Example question

1. Could you bring me those books I left in the garden?

2. The  sun rises from the east.

3. The doctor advised me to eat an  apple every morning.

4. There aren't many  students in the library.

5. I haven't got any  pictures in my bedroom.

6. She gave a cookie toeach  child.

7. I've got to solve some  math problems before I go to sleep.

8. (With a bowl of cherries on your lap) These  cherries are delicious!

9. My mother doesn't drink much  coffee.

10. I always keep some  money in my wallet for emergencies.

What are determiners?

A determiner is used to modify a noun. It indicates reference to something specific or something of a particular type. This function is usually performed by articles, demonstratives, possessive determiners, or quantifiers.

Determiners vs pronouns

Determiners are followed by a noun.

The man This book Some people

Subject pronouns ( I , you , he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) cannot be determiners because they can never be followed by a noun.

Types of determiners

Articles

The definite and indefinite articles are all determiners.

Definite article - the Indefinite article - a or an (a is used before a consonant

sound; an is used before a vowel sound.)

Examples:

Close the door, please.I've got a friend in Canada.

Demonstratives

There are four demonstrative determiners in English and they are: this, that, these and those

Note that demonstrative determiners can also be used as demonstrative pronouns. When they are used as determiners they are followed by the nouns they modify. Compare:

This is my camera. (Demonstrative used as a pronoun, subject of the verb is) This camera is mine. (Demonstrative used as a determiner modifying the noun camera.)

Possessives

Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun following it in order to show possession.

Possessive determiners are different from possessive pronouns - mine, his, hers, yours, ours, their.

Possessive pronouns can stand alone and are not followed by nouns.

Possessive determiners, on the other hand, are followed by nouns.

Compare:

This is my house. (my is a possessive determiner. It is followed by the noun house which it modifies)Is that car yours? (yours is a possessive pronoun. It is not followed by a noun.)

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are followed by nouns which they modify. Examples of quantifiers include:

some, any, few, little, more, much, many, each, every, both, all, enough, half, little, whole, less etc.

Quantifiers are commonly used before either countable or uncountable nouns.

He knows more people than his wife.Little knowledge is a dangerous thing .

HOME 

DETERMINERS

Determiners signal (“determine”) that a noun will follow.  Unlike adjectives, which also signal that a noun will follow, determiners cannot add the inflectional morphemes -er and -est.  In addition, because they are function words, determiners do not have other forms or synonyms.  Their "meaning" is their function:  to signal that a noun will follow.

The following examples illustrate the difference:

Determiner + noun tea

  

Adjective + noun tea   

Note that each adjective has a distinct meaning.

In addition, each adjective may add its comparative (-er) and superlative  (-est) form

 

Types of determiners

1.   articles (the hat, a hat, an opera)   

2.  possessive nouns / pronouns (Mary’s hat, her hat)     (more about possessive

nouns)

3.  numbers (five hats, eight hats, twenty hats) 4.  indefinite pronouns (each hat ,some hats, both hats)   (more about indefinite

pronouns)

5.  demonstrative pronouns (that hat, those hats)     (more about demonstrative

pronouns)

  

Native speakers of English learn when to use articles with nouns as they learn to speak.However, learning when to use articles is often difficult for non-native speakers.  The difference between article use with town and city illustrates the difficulty:       Correct:  I walked to the town. (article the before town)    Correct:  I walked to town. (no article before town)

        Correct:  I walked to the city. (article the before city)    Incorrect:  I walked to city. (no article before city)

What Is a Determiner?In the midst of all the nouns, pronouns, adjectives and articles a student is expected to learn, the determiner is often left by the wayside, untaught or taught incorrectly. The determiner is an important noun modifier which contextualizes a noun, often in terms of quantity and possession. Determiners in English precede a noun phrase and includedemonstratives, possessives, and quantifiers.

Determiners in EnglishThere are many different determiners in the English language.

Articles are among the most common of the determiners. A, an, and the all express the definiteness and specificity of a noun. For example, “the” is a definite article, meaning the person using the word is referring to a specific one. On the other hand, “a” or “an” are indefinite.

Demonstratives, such as this, that, these and those, require a frame of reference in which an individual can point out the entities referred to by a speaker or a writer.

