DETERMINERS
What are Determiners – Determiners are those words that are prefixed before nouns
to determine their meaning. They can be divided into the following types:
1) Articles- a, an, the
2) Demonstratives– this, that, these, those
3) Possessives– my, your, our, his, her, its, their
4) Indefinite Adjectives– some, any, much, many, little, few, less
5) Others- all, each, every, both, neither, either, other, another, enough, most, several,
one, two, etc.
Articles
The two indefinite articles in the English language are ‘a’ and ‘an’. The definite article
in the English language is ‘the’. For indefinite articles, you can use either of them
depending upon the sound of the first letter of the next word. This is done for
pronunciation reasons.
Use of ‘a’ takes place in the following instances –
1. In places where the following word starts with a consonant sound, the determiner ‘a’
is used. 2. Also, ‘a’ is used where the following word is a singular countable noun.
The determiner ‘an’ also does the same work as ‘a’ but is used in the following
instances –
places where the following word is a singular countable noun and starts with a vowel
sound (a, e, i, o, u).
‘The’ is mostly used before both singular and plural nouns. Its main function of use is
that it is used to specify a person, place or thing.
Uses of Articles with Rules and Examples:
‘a’ and ‘an’ (Indefinite Determiners) are used before the following-
1) A singular countable noun which is being mentioned for the first time. The rule can
be understood with the help of the following example sentences –
1. I have never seen a gun.
2. I saw a sports bike at the store today.
2) A singular countable noun or adjective beginning with a consonant sound. The rule
can be understood with the help of the following example sentences –
1. I ate a banana.
2. I saw a tall girl today.
3) A singular, countable noun which is an example of a class of things. The rule can be
understood with the help of the following example sentences –
1. A pet needs love. (Class of things is pets)
2. A father deserves to be respected by his children.
4) The noun to express a quantity. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences –
1. I need a dozen bananas.
2. I need to buy a couple of books.
5) The units of price, speed, ratio, weight [Link] rule can be understood with the help
of the following example sentences –
1. This bike gives 35 kilometers a liter.
2. You can run a mile in just 5 minutes.
6) Certain numbers or monetary units. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences –
1. I want to earn a billion dollars by the age of 40.
2. Can you lend me a hundred rupees?
7) The expression of frequency. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences –
1. Put these ear drops twice a day.
2. Wash your face three times a day in summers.
8) Certain exclamatory expressions. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences –
1. What a beautiful morning!
2. What a cute dog!
Few Important rules to remember about the use of indefinite determiners:
The spelling of the word following the determiner is not important, only the sound
is important. Few words given below start with vowel letters but do not have
vowel sounds. So the determiner ‘a’ is attached to them. For example:
A union, A one rupee coin, etc
There are a few words that start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds.
They are preceded by the determiner ‘an’.
For example: An honest man, An honour.
Indefinite determiners are mostly prefixed before the noun that does not refer to
any particular person, place or thing.
For example: A cat, a boy, an hour
Indefinite determiners can be used before uncountable nouns if the noun is used
in a particular sense.
For example: I always have tea after my lunch. She is a great pianist.
An indefinite determiner can be attached before the adjective if the adjective is
followed by a countable noun. For example:
It is a red colored T-shirt.
He is a hard working man.
