What are Determiners?
Determiners are words that come before nouns and show how the nouns are used or identified. A noun is normally required after a determiner, though sometimes a qualifying word may appear between the determiner and the noun, as in “a boy” and “a good boy.”
Example: A girl is waiting outside. This old house needs repair.
Kinds of Determiners
Determiners include articles (a, an, the), demonstratives (this, that, these, those), possessives (my, our, your, his, her, its, their), quantifiers (a few, a little, much, many, some, any, enough, a lot of, most), numbers (one, ten, first, second, several, each, every, either, neither), and distributives (all, both, half, each, every, either, neither, only).
Articles
The words ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’ are called articles. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are indefinite articles, while ‘the’ is the definite article. The use of ‘a’ and ‘an’ depends on sound, not spelling. ‘A’ is used before words beginning with a consonant sound, such as a man, a boy, a university, a pen, or a useful book. ‘An’ is used before words beginning with a vowel sound, such as an apple, an hour, an M.A., or an honest man.
Example: She bought a pen. He waited for an hour.
Uses of A and An
The indefinite articles are used when a countable singular noun is mentioned for the first time, as in “I saw a bird.” They are used before professions or occupations, as in “She is a teacher.” They show rate or measure, meaning ‘per’, as in “sixty kilometres an hour.” They are also used in exclamatory sentences like “What a lovely day!”
Example: He is an engineer. We paid fifty rupees a kilo.
Use of The
‘The’ is the definite article and is used when we talk about a particular person or thing. It is used before a noun already mentioned, before superlative adjectives, before things that are unique, and before names of rivers, seas, mountain ranges, holy books, newspapers, directions, and important days.
Example: I saw a dog. The dog was barking. The sun rises in the east. She is the best student in the class.
Demonstratives
This and that are used with singular nouns, while these and those are used with plural nouns. ‘This’ and ‘these’ show nearness, while ‘that’ and ‘those’ show distance.
Example: This book is mine. Those houses are very old.
Possessives
My, our, your, his, her, its, and their show ownership or relationship.
Example: This is my bag. Their house is beautiful.
Quantifiers
Quantifiers tell us about quantity. Little and a little are used with uncountable nouns. Few and a few are used with plural countable nouns. Many is used with countable nouns, while much is used with uncountable nouns. Some is used in affirmative sentences and requests, while any is mostly used in negative and interrogative sentences.
Example: I have little time today. There are a few students in the class. Do you have any money?
Numbers
Determiners of number tell us how many. They may be definite, like one, two, first, or indefinite, like some, many, several, or plenty of.
Example: She has two brothers. Several students were absent.
Distributives
Each, every, either, and neither refer to one person or thing among many. ‘Each’ is used for a definite number, while ‘every’ is used for an indefinite number. ‘Either’ and ‘neither’ are used when talking about two.
Example: Each student must bring a pen. Every child needs care. Either road will take you to the market.
Exercises
Fill in the blanks with a, an, the, or no article where necessary. She is an untidy girl. She scored the highest marks in the examination. April is the fourth month of the year. Sunil, the watchman of our colony, has gone home. Which is the nearest railway station from here? The Ganga is a sacred river for the Hindus. Let’s discuss the problem seriously. I first saw the Himalayas a year ago but I have not climbed Mount Everest. I was driving my bike at sixty kilometres an hour. The sky is overcast. He is the poorest boy of the class. I bought a pen, an inkpot, and a pencil. Don’t make noise. Draw a map of India. The dog is an animal.
Further practice sentences include: The old and the young should live together. He turned on the television. I have got a cold. Most of the students were absent from the class. The tiger is a fierce animal. Honesty is the best policy. The more one has, the more one wants. Kalidas is the Shakespeare of India. Please open the window. Where is the pen I bought last week? What is the matter? I am fond of tea with milk. Mr Sinha is an M.A. in English. Open the book and read the passage. After a year or two, the question can be answered.