Quantifiers, such as all, few, and many, point out how much or how little of something is being indicated.

When referring to an entity that belongs to another, you can use possessives. My, your, their, and its are a few examples.There are many other types of determiners. For instance, cardinal numbers, the numbers that are written out in English, are also included in the class of determiners. Determiners are generally split into two groups—definite determiners and indefinite determiners.

Function of a DeterminersA determiner can take on a number of different meanings and roles in a sentence. The determiner is used in every case to clarify the noun.

They may be used to demonstrate or define something or someone.Quantifiers state how many of a thing, in number or expression. A determiner is used to show that the noun indicated is a specific one (that one), not an unspecific one (any).

They may also state the differences between nouns.While determiners may have a number of other functions, most of them are related to these two key areas. The list of determiners only numbers about 50 words, and all of these words are commonly used by most individuals. Determiners are not difficult to get the grasp of when contrasted with adjectives, and do not take too long for native English speakers to grasp. After all, how many times have you had trouble deciding whether to say “the” or “a”? 

Determining DeterminersHow should you choose which determiner to use? For those who were raised speaking the English language, determining the determiner to use is second-nature, since determiners are so often used in front of nouns.

Like the basic parts of speech, determiners are so ingrained into the English language that using them is simple. The same goes for most Indo-European

languages (for instance, Romance languages such as Spanish and the Germanic languagessuch as German).

However, the languages of other countries may not use determiners, or may have sets of rules very different than the English language does. For these individuals, learning how and where to use determiners can be rather difficult. 

Determiners and AdjectivesUntil recently, English teaching in schools did not take determiners into account. Many determiners were simply lumped into the category of “adjectives,” which works for some but certainly not for all.

Adjectives have primarily three functions: they modify noun phrases, or complement the object or subject of a sentence.

The function of a determiner is to express proximity, relationship, quantity, and definiteness.Determiners are not gradable as are adjectives. For example, a person may be angry, angrier, or the angriest. A person can not be “her-est” or “the-est.”

Determiners are usually necessary (or obligatory) in a sentence, whereas adjectives are not.

Adjectives, unlike determiners, cannot have corresponding pronouns.

Adjectives and determiners are distinct from one another and cannot simply be lumped into the same category.

What are determiners?

Determiners are used to identify things in further detail. To take the dictionary

definition, they are modifying words that determine the kind of reference a noun

or noun group has.

Determiners are different to pronouns in that a determiner is always followed by

a noun. Personal pronouns ( I , you , he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine,

yours, his, etc.) don't act as determiners.

They are used in front of nouns to indicate whether you are referring to

something specific or something of a particular type.

The definite and indefinite articles a/an/the are all determiners.

You use a specific determiner when people know exactly which thing(s) or

person/people you are talking about.

Determiners include:

the articles : a / an / thedemonstratives : this / that / these / thosepossessives (aka possessive adjectives): my / your /his / her / its / our / your / their

For example:-

"The dog barked at the boy."

"These apples are rotten."

"Their bus was late."

"Have you seen my keys?"

You use general determiners to talk about how much stuff or how many people or

things you are talking about.

More general determiners are quantifiers:

a few

a little 

all 

another 

any

both each either enough every

few fewer less little manymore most much

neither no other several some

For example:-

"Have you got any English books I could borrow?"

"There is enough food to feed everyone." 

"I don't teach online every day."

Numbers act as determiners too, they show how many things or people there

are: 1, 2, 3...

For example:-

"I teach online for 3 days a week."

- See more at: http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/determinertext.html#sthash.3gqySB4p.dpuf

Among lists of parts of speech, you may see an unfamiliar word among nouns, verbs, conjunctions, and the other usual suspects. What’s a determiner?

A determiner is a word that modifies a noun or a noun phrase. That’s also the definition of adjective, but although both parts of speech modify nouns, determiners are distinct from adjectives in several respects, most obviously in that the latter express attributes, whereas determiners express relationship. (These categories also differ in that although the inventory of adjectives is innumerable, most types of determiners include a finite number of words.)

