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Determiners
‘ the words
erminers are A
Determiners are the words that modify nouns. In other words, det ermaning. Dererminers
that can be used before nouns to determine or to naa d
function like adjectives. They are also called as Fixing Words.
Characteristics of Determiners
Characteristics of determiners are as follows
+ A determiner may determine or fix a place, person or thing.
* A determiner may identify two or more persons or things.
* A determiner may precede numerals or objects.
+ A determiner may indicate a quantity or amount.
Classification of Determiners
Determiners can be classified into
1, Articles a, an, the
2. Demonstrative Adjectives this, that, these, those
3. Quantifiers A quantifier is a word or phrase which is used before
the amount or quantity. Types of quantifiers are as follows
(i) Definite one, two, hundred, ..., first, second, both, etc,
(ii) Indefinite some, many, much, enough, few, :
ltl, several, most, et, afew, the few, all, litte
(iii) Distributive each, every, all, either, neither
(iv) Difference another, other
(v) Comparative more, less, fewer
4. Possessives my, your, his, her, its, our, their, mine, hers,
a noun to indicate
» alittle, the
Yours, ours, theirs, etcticles — A, An, The
care used before nouns, ‘A’ is used befo
Sah ri ry
a consonant sound and ‘An’ is used b
ng with
s h a vowel sound. ‘The’ is us ed |
y starting wit
alae countable nouns, plural countable noun
puntable nouns.
of Indefinite Articles : A/An
d.
e.g. awoman, a horse, a tree
(Here woman, horse and tree a
with a consonant sound.)
is used before a noun beginnin;
€.g. an orange, an egg, an eleph
(Here orange, egg, el
beginning with a vo‘Howto Use’A’ and ‘An’
The use of ‘a’ and ‘an’ is determined by sound. The following
words begin with a vowel, but not with a vowel sound. A
unique thing, a one rupee coin, a European, a unicorn, a
university, a useful thing, a union. :
So here ‘a’ is used.
* On the other hand, with the following words, ‘an’ is used |
__ although they begin with a consonant.
* An hour, an honest man, an heir to the throne, an MCA. F
the sound is the criterion to decide whether a/an will be used.use of Definite Article : The
ne’ is used before singular countable nouns, plural
countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Uncountable
nouns do not ‘have plural forms, e.g. we cannot say
‘sugars’, We will say ‘the sugar’. ‘The’ is used
L While talking about a particular person or thing or
one already referred to (that is, when it is clear from
the context which one do we mean).
e.g. The book you want is not available.
I. When a singular noun represents the whole class.
e.g. The dog is a faithful animal.
Ill. Before some proper names that denote physical
features.
() Oceans and Seas e.g. The Pacific, Ocean, The Arabian Sea
(i) Rivers e.g. The Ganges, The Thames
(iii) Canals e.g. The Suez Canal
(i) Deserts e.g, The Thar Desert, The Sahara Desert
() Group of islands e.g. The West Indies, The Netherlands
(+i) Mountain ranges e.g. The Himalayas, The Satpura(vii) A few names of countries, which include words like States,
Republic or Kingdom e.g. The People’s Republic of China,
the United Kingdom, the USA, the Republic of Korea, the
Hague, etc
IV. Before the names of religious or mythological books.
€.9. The Vedas, the Puranas, The Mahabharata
(but we say Homer's Iliad, Valmiki’s Ramayana).
V. Before the names of things which are unique or one of
their kind.
€.g. The Sun, The Moon, The Pacific Ocean
VI. Before a proper noun, when it is qualified by an
adjective or a defining adjectival clause.
e.g. The Great Caesar, the King of Rome.
The Mr Verma whom you met last night is my boss.
VII. With superlative degrees.
e.g. This is the worst Performance | have ever seen.
VIII. With ordinals.
e.g. He was the first man to walk on the Moon.
IX. Before musical instruments.
e.g. He can play the tabla very well.
X. Before an adjective when the noun is understood.
[Link] rich always exploit the poor. Here, the word ‘people’
is understood.
