Class X: Grammar: Determiners

Determiners

‘Determiners’ means which determines. These are the words which come at the beginning of the noun phrase. A determiner tells us if the noun phrase is specific or general. Thus, determiners are either specific or general.

Specific determiners tell us that the noun phrase is specific. These specific determiners are:

·         Article:                    the

·         Possessive:              my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose

·         Demonstrative:        this, that, these, those

·         Interrogative:          which, who, whose, whom, etc

Specific determiners are used when we know that the listener or the reader knows what we are referring to.

For example:

·         Can you give me that glass, please?

·         Look at those lovely plants.

·         Thanks a lot for your lovely gift.

Non-specific Determiners or The General Determiners

These determiners tell us about the noun which is introduced first time to the reader or the listener. The general determiners are: a, an, another, other, what, etc.

We can use a singular noun with the indefinite articles like ‘a’ or ‘an’. For example:

·         A man came to rescue the drowning girl.

·         A woman purchasing vegetable was in the market.

·         An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

For uncountable nouns and plural nouns, we do not use any determiner.

For example:

·         Milk is good source of protein. (Uncountable noun)

·         Health and wealth are very important.  (Uncountable noun)

·         Airplanes are faster means to commute. (Plural nouns)

Use of ‘any’

It is used with a singular noun or an uncountable noun when we are talking about all the things in general.

For example:

·         This is very easy. Any child can do this.

·         If you have the license, you are allowed to drive any vehicle.

·         I love rose, lily – any flower.

Use of ‘another’

The word ‘another’ is used when we talk about an additional person or thing. For example:

·         Would you like to have another piece of cake?

The word ‘other’ is the plural form of the word ‘another’. For example:

·         I met Amit, Rahul and few other people.

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are the determiners that we use when we want to talk or give information about the number of something. For example:

·         How much

·         How many

There are several classes of determiners:

·         Definite and Indefinite articles: the, a, an

·         Demonstratives: this, that, these, those

·         Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their

·         Quantifiers: a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough, etc.

·         Numbers: one, ten, thirty, etc.

·         Distributives: all, both, half, either, neither, each, every

·         Difference words: other, another

·         Question words: Which, what, whose

·         Defining words: which, whose