Determiners

Let us read these sentences carefully.

1.          He is a teacher.

2.          This man is my neighbour.

3.          His birthday falls in October.

4.          Everybody enjoyed the show.

5.          Have you bought any ticket?

In the above sentences, a, this, his, everybody and any are words which modify nouns – teacher, man, birthday, body and ticket. The italicized words are called Determiners.

A determiner is an important noun modifier that provides contexts to a noun generally in terms of quantity and possession. Determiners come before a noun or noun phrase and include articles, demonstrative quantifiers and possessives.

CATEGORIES OF DETERMINERS 

Determiners are said to ‘mark’ the nouns. The different categories of determiners are as follows:

Articles: (an, a, the)

Possessives: (his, your, their, my, its, our, her)

Numerals: Definite (one, two, etc.); Indefinite (few, a few, more, many, all, both, some, any etc.) and Distributive (each, every, either, neither etc.)

Interrogatives: which, what, whose.

Demonstratives: (this, that, these, those, such) and

Quantitatives: (many, plenty, whole, complete. enough, little, a little and the little etc.)

An article is a word that modifies or describes the Noun. It is used before the noun to show whether it refers to something specific or not. So, in a way, articles can also be described as a type of adjectives as they also tell us something about the nouns, like adjectives. These are of two kinds, namely, Indefinite Articles and Definite Articles.

(i)      Indefinite Articles: Indefinite means something which is not clear, obvious or exact. They are called indefinite because the identity of the thing or person being spoken about is left unclear or indefinite. The indefinite article indicates that the noun is not someone or something in particular. The speaker talks about any one of that type of things. The indefinite articles in English are ‘a’ and ‘an’. They are Invariable.

A.    We use ‘A’ when the next word starts with a consonant sound (Consonant letters in the English alphabet are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z.) or before words that start with u and eu as they sound ‘you’.

Some examples are given below :

a boy, a car, a helicopter, a big elephant, a European, a unit etc.

B.     We use ‘An’ when the next word starts with a Vowel sound (Vowel letters in the English alphabet are A, E, I, O, U.) or with a mute h or with a consonant giving the sound of a vowel.

Some examples are given below:

An apple, an egg, an inkpot, an orange, an umbrella, an urgency,

an hour, an M.L.A, an M.P. an M.A. an S.D.O. etc.

Note: We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ before a singular noun. We can’t use ‘a’ and ‘an’ before a plural noun because ‘a’ or ‘an’ is the weakened form of one.

Article ‘A’ is used

1.            When there are singular nouns beginning with a sound that is not vowel : a boy, a chair, a helicopter, a book, a one eyed person etc.

2.            Before words that refer to whole numbers, measures or weights :

a kilo, a meter, a pound, a hundred, a half, a litre.

3.            In the sense of Any:

A teacher must guide the students. (any teacher) A child should respect his elders. (any child)

4.            When a singular noun is introduced for the first time, as:

I saw a boy in the market.

He met a monk in the temple.

5.            Before a proper noun to make it a common noun:

He is a Keats.

She is a second Lata Mangeshkar (a great singer).

6.            In exclamatory sentences before singular nouns:

What a great shot!

What a beautiful picture!

7.            Before persons of a particular profession: a doctor, a painter,

a teacher, a dancer, a gardener

8.            Before some phrases: a little, a few, a lot of, a small number of

Article ‘An’ is used

1.         When there are singular nouns beginning with a vowel sound: For example : an idiot, an elephant, an owl, etc.

2.         When there are singular nouns beginning with a consonant letter but with a vowel sound (here the consonant letters are silent): For example: silent “h” in an hour, an honest boy or an M.B.A and an

M.L.A. an IIT scholar etc.

For Example :                 a nice umbrella

an unusual scene

a European country (‘eu’ sounds like a ‘y’)

We also use A/An to indicate membership in a group.

I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group of professionals known as teachers.)

He is an Indian. (He is one of the people from India known as Indians.)

(ii)      Definite Articles: Definite means to be clear, exact or obvious about something. It is called definite because it is used in relation to a particular thing or person. “The” is the definite article in English, which is used to refer to particular nouns, the identities of which are known. The definite article indicates that the noun is specific. The speaker talks about a particular thing.

For Example : The boy sat on the sofa.

The lion pounced on him and ran away.

Notice how the reference is not left indefinite in both the sentences. It is clear that a particular boy sat on the sofa in the first sentence and a specific lion that attacked some one is being spoken about in the second example.

Uses of ‘The’

1.          Before the names of rivers, oceans and seas : the Ganga, the Indian Ocean, and the Gangetic Plain etc.

2.          Before the points on the globe : the North Pole, the Equator, the

South Pole etc.

3.          Before the geographical areas : the South East, the Asia Pacific etc.

4.          Before deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas : the Kalahari, the

Sunderbans, the Indian Peninsula etc.

5.          Before abbreviated names of states and countries : the UAE. the

US, the M.P. etc.

6.          Before the classes of people : the poor, the rich, the down trodden,

the Marxists, the intellectuals.

