DETERMINERS

Determiners: English Grammar

DETERMINERS

Determiners are words placed before nouns to determine or clarify the significance or the special meaning of the nouns they qualify in a particular context. Singular nouns always take a determiner. However, the use of determiners is optional in plural nouns. Similarly, determiners may or may not be used with uncountable nouns depending on the context. There are about 50 different determiners in the English language which can be classified under the following heads:

1. Articles:                  a, an, the

2. Possessives:            my, your, our, their, his, hers, whose, etc.

3. Demonstratives:     this, that, these, those, which, etc.

4. Quantifiers:            few, a few, many, much, each, every, some, any, etc.

5. Numbers:               one, two, three, twenty, etc.

6. Ordinals:                first, second, last, next, etc.

Determiners, therefore, are used to:

•          State the unit/number of people, things or other nouns.
•          State possessives.
•          Specify someone or something.
•          State how things or people are distributed.
•          State the difference between the nouns.

Determiners: English Grammar

ARTICLES: A/AN

The articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ are called indefinite articles. As determiners, they tell us that the nouns that follow them are singular in number.

Study these examples:

• I have a book. I wrote my name on it with a pencil. (before any singular countable noun that  begins with a consonant sound.)
• I met a European. (before a singular countable noun that begins with a consonant sound but written with a vowel letter.)
• I saw a magician. (before a singular, countable noun when it is introduced for the first time.)
• A pet needs to be looked after. (before a singular, countable noun which represents a class.)
• Apples are Rs 100 a dozen. With the cat around, a litre of milk is not sufficient for us anymore. (before units of price, speed, ratio, weight, etc.)
• Wow! What a beauty! It went for a six! (as a part of an exclamatory expression.)

The article ‘an’ has the same functions as that of the article ‘a’ but it is only used before the nouns that begin with a vowel sound.

• He was late by an hour. (the noun ‘hour’ sounds like ‘our’ -  a vowel sound.)
•  He is an MP from Bihar. She is an MA in English. (letter ‘M’ is a consonant but it begins with an ‘a’ sound, hence ‘an’ is used.)

OMISSION OF A/AN

There are times when the articles ‘a’ and ‘an’’ are not used:

• Trees are planted to counter pollution. Books are expensive these days. (before all plural nouns.)
• It is gold. I don’t take nonsense from anyone, so please don’t try. Do you know where is luggage is? (before the uncountable or mass nouns: ‘gold’ is uncountable, so are ‘nonsense’ and ‘luggage’.)
• Lunch is ready. Would you like to have breakfast now? (before the names of meals; breakfast, lunch.)

Determiners: English Grammar

ARTICLES: THE

‘The’ is the definite article. We use it before the countable nouns, both singular and plural, and also before the uncountable nouns.

Study these examples:

•  A lion and a rabbit struck a friendship. One day the rabbit decided to give the lion a gift. (before a common noun that has already been introduced in a context; any further reference to the same noun is made using the definite article ‘the’)
• The Prime Minister, the General, the Captain, the Buddha. (before a noun that shows a particular rank or position.)
• The boy in blue shirt; the girl in red salwar suit. (before a noun that points a particular thing or place with the help of a phrase.)
• The Earth; the Universe; the Moon; the Solar system; the heavenly bodies. (before unique or celestial bodies like planets and stars.)
• The Ganga; the Dal lake; the Himalayas; the Sahara desert; the Wellington island. (before the names of rivers, seas, oceans, mountains and deserts.)
• The great Satyajit Ray; the immoral Shakespeare. (before a proper noun preceded by an adjective.)
• The rich and the famous; the one and the only; the bold and the beautiful; the rich and the poor. (before the adjectives that represent a class of people.)
• The United Kingdom; the United States of America. (before the names made up of two proper nouns.)
• The Khannas; the Mohans. (before the names that represent a family.)
• The Indira Gandhi International Airport; the Ambedkar stadium; the museum. (before the names of the buildings of significance, markets, etc.)
• The Times of India; the Hindustan Times. (before the names of newspapers and magazines.)
• The Hindus; the Indian. (before the names of ethnic groups, communities, races, etc.)
• The UNESCO; the US; the UN. (before the abbreviations of the names of the organisations.
• The 10^th 2006; the 15^th August 1947; the first child. (before the ordinal numbers that show the dates, position, etc.)