XL As an adverb with comparatives.
e.g. The more money we have, the more we want.Omission of Article ‘The’
© Before material, abstract and proper nouns used in a
general sense.
e.g(a) Honesty is the best policy. (not The honesty...)
(b) Sugar tastes sweet. (not The sugar....)
(c) Paris is the capital of France. (not The Paris...)
* Before plural countable nouns used in a general sense.
e.g. Children like toys.
* Before names of people
e.g. Rohit
¢ Before names of continents, countries, cities, etc
e.g. Europe, Pakistan, Nagpur
¢ Before names of individual mountains
e.g. Mount Everest
* Before names of meals used in a general sense.
e.g. Dinner is ready.
* Before languages and words like school, college,
university, church, hospital.
€9. (a) | learn English at school.
(b) My uncle is still in hospital.
¢ Before names of telations, like father, mother, etc.
€.9. Father is still not at home.e In certain phrases consisting of preposition followed
by its object.
€.g. At home, in hand, by night, in case, on foot, by
train, on demand, etc.
2. Demonstrative Adjectives
(This, That, These, Those)
L. That (in case of plural, those)
(a) Itis used to avoid the repetition of the preceding noun(s).
€.g.. © My bat is better than that of my friend.
© Our soldiers are better equipped than those
of Pakistan.
(b) It refers to person(s) or thing(s) far from the speaker.
e.g. © Get that dog out of here.
© Those houses are for sale.
Il. This (in case of plural, these)
(a) It refers to person(s) or thing(s) near the speaker.
€.g. © This book is very interesting.
© These flowers are very beautiful.3. Quantifiers
‘Some’, ‘many’, ‘a lot of’ and ‘a few’ are examples of
quantifiers. Quantifiers can be used in affirmative
sentences, questions, requests or commands with both
countable and uncountable nouns.
@.g. © There are some books on the desk.
* He’s got only a few dollars.
© How much money have you got?
* There is a large quantity of fish in this river.
* He's got more friends than his sister.
Some quantifiers can go only with countable nouns
(e.g. friends, people, cups), some can go only with
uncountable nouns (e.g. sugar, tea, money, advice), while
some can be used with both countable and uncountable
nouns.
Examples of quantifiers are given below
Only with With both ee Only with Countable
an
Uncountable Nouns Nouns
Uncountable Nouns ~
a little no, none, not any a few
a bit of _ some, all a number of
- any ) several
ooo nn ee
agreatdealof a lot of, lots of algreat number of
a large amount plenty of oo EUsage of quantifiers are as follows
1. Use of few/a few/ the few
(a) Few, a few and the few
Few emphasises the lack of something.
eg. There are few sweets left in the jar.
(We should be careful not to eat them too
quickly because they are almost finished.)
A few emphasises that something still remains.
e.g. Westill have a few minutes left before the
class gets over. Do you have any questions?
(We still have some time, so we should use it.)
The few signifies not many but all there are.
eg. Ae ee he has are all very old.
those were at he had were not many, but .
very old.)
and little/a little/the little(b) Little, a little and the little.
Little emphasises the lack of something.
e.g. We have little money right now; we should go
out for dinner another day.
(We should be careful and use the money
wisely because we don’t have much.)
A little emphasises that something still remains.
e.g. There's a little ice-cream left; who will eat it?
(We still have some ice-cream left.
Who wants to eat it?) ,
The little signifies not much, but all there is
e.g. The little sugar she had, she
neighbour. gave to her
(All the sugar that she had, ti
she gave to her neighbour.) though not much.Il. Use of much and many
(a) We use much with singular uncountable nouns and may
with plural nouns.
* I haven’t got much change; I’ve only got a hundred
rupee note.
« Are there many campsites near your place?
(b) We usually use much and many with interrogative senten
and negative sentences.
* Is there much unemployment in that area?
* How many eggs have been used in this cake?
* Do you think many people will come to attend the
party ?
os rain was pouring down in torrents but the
wasn't much wind,Il. Use of much and many
(a) We use much with singular uncountable nouns and many
with plural nouns.
« I haven’t got much change; I’ve only got a hundred
rupee note.