The categories of determiners include the following:

articles (a, an, and the) possessive nouns (for example, John’s, wife’s in “my wife’s,” and doctor’s in “the

doctor’s”) possessive pronouns (such as her and our) indefinite pronouns (like each, either, all, and fewer) demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those, and such) numbers (five, “a hundred,” and so on)

There are only three articles and five demonstrative pronouns, and the number of possessive and indefinite pronouns is also limited; only possessive nouns and numbers are limitless, but they are included with other determiners because their function is similar to that of the other types.

Note, however, that possessive nouns, by their very nature, require assistance from one of the other types of determiners. For example, some require an article (“the missile’s trajectory”), some need a pronoun (such as the possessive pronoun our, as in “our house’s address sign”), and some are accompanied by a number (“three players’ uniforms”).

Two similar classes of words are quantifiers and predeterminers. A quantifier, as the name signifies, expresses how much or how many of something exists or exist. This type, sometimes considered another variety of determiner and sometimes placed in its own category, consists of words and phrases that indicate quantity, such as few, all, or “a couple of”; numbers are sometimes classed with these general quantifiers. (Quantifiers can be combined with other determiners, such as in “their many detractors” or “all the bottles.”)

Some quantifiers work with count nouns but not with mass, or noncount, nouns (“many horses,” but not “many water”); others are used only with mass nouns (“little water,” but not, in the context of quantity rather than size, “little horses”).

Others are suitable for both count and mass nouns (“some horses,” “some water”). (See this post for a discussion of count and mass nouns.)

Predeterminers, as the name indicates, refers to words that precede determiners. These include multipliers and fractions (for example, twice and one-half, or just half, in “twice my size” and “one-half of his fortune”) and intensifiers (for example, quite and rather in “quite the scholar” and “rather more people than I expected”).

DeterminerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the written element in logographic scripts, see Determinative. For other meanings see Determination (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2014)

Examples The girl is a student. I've lost my keys. Some folks get all the luck. Which book is that? I only had twenty-seven drinks. I'll take this one.

Both windows were open.

A determiner (also called determinative) is a word, phrase or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. That is, a determiner may indicate whether the noun is referring to a definite or indefinite element of a class, to a closer or more distant element, to an element belonging to a specified person or thing, to a particular number or quantity, etc. Common kinds of determiners include definite and indefinite articles (like the English the and a or an),demonstratives (this and that), possessive determiners (my and their), and quantifiers (many, few and several). See examples in the box on the right; and see English determiners and English articles.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Description 2 Types of determiners 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Description[edit]

Most determiners have been traditionally classed either along with adjectives or with pronouns, and this still occurs: for example, demonstrative and possessive determiners are sometimes described as demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives or as (adjectival) demonstrative pronouns and (adjectival) possessive pronouns respectively. However, modern theorists[1] of grammar prefer to distinguish determiners as a separate word class from adjectives, which are simple modifiers of nouns, expressing attributes of the thing

referred to. This distinction applies particularly in languages like English that use definite and indefinite articles, frequently as a necessary component of noun phrases – the determiners may then be taken to be a class of words that includes the articles as well as other words that function in the place of articles. (The composition of this class may depend on the particular language's rules of syntax; for example, in English the possessives my, your etc. are used without articles and so can be regarded as determiners, whereas their Italian equivalents mio etc. are used together with articles and so may be better classed as adjectives.) Not all languages can be said to have a lexically distinct class of determiners.

In some languages, the role of certain determiners can be played by affixes (prefixes or suffixes) attached to a noun or by other types of inflection. For example, definite articles are represented by suffixes in Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Swedish. (For example, in Swedish, bok ("book"), when definite, becomes boken ("the book"), while the Romanian caiet ("notebook") similarly becomes caietul ("the notebook").) Some languages, such as Finnish, have possessive affixes, which play the role of possessive determiners like my and his.

X-bar theory contends that every noun has a corresponding determiner (or specifier). In a case where a noun does not have an explicit determiner (as in physics uses mathematics), X-bar theory hypothesizes the presence of a zero article, or zero determiner. Noun phrases that contain only a noun and do not have a determiner present are known as bare noun phrases.[2]

Some modern grammatical approaches regard determiners (rather than nouns) as the head of their phrase and thus refer to such phrases as determiner phrases rather than noun phrases. For more detail on theoretical approaches to the status of determiners, see Noun phrase: Noun phrases with and without determiners.