OMISSION OF THE ARTICLE ‘THE’:

• Many times the definite article ‘the’ is not used:
• Ranvir, Honda City, Sunday. (before proper nouns.)
• Elegance is what matters. Poverty is no crime. (before abstract nouns.)
• Mother, uncle, grandma. (before words that show relation.)
• Speech is silver, silence is gold. (before the material nouns.)
• Hindi, English, Physics. (before the names of languages and other branches of knowledge.)
• I play football but only watch cricket. (before the names of games.)
• Nature is bountiful. Let nature nurture it. (before the noun ‘nature’.)
• I am at home. Is Anu at home? (before ‘home’ when it is preceded by a verb.)
• He is in school. He went to bed early. (before things and places used for their primary purpose.)

Determiners: English Grammar
DEMONSTRATIVES: THIS/THESE and THAT/THOSE

The Words 'this', 'these', 'that' and 'those' are also determiners like the articles. These are called 'Demonstartive' as they point to things, people and places. The question word 'which' is used in order to frame a question based on a statement with a demonstrative. 

Example: That book is on the table. (Which book?)

NOTE: The words 'this', 'these', 'that' and 'those' , when used before a verb, do function of a pronoun.

Example: That is my book.

'This' and 'that' are singular, their plurals are 'these' and 'those' respectively. Let's examine how the demonstratives are used.

• This phone is not working (singular). These shirts are of no use to him (plural).  
• That pen is mine (singular). Those pencils are yours (plural).
• This picture is for you. These pictures are for you. ('This' and 'these' point to the things that are physically closer to us.)
• That picture is for you. Those pictures are for you. ('That' and 'those' point to things that are physically away from us.)
• Keep this book here and that in the shelf there. (Singular)
• Keep these books here and those in the shelf there. (Plural)
• Take that book and read. (Singular)
• Take those books and read. (Plural)

'Demonstratives' are also used as a substitute when a noun needs to be repeated especially in the same sentence.

• This film is better than that we saw last week.
• These mangoes are sweeter than those we brought from Agra.
• Those who want to take part in the competition, register your names now.

POSSESSIVES:

Possessives are adjectives that show possession. They are determiners as they precede nouns and qualify their special meanings.

• You must do your homework.
• I must do my homework.
• My shirt is new.
• His book is on the table.
• Her father is in London.

The underlined words in the above sentences are the possessives.

Now look at the following sentences:

• You must do your homework. I must do mine.

In the first sentence the determiner 'your' is a possessive adjective while in the second sentence, 'mine' is a personal pronoun.

Now read the following examples:

POSSESSIVES ADJECTIVES                                          PERSONAL PRONOUNS

• This is my house.                                                       This house is mine.    
• This is his room.                                                        This room is his.
• This is your responsibility.                                        This responsibility is yours.
• This is their problem.                                                This problem is theirs.                                  

TABLE OF PRONOUNS

PERSONAL PRONOUNS	POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES (DETERMINERS)	POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
I	My	Mine
We	Our	Ours
You	Your	Yours
He	His	His
She	Her	Hers
It	Its	-
They	Their	Theirs

NOTE: When the pronouns take 's' to form possessive pronoun, no apostrophe is used before the letter 's' as in the case of 'yours truly' and 'yours sincerely'. Such subscriptions make the closing of a later. Also, note that it is incorrect to use the possessive adjectives in the place of possessive pronouns or vice versa.

For example;
This is mine book (incorrect). This book is my (incorrect).
Determiners: English Grammar

QUANTIFIERS:
Quantifiers are determiners used before countable and uncountable nouns.

