Hi Everyone!! This article will share Determiners with Examples.
In my previous posts, I have shared Parts Of Speech, Nouns and Its Types and Pronouns and Its Types so, make sure to check these posts as well.
Determiners with Examples
Determiners are the words that modify nouns and are usually placed before nouns. In other words, determiners are the words that can be used before nouns to determine or to modify the meaning.
For example –
I gave some money to Riya to buy four apples at the shop.
See from the above example that the determiners ‘some’, ‘four’ and ‘the’ point out to the noun they precede.
Classes of Determiners
| S.no | Name | Important words |
| 1. | Articles | a, an, the |
| 2. | Demonstratives | this, that, these, those |
| 3. | Possessives | my, your, his, her, its, our, their |
| 4. | Quantifiers | all, few, a few, little, a little, much, many, each, every, some, any, enough, no, both, several, a lot of |
| 5. | Numbers | Cardinals – one, twenty, forty Ordinals – tenth, hundredth |
| 6. | Interrogatives | what, where, which, whose, how, who |
| 7. | Other words | other, another, double, thrice |
(a) Determiners which are specifically used with countable nouns are:
Few, a few, many, numbers – cardinals and ordinals, single, double, etc.
(b) Determiners which are specifically used with uncountable nouns are:
Little, a little, much
(c) Determiners which can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns are:
No children, no water, enough pens, enough oil, a lot of paper (much paper), lots of ducks (many ducks), some biscuits, some land, any milk, any lady, etc.
Determiners with Examples
1. Articles
There are three articles – A, An and The.
Definite Article – The (When the reference is specific or general.)
Indefinite Article – a or an (When the reference is non-specific.)
For example:
The visitors are arriving at noon today.
A box of chocolate was gifted to Ria.
An unidentified man was standing across the road.
2. Demonstratives
Demonstratives shows who or what is being referred to. These are of two types – singular, plural.
Singular Demonstrative – this, that
Plural Demonstrative – these, those
For example:
This pair of scissors is not mine.
I think that girl is their captain.
Those books are on the table.
3. Possessives
Possessives is a determiner that refers to someone or something belongs to someone.
For example:
They take their dog regularly to the vet.
We have sold our house.
Determiners with Examples
4. Quantifiers
Determiners that refers to an amount or quantity can be classified as a quantifier. With both countable and uncountable nouns quantifiers can be used. Some, any, few, more, etc.
For example:
He does not drink much water.
He sprinkled little salt in the rice.
5. Numbers
Numbers can be cardinal or ordinal.
Cardinal numbers are used for simple counting and shows quantity.
For example:
Two dogs are barking outside.
Ordinal numbers are used to show the position of someone or something in series.
For example:
She was proud of her daughter because she stood first in the class.
6. Interrogatives
Interrogative is a sentence that asks a question.
The interrogative determiners are – what, which, whose
Interrogative determiners appear at the beginning of a noun phrase. So they appear before any adjective.
Whose means belonging to which person?
What is for asking for information specifying something.
Which is for asking for information specifying one or more people or things from a definite set.
For example:
Whose toys are lying on the floor?
Which is your favourite colour?
7. Use of Another and Other
We use another only with singular countable nouns, whereas other can be used with singular countable, plural countable or uncountable nouns.
For example:
Bring me another knife as this one is blunt.
I would prefer the other house.
The other students went back home.
So, these were determiners with examples.