7.          Before the names of the newspapers : the Times of India, the Indian Express, the Tribune, the Employment News etc.

8.          Before the names of historical buildings : the Taj, the Gateway of India, the Red Fort, the Statue of Liberty and the Buckingham Palace etc.

9.          Before the nationalities : the Indians, the Americans, the French, and the Canadians etc.

10.           Before the Places of work : the Station Headquarters, the State Bank of India, the Indian Airlines etc.

11.          Before historical events : The French Revolution, the First Anglo- Sikh War, the Second World War etc.

12.           Before the superlative degree of adjectives :

He is the tallest boy in the class.

India is the largest democracy in the world.

13.           Before the names of a clan or family (to make proper names) : The Jats, the Hindus or the Shinhs, the Vermas, the Chopras (Mrs. and Mr. Chopra and children) etc.

14.           Before two or more Comparative degrees of Adjectives : The sooner, the better.

The higher we go, the cooler it is.

15.           Before the names of holy books : The Gita, the Ramayana, the Adi Granth, the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas, the Mahabharata etc.

16.           Before the epithets used before the names of persons :

Alexander the Great, Ashoka the Great, Henry the First, Maharana Pratap the Great.

17.           Before a noun which has been mentioned earlier or that the listener is familiar with :

I went to meet a pot maker. The pot maker showed me some great works of clay.

18.           Before the names of political organisations/parties : The FICCI, the UNESCO, the UNO, the UNICEF, the Bhartiya Janata Party, the Akali Dal, the Congress, the Republicans, the Conservatives

19.           Before the directions : The North, the South, the East, the West etc.

20.           Before the names of big offices : The PMO, the President, the Election Commission, and the Supreme Court of India.

21.           When a singular noun is used to represent the whole class : The lion is the king of the forest.

22.           Before the names of musical instruments : She learnt to play the

violin at the age of six.

23.           When a proper noun is used in the sense of common noun : He is

the Milkha Singh of our school.

Article ‘The’ is not used in these situations

(a)   There are certain rules regarding omitting Article ‘the’ with some geographical nouns.

1.                                        Before the names of cities: Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, New York.

2.                                       Before the names of lakes:

Lake Dull, Lake Michigan, Lake Gobind Sagar.

3.                                       Before the names of streets/ roads:

Commercial Street, Park Avenue, Ashoka Road, Sardar Patel Road.

4.                                        Before the names of single mountains and peaks: Everest, Kilimanjaro

5.                                       Before the names of Continents, islands:

Asia, Europe, Easter Island, Key West Island (except chain islands like the Andaman Islands, the Canary Islands)

(b)  1. Before proper nouns:

Mr. Amitabh Bachchan has been a great ambassador of Indian cinema. Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh.

2.               Before Abstract nouns: Happiness is a state of mind. Pain is temporary.

Honesty is the best policy.

3.               When Plural nouns are used to denote a class:

Tigers are ferocious.

Sparrows are disappearing these days.

4.               Before material nouns: Gold is a precious metal. Mercury is dipping today.

5.               Before the means of travel:

I like to travel by car.

6.               Before the names of meals/games:

I prefer heavy breakfast. He is fond of cricket.

Article	Different cases	Examples
‘A’/ ‘An’ is used	While mentioning something for the first time.	We went for a walk.
	As one talks about a certain kind of a thing.	He  has painted a great painting.
	When trying to say that someone is a certain kind of person.	He is a clever person.
	In case of talking about something which belongs to a set of the same thing.	This is a book.
	When talking about someone who belongs to a certain group.	He is an engineer.
	As one talks about a particular thing.	The play that we saw was a comedy.
‘The‘ is used	In case of talking about something that one is sure of. When there is only one thing of its kind.	I passed the exam. Beautiful girls don’t like to play in the sun.
No article is used	When talking about something in general.	Walking is a physical activity.
	When            speaking            about            cities, countries, streets, sports.	We visited London. We played golf together

These Determiners are the pronouns of possessive case. In English, Possessive pronouns and adjectives are two different ways to show possession. Possessive adjectives go before the noun and Possessive pronouns go after the nouns. 

Here is a list of the Possessive adjectives and Possessive pronouns correspondingly:

my-mine, your-yours, his-his, her-hers, our-ours, their-theirs and its-its.

For Example :            This is my book.

This book is mine. Is that your cap?

Is that cap yours?

The structure for Possessive pronouns is: Noun + Possessive pronoun.

For Example :            This car is mine.

This dog is theirs. The house is ours.

The structure for Possessive Adjectives is: Possessive Adjective + Noun. For Example : Your pen is beautiful.

Their mother is a teacher. His dog is cute.

 

This, That, These, Those – are words that are Demonstrative Determiners. We use ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, or ‘those’ before the noun we are talking about. The structure of demonstrative determiners: This / that / these / those + noun

For Example : I like this film.

‘This’ modifies the noun, ‘film’. It tells us the film is close to the speaker. They are also called demonstrative adjectives.

Demonstrative determiner = Demonstrative adjective. These words tell us whether an object is close to us or far away.