More often used quantifiers:

Some and Any: 'Some' and 'any' are quantifiers used with plural or uncountable nouns to show a certain number or amount. The quantifier 'any' is generally preceded by negative verbs to give a negative sense. 

'Some' and 'any' answer question like 'how many?' or 'how much?'

         SOME                                                                                   

• He bought some clothes. (With affirmative verb)
• Did some of you go to see the exhibition? (The expected answer is 'yes')
• May I have some biscuits? (Making a request)

        ANY

• I don't have any butter. (With a negative verb)
• There aren't any biscuits.
• She barely has any knowledge of her sister's income. (Negative words: hardly, scarcely, barely)
• Would you like to see any movie? (Making an offer)

Few/A few; Little/A little: The determiners 'few' and 'little' are used to indicate that something is not enough while 'a few' and 'a little' show that there is something but it is not a lot or not more than needed.

     FEW/A FEW

• There are few chairs. (Not enough for all the people)
• There are a few chairs. (Enough for all the people)
• There are few students in class. (You cannot teach)
• There are a few students in class. (You can teach)

     LITTLE/A LITTLE

• There is little money. (Can't buy expensive clothes)
• There is a little money. (Can buy some expensive clothes)

NOTE: 

• few; little = not sufficient, not enough (scarcity).
• a few; a little = sufficient/enough (no scarcity).

    

   THE LITTLE; THE FEW

The determiners 'the little' and 'the few' are used with the relative pronoun 'that'.

• The little room that I have is not enough for another person.
• The little money that I have will not last for a week.
• The few people that I know do not drive.
• The few apples that are there in the fridge are stale.

Relative pronouns can be safely used because they do not affect the meaning of the sentence.

  MUCH/MANY
'Much' and 'many' are used to show that there is 'a lot of' something. We use 'much' with the uncountable nouns and 'many' with the countable plural nouns.

• Many people are in need of medical help. (a plural verb is used with 'many')
• Many children are still starving. (a plural verb is used with 'many')
• Much work is being done now. (a singular verb is used with 'much')
• There isn't much food left now. (a singular verb is used with 'much')

   MORE/LESS/FEWER

'More' 'less' and 'fewer' are comparative determiners.

• There is more rice in the bowl.
• More water is what we requie.

'Less' is usually used before uncountable nouns. 'Less' refers to an amount of something that is small.

• Children outside cities have less access to education.
• Doing a lot in less time is what a smart worker does.

The determiner 'fewer' is used to show something lesser in number.

• Fewer trees are felled now.
• There are fewer job opportunities in the government sector.
• Fewer people speak English.

Determiners: English Grammar

DISTRIBUTIVE DETERMINERS

Distributive determiners include words like 'each', 'every', 'neither', 'both', 'all', 'one', 'another', 'other', 'several', 'one', 'two', 'first', 'second', etc. 

Study the following examples:

• Every child loves to play. (every one among all)
• We gave each child a toy. (one by one)
• Both children did well in studies. (indicates two)
• He ate both pieces of the pastry. (indicates two)
• They found both books interesting. (indicates two)
• Neither of the boys knows how to play cricket. (indicates two)
• It is sad that neither of his friends helped him. (indicates two)
• Either of the boys can go to the railway station. (one of the two)
• You can eat either half of the apple. (one of the two)
• He took another cup of milk. (one more)
• Another culprit has been caught. (one more)
• He added another century to his credit. (or more)
• The other activities include social work and gardening. (one or some among many)
• There were other people in the auditorium. (additional)
• Most people knew that they were cheated. (the majority)
• I was happy that most girls did well in English. (the majority)
• I have met him on several occasions. (many times)
• Several children fell ill after consuming the milk. (many)
• There is not enough money to buy expensive clothes. (scarcity)
• We don't have enough water to drink. (scarcity)
• We had one patient with H1N1. (only one)
• One plate of food will do for the two of us. (only one)
• All children were dressed in uniform. (everyone)

Determiners: English Grammar