KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA VENKATAGIRI

CLASS IX/X – ENGLISH GRAMMAR PRACTICE

DETERMINERS

 A determiner is a word that introduces a noun. It always comes before a noun, not after,

and it also comes before any other adjectives used to describe the noun.

 Determiners have two main functions: referring and quantifying.

Referring

Referring means showing us who or what the noun is pointing to or talking about. The most

common types of determiners which we use for referring are articles, possessives and

demonstratives:

Ex.: Where’s the newspaper?

It’s on the sofa.

Have you seen my MP3 player anywhere?

Quantifying

Quantifying means showing how much of something there is, or how many:

Ex.: Five people were arrested during an anti-war demonstration in London today.

There are some letters here for you.

DETERMINERS IN ENGLISH

 Definite article : the

 Indefinite articles : a, an

 Demonstratives : this, that, these, those

 Pronouns and possessive determiners : my, your, his, her, its, our, their

 Quantifiers : a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough

 Numbers : one, ten, thirty(cardinals) first, second….last, next(ordinals)

 Distributives : all, both, half, either, neither, each, every

 Difference words : other, another

 Pre-determiners : such, what, rather, quite

I. Complete the introduction given to the story ‘The Story Teller’ by Saki (H.H. Munro), by
using ‘a’ ‘an’ or ‘the’’:

The afternoon was hot, and so was (a) railway carriage. (b) next stop was
at Templecombe, nearly (c) hour ahead. In the carriage were a small girl, (d)
smaller girl, and a small boy. (e) aunt belonging to (f) children
sat in (g) corner seat, and in (h) further corner seat on (i)
opposite side, was a man who was a stranger to them, but (j) small girls and the small
boys were (k) ones who filled the compartment. The children chatted on and on to
their aunt, like (l) housefly that refuses to be put off. Most of the aunt’s remarks
seemed to begin with “Don’t”, and nearly all of (m) children’s remarks began with
“Why?”

II. Choose a suitable word from the options given and complete the story from Tunisia:

A weary traveller stopped at a Bedouin’s tent and asked for shelter for the night. Without (a)
delay, the man killed (b) chicken and handed it to (c) wife for (d)
guest’s supper. As the woman stirred the meat in (e) copper cooking pot,
she smelled the rich steam and could not resist tasting (f) of the meat and soup, to
see if it was soft and tasty. But mouthful followed mouthful, and there wasn’t (g)
chicken left but for the neck piece, which she gave to her little son to nibble. The boy found it
so tasty that he whined, “Give me (h) more chicken, mother!” The woman slapped the
little boy and scolded him: “It’s a shameful habit (i) father taught you, enough of it, I
tell you!” On the (j) side of the wooden hanging which screened the woman’s part of
the tent from the rest, the traveller overheard them. “What habit has (k) father
taught (l) child?” he asked curiously. “Oh,” said the woman, “whenever a guest arrives
at (m) tent, he cuts off his ears and roasts them over the fire for (n) son
to eat.” Making not a sound, the traveller picked up (o) shoes and ran.

(a) no any/ little/ any/ no (b) a few/ some/ few/ a (c) his/ her/ their/ here
(d) the/ a/ theirs/ their (e) her/ hers/ the/ an (f) some/ few/ a few/ more
(g) any/ some/ a few/ few (h) little/ a little/ a few/ some (i) hers/ your/ their/ his
(j) an other/ another/ other/ one (k) hers/ her/ him/ his (l) a/an/the/X
(m) X/ our/ ours/ their (n) their/ his/ him/ our (o) her/ his/ our/ X

III. Tick the correct words from those given in brackets:

1. How (much/many) (chair/chairs) do we need?

2. (Much/Several) (school/schools) will be participating.

3. (Several/Much) (student/students) have arrived.

4. How (much/many) (information/informations) does this brochure give?

5. We have only (a few/a little) sponsors for (some/much) events.

6. Everyone spends (much/many) time listening to the world news now-a-days.

7. The members had (enough/such) work to be completed before the inaugural.

IV. Fill in the gaps with some of the words from the table above:
Compounds - someone, nothing etc.

someone anyone none everyone

somebody anybody nobody everybody
something anything nothing everything
somewhere anywhere nowhere everywhere

(Words ending with one and body mean the same.)

1. He can’t hear . He’s completely deaf.
2. is going blurred. I can’t see!

3. He’s looked but he can’t find it.

4. It must be ! Look carefully.

5. must move or the horse will be scared.

6. It doesn’t matter what you wear, will do.

7. She is very popular. likes her.

8. Shh! There is moving downstairs.

9. Don’t worry! It’s frightening. It is only the wind.

10. It’s a public holiday, so is open.

V. Choose the appropriate options from the box to complete the given sentences:

1. I have been to (a / the) doctor, whose name appeared in the New York Times.

2. I had left (the / my) green shirt on the bed, but I can't find it now.

3. Is there _ (the / a) fitness centre near your house?

4. (one / few / an) example helps understand concepts better.

5. (India / India's) cultural diversity attracts tourists from all over the world.

6. That building at the corner of the street belongs to _ (many / those) people who

are standing near its gate.

7. He has hardly read (many / any) book.

8. He drove with (much / little) care and hence was fined by the traffic police.

9. (little / a little) milk is required for a cup of tea.

10. (few / some) of the mango trees in their garden bear fruit twice a year.

11. (any / each) student of this class is a scholar badge holder.

12. My (another / other) sister is taller than me.

13. The (many / three) monkeys that escaped from the Delhi zoo were found eating

bananas in a fruit stall.

14. I spent the (little / a little) money I had.

15. You may have (either / any) of the four watches.

(A) little and (a) few are quantifiers meaning ‘some’. Little and few have negative meanings. We
use them to mean ‘not as much as may be expected or wished for’. We use a little with singular
uncountable nouns. We use a few with plural countable nouns. We use little with uncountable
nouns. We use few with plural countable nouns.

VI. a. Choose the best options:

1. How money did they steal?

a. a little b. few c. much d. many

2. A of elephants destroyed the plants.

a. litter b. troop c. pack d. herd

3. On Sundays there is not _ traffic along this road.

a. many b. much c. few d. several

4. I gave my mother a of flowers.

a. bouquet b. suit c. forest d. cluster

5. How books did you buy?

a. much b. few c. many d. some

6. He has spilt ink on his clothes.

a. many b. few c. any d. a little

7. A of spectators cheered the players.

a. staff b. crowd c. crew d. gang

8. There is too sugar in that drink.

a. much b. many c. few d. a little

9. It rained heavily. Only children came to school.

a. much b. many c. a few d. a little

10. A flock of crossed the country road.

a. cattle b. sheep c. lions d. wolves

VI. b. Fill in the blanks with ‘many’, ‘much’, ‘a little’ or ‘a few’:

1. He told me that guests would be arriving today. As we don't have

room in our house, he is taking them to a hotel.

2. Put cornflour in the gravy to thicken it. Simmer the gravy for
minutes

before taking it off the stove.

3. There are quite old coins in my collection. I wonder how they are
worth now.

4. She has more dresses to sew, but there is only thread left on the reel.
5. The bank is just kilometers from here. It won't take you time to
get

there.
6. Not people attended the church wedding, but _ turned up at the
luncheon.

We couldn't help feeling _ disappointed at this attitude of the guests.

7. Use ink-remover to get the stains off your shirt.
8. I shan't take of your time. I've got matters to clear up with
you.
9. We couldn't buy meat from the butcher as he had only left.
10. Dab perfume behind your ears, but don't use too as the

scent can be overpowering.

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