Distance

(a)  If one is talking about something close to one, use ‘this’ and ‘these’.

This is my book.            (The book is close to someone.)

Are these shoes yours?            (The shoes are close to someone.)

(b)  If you are talking about something farther away, use ‘that’ and ‘those’.

That is my school.            (The school is down the street.)

He likes those paintings.            (The paintings are over there.)

For small objects and people, use ‘this’ and ‘these’ if they are close enough for you to touch. Use ‘that’ and ‘those’ if you can point to the object or person. Distance is not just physical distance. We can use ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, and ‘those’ to show distance in time.

We like this movie. (We are watching the film now. It is close in time, so

we use ‘this’.)

I liked that movie. (I watched the film last week. It is far away in time,

so we use ‘that’.) Some more examples are:

1.        This boy runs very fast.

2.        Those girls are beautiful.

3.        That building is very old.

4.        Those houses are newly constructed.

Numerals act as determiners when they appear before a noun. They are of three types.

(a)      Definite Numerals

(b)      Indefinite Numerals

(c)      Distributive Numerals

(a)   Definite Numerals are again of two kinds: Cardinals and Ordinals. Cardinal numerals (one, two, three etc.) express quantity:

one pen two pens five books

In the same position, ordinal numerals express sequence:

first prize

second opportunity

third place

These are called general ordinals, and they include last, latter, next, previous, and subsequent. These words also function as determiners:

next day

last words

previous appointment.

(b)   Indefinite Numerals : They tell us about indefinite numbers. We use them for indefinite numbers.

For Example :            Few, A few, The few, All, Several, Some etc.

(i)                             (a) Few (Almost none): The poor beggar had few rupees in his pocket.

(b)        A Few (A small number): Ram has a few rupees to buy his book

(c)        The few (Whatever small number): The few rupees that Ram had, he gave them to the poor beggar.

(ii)                               All (All in number): We use it before plural numbers. I gave him all my books.

All children love to play.

(iii)                                  Several (More than two but not very many): Mihir Sen has several firsts to his name.

(iv)                               Some (A small number):

We bought some mangoes.

Some children possess a unique memory.

(v)                             Both : It applies to only two persons/things; it is used with plural nouns.

For Example : Both the criminals were found guilty.

Both of his sons can dance very well.

(c)   Distributive Numerals : We use them for telling about each and every thing of that category.

For Example :          Each, every, either, neither etc.

(a)         Each : It is used to tell about one of two or more persons or things. Each participant was given a certificate.

Each subject carries equal weightage. Each child got a gift.

(b)         Every : It is used to tell about numbers exceeding two or the whole. Every person wants money.

Every man has some good qualities.

(c)         Either : Used to convey choice as one of the two. You can pick either book.

(d)         Neither : It is used for negative of the either. Neither of the boys impressed me.

They are used to convey ‘how much’.

For Example :                 a little, many, much, some, any, enough, more, less etc.

Little                  :           Used for very small quantity or almost negligible.

There is little hope of his survival after the fatal accident.

A little                  :                A small quantity.

Every child leaves a little milk in the glass.

The little                  :              All of the small quantity that is there.

He gambled the little money he had.

Some : Used with uncountable singular noun or with countable plural nouns and to convey a small quantity. Generally it is used in affirmative sentences.

There is some water in the jug. Give me some milk.

There are some great players in the Indian Team.

Any : Used for a small quantity in negative or interrogative sentences.

It is used with words negative in meaning like hardly, without, little, few, only, seldom, difficulty, to fail, to prevent, to avoid.

There are not any good books in this book shop. (Negative) Is there any doubt in your mind? (Interrogative) There is hardly any person who dislikes him.

(Means ‘No one’)

No : It is used for negative expressions with singular or plural nouns, meaning ‘not any’ or ‘nothing of a’

For Example : I have no enemies.

There is no scope of laxity in this case.

Enough : It is used to convey the necessary quantity or amount by  placing before singular uncountable nouns or plural countable nouns.

For Example : There is enough time.

He has enough money.

Much : It is used to convey a plenty of, a great deal of or a large quantity of, etc.

It is preferred in negative and interrogative sentences. He hasn’t got much time.

In affirmative sentences, it is used in formal statements.

For Example : Much money is spent on health care.

More                   :                 It is used to convey ‘a greater quantity’.

For Example : We must spend more money in creating world class sports facilities.

More working hands will help to achieve the aim faster.

Less                  :                 It is used to convey ‘a smaller quantity’.

For Example : He takes less sugar in his tea.

I will take less than five minutes to get ready.

Interrogative :                In addition to the above forms of determiners, we can look

determiners at interrogative determiners also to develop a better understanding of determiners.

For Example : What, Whose and Which.

(a)         What : It is used to ask information about something.

What do you want to do in life?

What would you need for the evening function?

What is the time now?

(b)         Whose : It is used to ask about possession.

Whose book is this?

Whose pencils are these?

Whose place is he staying in?

(c)         Which : It is used for asking choice.

Which road leads to Moga?

Which of these is your favourite book?

Which route is shorter?