Example question

1. Could you bring me thosebooks I

2. The sun rises from the east.
3. The doctor advised me to
4. There aren't many students in the
5. I haven't got any pictures in my
6. She gave a cookie toeach child.
7. I've got to solve some math
8. (With a bowl of cherries on your
9. My mother doesn't
10. I always keep some money in my

left in the garden?

eat an apple every morning.
library.
bedroom.
problems before I go to sleep.
lap) These cherries are delicious!
drink much coffee.
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.
3.
4.
5.

possessive nouns / pronouns (Marys hat, her hat) (more about possessive nouns)
numbers (five hats, eight hats, twenty hats)
indefinite pronouns (each hat ,some hats, both hats) (more about indefinite pronouns)
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 English
There 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 groupsdefinite determiners and indefinite determiners.

Function of a Determiners
A 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 Determiners
How 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 Adjectives

Until 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 / the
demonstratives : this / that / these / those
possessives (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

both
each
either

few
fewer
less

neither
no

all
another
any

enough
every

little
many
more
most
much

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. Whats a determiner?
A determiner is a word that modifies a noun or a noun phrase. Thats 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, Johns, wifes in my wifes, and doctors in the
doctors)
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 missiles
trajectory), some need a pronoun (such as the possessive pronoun our, as in our houses
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).

Determiner
From 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]

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

e 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

This
That
These
Those

Plural
-

Near

Far
-

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
Possessive Adjectives

I
you
my your

he
his

she
her

it
its

we
our

you
your

they
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
you

my
your

mine
yours

myself
yourself

me
you

he
she

his
her

his
hers

himself
herself

him
her

it
we

its
our

its
ours

itself
ourselves

it
us

you
they

your
their

yours
theirs

yourselves
themselves

you
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
you

my
your

he
she

his
her

it
we

its
our

you
they

your
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 desk
He'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.