Some theoreticians unify determiners and pronouns into a single class. See Pronoun: Theoretical considerations.

Universal Grammar is the theory that all humans are born equipped with grammar, and all languages share certain properties. There are arguments that determiners are not a part of Universal Grammar and are instead part of an emergent syntactic category. This has been shown through the studies of some languages' histories, including Dutch.[3]

Types of determiners[edit]

Articles Demonstratives Possessives Quantifiers

Numerals

Distributives

Interrogatives

For details of the use of determiners in English, see English determiners (and specifically for the definite and indefinite articles, English articles).

See also

Determiners

What are determiners?

A determiner is used to modify a noun. It indicates reference to something specific or something of a particular type. This function is usually performed by articles, demonstratives, possessive determiners, or quantifiers.

Determiners vs pronouns

Determiners are followed by a noun.

The man This book Some people

Subject pronouns ( I , you , he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) cannot be determiners because they can never be followed by a noun.

Types of determiners

Articles

The definite and indefinite articles are all determiners.

Definite article - the Indefinite article - a or an (a is used before a consonant

sound; an is used before a vowel sound.)

Examples:

Close the door, please.I've got a friend in Canada.

Demonstratives

There are four demonstrative determiners in English and they are: this, that, these and those

Note that demonstrative determiners can also be used as demonstrative pronouns. When they are used as determiners they are followed by the nouns they modify. Compare:

This is my camera. (Demonstrative used as a pronoun, subject of the verb is) This camera is mine. (Demonstrative used as a determiner modifying the noun camera.)

Possessives

Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun following it in order to show possession.

Possessive determiners are different from possessive pronouns - mine, his, hers, yours, ours, their.

Possessive pronouns can stand alone and are not followed by nouns.

Possessive determiners, on the other hand, are followed by nouns.

Compare:

This is my house. (my is a possessive determiner. It is followed by the noun house which it modifies)Is that car yours? (yours is a possessive pronoun. It is not followed by a noun.)

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are followed by nouns which they modify. Examples of quantifiers include:

some, any, few, little, more, much, many, each, every, both, all, enough, half, little, whole, less etc.

Quantifiers are commonly used before either countable or uncountable nouns.

He knows more people than his wife.Little knowledge is a dangerous thing .

Definite and indefinite articles

What is an article?

Basically, articles are either definite or indefinite. They combine to a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.

The definite article is the.

The indefinite article is a / an.

The indefinite article a or an:

The article a / an is used when we don't specify the things or people we are talking about:

I met a friend. I work in a factory in New York. I borrowed a pencil from a passenger sitting next to me.

The indefinite article a is used before a consonant sound:

a dog. a pilot a teacher. a university

NOTE: Although 'university' starts with the vowel 'u', it is not pronounced as such. It is pronounced as a consonant sound /ju:.niv3:.si.ti/

The indefinite article an is used before a vowel sound:

an engineer. an elephant. an athlete

The definite article the:

It's used when the speaker talks about a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know.

The car over there is fast. The president of the United States is giving a speech tonight.

When we speak of something or someone for the first time we use a or an, the next time we repeat that object we use the definite article the.

I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms. I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good.

No article:

1. Do not use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".

He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier. They live in Northern British Columbia. They climbed Mount Everest.

2. we do not normally use an article with plurals and uncountable nouns to talk about things in general.:

He writes books. She likes sweets. Do you like jazz music? She ate bread with butter in the morning.

Countable and uncountable nouns

Using English articles with countable and uncountable nouns may be confusing.

The can be used with uncountable nouns, or the article can be dropped entirely as mentioned above.

1. "The two countries reached the  peace  after a long disastrous war" (some specific peace treaty) or "The two countries reachedpeace after a long disastrous war" (any peace).

2. "He drank the water" (some specific water- for example, the water his wife brought him from the kitchen) or "He drankwater." (any water)

It is unusual to use a/an for uncountable nouns. You can't say "I'd like a milk"

a/an can be used only with countable nouns.

1. I'd like a piece of cake.2. I lent him a book.3. I drank a cup of tea.

Demonstratives - This, that, these, those

What are demonstratives?

