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Determiners
Last Updated on July 3, 2023 By Mrs Shilpi Nagpal
Determiner
A determiner in English grammar is a word placed in front of a noun to specify quantity or
to clarify what the noun refers to. For example: the lake, an apple, my pencil, some paper,
five trees, each person, that book etc.
Determiners can be classified as :
(1) Article (a/an, the)
(2) A Demonstrative determiner (this, that, these, those)
(3) A Possessive determiner (my, your, his, her, its, our, their)
(4) A Quantifier (many, much, more, most, some, all, every, few, little )
(5) Numbers (cardinal and ordinal numbers double/twice/three times...)
(6) Interrogative determiners (whose, what, which)
Pre-determiners come before main determiners and post-determiners come after main
determiners.
(1) Article (a/an, the)
The determiner a/an and the are called articles. They come at the very beginning of a noun
phrase.
We divide them into “indefinite” and “definite”. When we are talking about something in
general, we use a or an. When we are talking about something in particular, we use the.
(a) Indefinite article (a, an) = They are used with singular countable nouns only and for
a non-specific person or thing (singular).
We use a before a consonant sound.
We use an before a vowel sound.
Examples :
(1) She had an omelette for lunch.
(2) Mohan ordered a drink.
(3) We want to buy an umbrella.
(4) A dog is a good pet.
(5) A man came into the shop.
(6) I want an apple.
(7) I saw a tall girl today.
(8) I came here to submit an application.
(9) An ostrich would beat a chicken in a race.
(10) I will buy a house in an hour.
(b) Definite article (the) = They are used with all nouns and for specific people or things
(singular or plural).
(1) I saw the moon last night.
(2) Where’s the newspaper?
(3) The president will be speaking on TV tonight.
(4) He is the tallest boy in the class.
(5) The dog is barking too loudly.
(6) There are six eggs in the fridge.
(7) The dog chased the rabbit.
(8) The book on the table is very expensive.
(9) The luxury car is a rich man’s vehicle.
(10) Close the door, please.
(2) Demonstrative determiner
A demonstrative determiner defines where its noun or pronoun is in relation to the speaker.
They can refer to a physical or a psychological closeness or distance.
The closeness can be in space or time (now, yesterday, last week, next year)
Examples : here, there, this, that, these, those,
Demonstrative determiners with singular nouns & uncountable nouns are this and that.
Demonstrative determiner with plural countable nouns are these and those.
Examples :
(1) This is a nice surprise!
(2) I have to do it this morning.
(3) Those children are interested in playing cricket.
(4) That is our new car.
(5) These magazines are very good.
(6) I don’t want to go to that movie.
(7) Those days are long gone.
(8) Those birds have beautiful.
(9) This book belongs to my sister.
(10) This is a very good grammar website.
(11) These oranges are delicious.
(12) Can you see those birds?
(13) These black raspberries are sour.
(14) This phone is not working properly.
(15) That towel is very wet.
(16) These colours are mine.
(17) I like those apples .
(18) These glasses are for reading.
(19) Do you remember that man we met last week?
(20) Is that Rohan’s house over there?
(3) Possessive determiner
We use possessive determiners to show who owns or “possesses” something.
The possessive determiners are: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
Subject Object Possessive Intensive
Determiner
pronoun pronoun pronoun pronoun
1st person –
singular I me my mine myself
2nd person –
singular you you you yours yourself
3rd person –
singular(male) he him his his himself
3rd person –
singular
she her her hers herself
(female)
3rd person –
neutral it it it its itself
1st person –
plural we us our ours ourselves
2nd person –
plural you you your yours yourselves
3rd person –
plural they them their theirs themselves
Examples :
(1) This is my pencil box
(2) His name is Tom.
(3) Her dress is very beautiful.
(4) It is their house.
(5) Where is your room?
(6) We aren’t coming.
(7) The teacher wants to talk to you.
(8) The tree shed its leaves.
(9) Our teacher looks very young.
(10) I put some cookies on the table and the kids ate them.
(4) A Quantifier
Quantifiers are determiners that describe quantity in a noun phrase. We use some
quantifiers only with countable nouns. We use some other quantifiers only with uncountable
nouns. And we use some with countable or uncountable nouns.
Examples : all, every, most, many, much, some, few, little, several, any etc.
(1) Most children start school at the age of five.
(2) There are some letters here for you.
(3) She doesn’t have many books.
(4) All the girls had to carry their own luggage.
(5) We don’t have much money.
(6) We ate some bread and butter.
(7) Petrol prices go up each year.
(8) I can speak little hindi.
(9) We are expecting several guests tonight.
(10) Many people died in that calamity.
(5) Numbers
The cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives referring to quantity, and the
ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) refer to distribution.
Number Cardinal Ordinal
1 one first
2 two second
3 three third
4 four fourth
5 five fifth
6 six sixth
7 seven seventh
8 eight eighth
9 nine ninth
10 ten tenth
11 eleven eleventh
12 tweltve twelfth
13 thirteen thirteenth
14 fourteen fourteenth
15 fifteen fifteenth
16 sixteen sixteenth
17 seventeen seventeenth
18 eighteen eighteenth
19 ninteen ninetieth
20 twenty twentieth
21 twenty one twenty first
22 twenty two twenty second
23 twenty three twenty third
24 twenty four twenty fourth
25 twenty five twenty fifth
26 twenty six twenty sixth
27 twenty seven twenty seventh
28 twenty eight twenty eighth
29 twenty nine twenty ninth
30 thirty thirtieth
31 thirty one thirty first
40 forty fortieth
50 fifty fiftieth
60 sixty sixtieth
70 seventy seventieth
80 eighty eightieth
90 ninety ninetieth
100 hundred hundredth
Examples :
(1) There are twenty-five beds available in a hospital.
(2) There are twenty students in a class.
(3) He went to Goa for the third time this year.
(4) He was the first person to win the award.
(5) I ordered two pizzas.
(6) They have just produced their one millionth sports car.
(7) Thousands of people died in Earthquake.
(8) There are twelve colours in a colour box.
(9) Ten people were arrested in a robbery.
(10) Geetika won second prize in painting competition.
(6) Interrogative determiners
The interrogative determiners are whose, what, which.
Whose means “belonging to which person
What is for asking for information specifying something.
Which is for asking for information specifying one or more people or things from a definite
set.
Examples :
(1) Whose diamond ring was stolen?
(2) Where is your classroom?
(3) Which book do you think is the most interesting?
(4) What product do you use?
(5) Which restaurant did you go to?
(6) I don’t know what non-fiction books he was reading.
(7) I wonder whose dog that is.
(8) Whose bag is this?
(9) What should I do with the new laptop?
(10) Which of these books is new?
Filed Under: English, Grammar
About Mrs Shilpi Nagpal
Author of this website, Mrs. Shilpi Nagpal is MSc (Hons, Chemistry) and BSc
(Hons, Chemistry) from Delhi University, B.Ed. (I. P. University) and has many
years of experience in teaching. She has started this educational website with the mindset of
spreading free education to everyone.
Comments
Yogesh says
November 9, 2021 at 6:02 am
It helped me a lot
Paras says
October 25, 2022 at 9:42 am
Thanks for this it is very helpful
JustAnotherStudent says
July 5, 2023 at 8:56 pm
Thanks Mrs.Nagpal for this useful website!
reyaansh gupta says
February 28, 2024 at 8:02 pm
good
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