mother. Number three. There are children playing on the playground. So in this sentence, this is general. There are some children playing on the playground, and this is the first time that they are mentioned so there's no "the" before them. This is indefinite. Number four. There are the children who got in trouble. So in this sentence, we're talking about specific children, the children who got in trouble not any other children. So in this case we use "the". So just keep in mind that usually with "the", there is and there are, they're used to introduce new topic and so that noun is usually indefinite, but there are some exceptions as we can see in examples two and four.