Demonstratives are words that show which person or thing is being referred to. In the sentence:

'This is my brother',

'this' is a demonstrative

The demonstratives in English are this, that, these, and those

Demonstrative pronouns vs demonstrative adjectives

A distinction must be made between demonstrative adjectives (or demonstrative determiners) and demonstrative pronouns (orindependent demonstratives).

A demonstrative adjective modifies a noun:

This apple is good. I like those houses. (This modifies 'apple' and those modifies 'houses')

A demonstrative pronoun stands on its own, replacing rather than modifying a noun:

This is good. I like those. (This and those don't modify any nouns they stand alone and replace other nouns)

Use of demonstratives

Demonstratives differ according to:

distance: near or far, or number: singular or plural.

Here are the main distinctions:

This modifies or refers to singular nouns that are near to the speaker.

That modifies or refers to singular nouns that are far from the speaker. These modifies or refers to plural nouns that are near to the speaker. Those modifies or refers to plural nouns that are far from the speaker.

Demonstratives

Singular

Plural Near Far

This - -

That - -

These - -

Those - -

What are possessive adjectives?

Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun following it in order to show possession.

Examples:

I'll get my bag. Is this your luggage?

Possessive adjectives are often confused with possessive pronouns.

Examples:

Your bike is blue. (your is an adjective which modifies bike) Mine is yellow. (mine is a pronoun which functions as the subject of the

verb is)

Examples

Subject Pronouns I you he she it we you they

Possessive Adjectives

my your his her its our your their

Examples:

Why didn't you clean your room?(your modifies the noun room)

Mary doesn't like her dress.(her modifies the noun dress)

The chameleon can change its color.(its modifies the noun color)

 Her hair is long.His hair is short

Things to remember:

1. Possessive adjectives are different from possessive pronouns.

This is your (possessive adjective) book and this is mine (possessive pronoun).

2. its, their are possessive adjectives.

Its color is beautiful. Their car is in their garage.

3. it's, they're and there are not possessive adjectives — its is a contraction of it is or it has; they're is a contraction of they are;there is an adverb of place.

It's not my book = It is not my book. My house is big. It's got five bedrooms = It has got five bedrooms. Nancy and Alan are from New York. They're my friends = They are my

friends. Please, put the chair there. (adverb)

You may also be interested in:

possessive pronouns, object pronouns, subject pronouns, and reflexive pronouns.

Review:

Personal pronouns

Possessive adjectives

Possessive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns

Object pronouns

I my mine myself me

you your yours yourself you

he his his himself him

she her hers herself her

it its its itself it

we our ours ourselves us

you your yours yourselves you

they their theirs themselves them

The possessive adjectives poem

Listen and learn!

Listen and learn the possessive adjectives.

Here is the link to the video

My hat, it has three corners

My hat, it has three corners.Three corners has my hat.

And had it not three corners,It would not be my hat.

Your hat, it has three corners.Three corners has your hat.And had it not three corners,

It would not be your hat.

His hat, it has three corners.Three corners has his hat.

And had it not three corners,It would not be his hat.

Her hat, it has three corners.Three corners has her hat.

And had it not three corners,It would not be her hat.

Our hats, they have three corners.Three corners have our hats.

And had they not three corners,They would not be our hats.

Your hats, they have three corners.Three corners have your hats.

And had they not three corners,They would not be your hats.

Their hats, they have three corners.Three corners have their hats.And had they not three corners,They would not be their hats.

Personal pronouns

Possessive adjectives

I my

you your

he his

she her

it its

we our

you your

they their

Language point

"My, your, his, her, our, their" - Possessive adjectives

What are quantifiers?

A quantifier is a word or phrase which is used before a noun to indicate the amount or quantity:'Some', 'many', 'a lot of' and 'a few' are examples of quantifiers.

Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Examples:

There are some books on the deskHe's got only a few dollars.How much money have you got?There is a large quantity of fish in this river.He's got more friends than his sister.

Examples of quantifiers

With Uncountable Nouns

much a little/little/very little * a bit (of) a great deal of a large amount of a large quantity of

With Both

all enough more/most less/least no/none not any some any a lot of lots of plenty of

With Countable Nouns

many a few/few/very few ** a number (of) several a large number of a great number of a majority of

* NOTE

few, very few mean that there is not enough of something.a few means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.

** NOTE

little, very little mean that there is not enough of something.a little means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.