Determiners in English grammar are the words that comes before nouns. Determiner specify quantity or clarify the reference of the noun moreover, they are one of the important parts of speech. Determiners in English grammar specify the quantity and also clarifies what this noun is referring to in that statement.
The 4 types of determiners grammar are possessive, quantifier and demonstrative and article determiners.
- Article Determiners – A, An, The
- Demonstrative Determiners – This, That, These, Those
- Possessive Determiners – My, Your, His, Her, Their, Our, Its
- Quantifier Determiners – Many, More, Much, Most, Some, Few
Meanwhile, Lets take a deep dive into each of these categories of determiners in English grammar.
Article Determiners In English Grammar
There are 3 articles, “a,” “an,” and “the.” These article comes before a noun to define whether it is specific or unspecific. For instance, I ate an apple or I visited the Taj Mahal. Here, apple is not specified, it can be any apple. But, Taj mahal is particularly mentioned because its unique and specified. Therefore, these articles are further divided into 2 categories:
The Definite Article – The
Firstly, in definite article in article determiners specifies the noun. Thus, the nouns in definite articles are unique and is recognized by the speaker. We use ‘the’ before the noun to represent its uniqueness. Meanwhile, lets look at some examples for better understanding.
- I visited the Taj Mahal today.
- Look at the Museum.
- We can go to the Amusement park.
In the above examples, the nouns Taj Mahal, Museum and Amusement park are unique. Here, all these nouns are specified in the sentences and are defined. Therefore, we are using definite article.
The Indefinite Article – A, An
Secondly, the indefinite articles in article determiners are “A” and “an”. These article determiners are used before unspecified nouns. The speaker may not be aware and the noun might not be mentioned earlier to the speaker. We can understand this better with the examples given below.
- I visited a school today.
- There is a museum.
- We can go to an amusement park.
In the above examples, school, museum and amusement park are not unique or specified. The speaker is not talking about any specific school, museum or amusement park. Here, all these nouns are non-specified in the sentences. Therefore, we are using definite article indefinite articles.
Examples of Articles Determiners
- I’m a chef.
- I’m the head chef at the ABC Restaurant.
- The writers of this book are really great.
- His uncle works in a bank.
- Let’s have an ice-cream.
These examples consist of both definite articles and indefinite articles. The nouns like chef, bank, ice-cream in the respective sentences are unspecified by the speaker. Hence, the indefinite articles A/An are used. Likewise, the nouns like head chef, ABC restaurant, writer in the respective sentences are very well defined and known by the speaker therefore, the definite article The is used. To sum up, the usage of article depends on the defined or undefined nouns in the sentences.
Demonstrative Determiners In English Grammar
Demonstrative determiners in English grammar defines the relation of the speaker with respect to noun or pronoun. These determiners include words like this, that, these, and those. In traditional grammar, they are also known as demonstrative adjectives. Meanwhile, using a demonstrative determiner before a noun depicts the relation of the noun with the speaker.
In demonstrative determiners, This and These describe close or nearby things for instance, distance, psychological distance or time. Whereas, That and Those describe distant things. For more clarity, lets look at some examples below.
Examples of Demonstrative Determiners
- Those two people look happy.
- In this matter, we can only hope for a miracle.
- This Elephant is pregnant.
- I miss those times when we were in college and used to have so much fun.
Possessive Determiners In English Grammar
The possessive determiners in English grammar defines who or what is owned by the noun or pronoun. Meanwhile, the words like his, her, its, their, whose, your, our and my represents the nouns and pronouns. In traditional grammar, these possessive determiners are known as possessive adjectives. However, lets glance at the examples given below. In the table given below representing possessive determiner with examples.
Examples of Possessive Determiners
| Possessive Determiner | Examples |
| my | I want my books back. Where is my car? |
| your | Where is your house? I borrowed your car. |
| his | Do you know his mother? Where is his office? |
| her | She dances so well, I love her performance yesterday. Did you know about her dog? |
| its | This fish is too small for its aquarium. The bird built its nest |
| our | Where is our food? This is our science project. |
| their | Going to a museum was their idea. This is not just a regular house, its their villa |
| whose | What’s written on this piece of paper? Whose phone number is this? Whose calling you? is it Rishi? |
In the same vein, these examples helps in understanding possessive determiners better. The speaker uses possessive determiners with respect to nouns or pronouns depicting the ownership of it. As we can witness, the possessive determiners my, your, their, whose, its, her and his are all describing ownership in the above sentences.
Quantifier Determiners In English Grammar
Lastly, quantifier determiners in English grammar refers to an amount, a quantity. Hence, words like any, all, many, much, several and some are the commonly used quantifier determiner. The numerical are also used representing the quantity of the nouns. Also, these are known as indefinite adjectives. But, quantifiers are not always specific. There can also be undefined or unspecified amount/quantity.
Examples of Quantifiers
- Its way too soon to snow!
- Moreover, I bought some chocolates.
- I only have one book. How many books do you have?
- So, this house has three bedrooms.
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Examples for Determiners in English grammar
- Did you like her performance?
- Reema invited me to her house yesterday.
- In short, the show was marvelous.
- This week I have lots of work.
- Also, that place is stinks.
- This woman is very bold.
- Whose name is written here?
- Her idea worked!
- The doctor of this hospital is amazing.
- One cup is missing
- Her sister lives in New York City.
- So, Rohan is his nephew.
- But, it’s my skateboard.
- Which one is your pizza?
- Those mangoes looks fresh.
- Arya bought that bag.
- So, do you like this restaurant?
- The story is interesting.
- I know its process.
- But, who is your mother?
- Did you check out their farmhouse?
In conclusion, the determiners are really important in English grammar. Above all, four determiners play a vital role in English grammar this, making determiners as one of the parts of speech. There are different ways to learn English grammar. Moreover, one of the best way to learn English is also through games. How playing games can help you to learn English grammar. Similarly, you can also learn all the determiners in English grammar and also learn by choosing specific topic like article determiner, demonstrative determiner, possessive determiner and quantifier determiners. You can also learn about particular topics of English grammar and other parts of speech.