Determiners ('a' or 'an'): bonobo

1 - Learning Objective

Learning Objective

We are learning how to identify and use the correct determiner, ‘a’ or ‘an’, before a word.

Context: bonobo

Credit: BBC One - Monkey Planet. This clip may not work on some devices; please see our Help page.

Clip Description

Bonobos are very similar in appearance to chimpanzees. They have skeletons that are similar to Australopithecus, an early ancestor of humans. Like humans, bonobos can walk on two legs for long periods of time. In the wild, these great apes enjoy hanging out in large groups and foraging for fruit, leaves, flowers, bark, stems, roots, worms, honey and eggs.

In this fascinating clip, Kanzi (a captive bonobo) has learnt how to light his own barbecue! Incredibly, this intelligent ape has learnt how to build and light a fire by watching the humans that look after him. What other human-like behaviours do you think we will see from Kanzi? Watch the clip to find out.

Discuss the meaning of each word highlighted in bold.

Word Challenge

Can you spot the homophones in the following sentence? (A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but differs in meaning and often spelling.)

Before he ate the roasted marshmallow, the bonobo blew cool air onto it.