* Are there many campsites near your place?
(b) We usually use much and many with interrogative sentencs
and negative sentences.
° Is there much unemployment in that area?
* How many eggs have been used in this cake?
* Do you think many people will come to attend the
party ?
¢ The rain was pouring down in ‘torrents but there
wasn’t much wind.
IJ. Use of more, less and fewer
(comparative determiners)
(a) We use more or less before singular uncountable nouns
adding ‘than’ after it, or for an additional or lesser quantity
something,
by
dfe.g. * | do more work than Suresh,
¢ Please give me some more salad,
« Satish does less work than me.
¢ | want less salad than Mahesh.
| (b) We use fewer before plural countable nouns to refer to a
group of things smaller than another.
e.g. ¢ Fewer students succeeded in passing than
last year. .
° We had fewer computers a year ago.
IV. Use of each and every (distributive determiners) -
(a) We use each for two or more than two items and every only
for more than two items. Both of these are followed by
singular countable nouns and singular verbs.
@.g. © Each of the two boys has won a prize.
* Every student in the school is present today.
(b) We use each when the number in the group is limited or
definite, but every is used when the number is indefinite or
unknown,
®.9. © Each student in my class was promoted.
* Every person in the world has a parent.. Torre as & PAIL,
__ V. Use of most, several and all
_ () We usually use most with plural Uncountable nouns.
€.g. © Most of the people can be trusted.
; * Most of the time | am not at home.
Ab) We usually use several with plural nouns, but it refers to a
number which is not very large. (i.e. less than most)
€.g. © Several people were crushed in
the stampede. : :
* Several people lost their lives in the Tsunami.
¢) All requires a plural verb when used with a countable noun,
Ut requires a singular verb with an uncountable noun.
&g. © All are going to Delhi.
* All that glitters is not gold.q MII. Use of either and neither
f ie use either to refer to two things, people, situations, etc.
may mean one or the other of two or each of the two.
Dw, &g. | don't agree with either Ram or Shyam.
Si € use neither with only singular countable nouns and a
ngular verb, Neither is the negative of either.
©. Neither of the two boys passed the exam.oa
an
ni.
In,
4. Possessives
(My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Their, etc)
adjectives tell us who
Pos ¢ determiners or possessive
owns something. We use a possessive determiner before a
noun to show who owns the noun we are talking about.
They come in front of any other adjectives.
€.9. © This is your book.
* That is our beautiful house.
We use different possessive determiners depending on
who owns the thing we are talking about.
Subject Possessive Used with Type of Noun
Determiner
I my first person singular .
We our first person plural
You your second person singular/plural
They their third person plural :
He his third person singular masculine
She her third person singular feminine
It its third person singular neuter
My, her, his and its are used with singular nouns, while
our and their are used with plural nouns. Your can be
used with either singular or plural nouns, depending on
the sense.
eg.
* This is my book.
* The dog licked Its paw.
© Which is their car?
* All three of you, have you done your homework?Determiners and Kinds of Nouns
With Which They are Used
A, an, each, everyone, another and either are used
with singular countable nouns.
This and that are used with uncountable
nouns/singular countable nouns.
These and those are used with uncountable
nouns/plural countable nouns.
A little, a lot of, a great deal of, much are used with
uncountable nouns.
More, most, a lot of, enough, adequate, some are
used with uncountable nouns/plural countable nouns.
A few, several, many, both are used with plural
nouns.
The, some, any, my, her, your, our, their, its,
which, whose, what are used with any type of noun.oe Has she got ......+e0+ friends?
(a) little (b) much
(c) any (d) most
peste of the shops are closed on Sundays.
(a) Any (b) Little .
(c) Much (d) Most.
3. Janice earns the ........... money in my family.
(a) more (b) much.
(c) some (d) most
4.1 didn’t find ............ in the classroom so I
returned to the cafeteria.
(a) no one (b) anyone
; (c) someone (d) one
rere politicians are hi
ie as our ceoresenpaeines and'should be
a) Few
(0) A few 4 Ni fey
ittle
HW Mminnnass