Determiners
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Determiners are words placed before nouns or pronouns to decide or fix their meaning. They tell
us ‘how many’ or ‘how much’. Determiners are words which come before nouns. They contain
several classes of words, including pronouns and adjectives. They determine or limit the noun
by giving some additional information about it. Determiners show whether a noun refers to is a
general or a specific object, person or place. They indicate which or how many things the noun
refers to. Determiners define or limit a noun to the singular or plural. They indicate the amount
or quantity. Determiners and nouns together make noun phrases. They make noun phrases with
adjectives too. Determiners may precede numerals too.
Types of Determiners
A Articles a, an, the
B. Demonstratives this, that, these, those
C. Possessives my, our, yours, his, her, their etc.
D. Distributives either, neither, each, every
one, two, some, few, any, much,
E. Quantifiers many, little, a little, few, a few, the
few, etc.
E Interrogatives what, which, whose, etc.
A. Articles
We already know that there are three articles in English—A, An, and The. Of these, ‘a’ and
, ‘an’ are indefinite articles while ‘the’ is the definite article. An article is placed before a
noun but if there is an adjective before a noun, the article is placed before the adjective.
• a carpenter – a skilled carpenter
• the ball – the heavy ball
Difference between W and ‘An’
‘A’ is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound. An’ is used before a word
beginning with a vowel sound.
• a cow, a man, a girl, a Canadian, a dreamy boy, etc.
• an MLA, an egg, an hour, an honest man, an apple, etc.
Use of ‘A’ and ‘An’
• To convey the numerical sense of ‘one’.
An honest man is an asset to the nation.
• To change a Proper Noun into a Common Noun.
There should be a Krishan in every family.
• To point out an unfamiliar person, animal or a thing.
I met a girl in the street.
• To- talk about any one member of a class.
A dog is a very faithful animal.
Use of ‘The’
‘The’ is used in the following cases:
1. Before the superlative degree.
• Neena is the shortest girl in her class.
2. When we talk of a particular person or a thing.
• Did you meet the girl?
• Have you seen the movie?
3. We use ‘the’ with something or someone already referred to.
• The man who is standing at the door is my uncle.
• This is the ring you gave me.
4. With a common noun when that noun represents the whole class.
• The donkey is a beast of burden.
5. When we refer to holy books, newspapers, geographical places, rivers, seas and
oceans, well-known buildings, mountain ranges, races, some countries, whole
families, etc.
• The Gita, The Arabian Sea.
• The United Kingdom. The Gandhis.
• The Aravalis.
• The Times of India.
• The Brahmaputra.
• The Red Fort.
___________________________________________________________
Determiners are words placed before nouns or pronouns to decide or fix their meaning. They tell
us ‘how many’ or ‘how much’. Determiners are words which come before nouns. They contain
several classes of words, including pronouns and adjectives. They determine or limit the noun
by giving some additional information about it. Determiners show whether a noun refers to is a
general or a specific object, person or place. They indicate which or how many things the noun
refers to. Determiners define or limit a noun to the singular or plural. They indicate the amount
or quantity. Determiners and nouns together make noun phrases. They make noun phrases with
adjectives too. Determiners may precede numerals too.
Types of Determiners
A Articles a, an, the
B. Demonstratives this, that, these, those
C. Possessives my, our, yours, his, her, their etc.
D. Distributives either, neither, each, every
one, two, some, few, any, much,
E. Quantifiers many, little, a little, few, a few, the
few, etc.
E Interrogatives what, which, whose, etc.
A. Articles
We already know that there are three articles in English—A, An, and The. Of these, ‘a’ and
, ‘an’ are indefinite articles while ‘the’ is the definite article. An article is placed before a
noun but if there is an adjective before a noun, the article is placed before the adjective.
• a carpenter – a skilled carpenter
• the ball – the heavy ball
Difference between W and ‘An’
‘A’ is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound. An’ is used before a word
beginning with a vowel sound.
• a cow, a man, a girl, a Canadian, a dreamy boy, etc.
• an MLA, an egg, an hour, an honest man, an apple, etc.
Use of ‘A’ and ‘An’
• To convey the numerical sense of ‘one’.
An honest man is an asset to the nation.
• To change a Proper Noun into a Common Noun.
There should be a Krishan in every family.
• To point out an unfamiliar person, animal or a thing.
I met a girl in the street.
• To- talk about any one member of a class.
A dog is a very faithful animal.
Use of ‘The’
‘The’ is used in the following cases:
1. Before the superlative degree.
• Neena is the shortest girl in her class.
2. When we talk of a particular person or a thing.
• Did you meet the girl?
• Have you seen the movie?
3. We use ‘the’ with something or someone already referred to.
• The man who is standing at the door is my uncle.
• This is the ring you gave me.
4. With a common noun when that noun represents the whole class.
• The donkey is a beast of burden.
5. When we refer to holy books, newspapers, geographical places, rivers, seas and
oceans, well-known buildings, mountain ranges, races, some countries, whole
families, etc.
• The Gita, The Arabian Sea.
• The United Kingdom. The Gandhis.
• The Aravalis.
• The Times of India.
• The Brahmaputra.
• The Red Fort.
