DETERMINERS
Presentation by - Jayant Bhattacharya
TGT English
JNV Jabalpur
Read these sentences. Then identify the word that is used before the noun.
He wants to be a doctor
An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.
This book is very useful
Please lend me some money
My father was a famous musician
Determiners are words which we use before nouns. They tell us something about the nouns-which one, how many ,or how much.
ARTICLES
POSSESSIVES
DEMONSTRATIVES
QUANTIFIERS
My
Our
Your
His
Her
This
That
These
Those
Some
Any
Many
Much
A
An
The
DETERMINERS
Others - one, two, first, third, each, every, all, either, neither, no.
ARTICLES : A / AN / THE
The Indefinite Article
The Definite Article
one of several things of a similar type
A / AN
THE
speaker and listener know
E.g. The movie is based on a real-life incident.
E.g. Can you give me the books
on the table?
E.g. I need a phone.
E.g. I saw a movie last night.
USAGE
EXAMPLES
HOW TO USE A - AN
A Man
A Cat
A Lamp
A vowel sound
An Aeroplane
An Umbrella
An Egg
WORDS BEGINNING WITH SILENT LETTER H
WORDS BEGINNING WITH CONSONANT LETTER
WITH VOWEL SOUND :
WORDS BEGINNING WITH VOWEL LETTERS
WITH CONSONANT SOUND :
INDEFINITE ARTICLES - A/AN
1) We do not use a or an before uncountable nouns such as milk, water, music, beauty, honesty, tea , etc. but we can use a or an before an uncountable noun in a particular sense, often with different meaning.
Examples : I want tea ( Tea in general sense )
Give me a cup of tea
2) When we use a/an before an adjective . It is determined by its initial sound.
Example: He is an honest man.
A mobile phone is a useful gadget.
We use article the in the following cases:
a. with a noun when it is repeated.
As - I met a lawyer. The lawyer gave me a good advice.
b. with a singular noun referring to a particular group or class.
As- The lion is a beast of prey.
c. Before a noun made definite by a phrase or clause.
As – The lady in pink dress is his sister. The man who came late was not
allowed to enter.
DEFINITE ARTICLES - THE
The main purpose of using’ the’ is to specify a person, thing or place. It can be used before countable and uncountable nouns:
Examples: 1. I bought a book. The book is really interesting.
2. He is the man responsible for the mishap
d. Before the names of rivers, oceans, hills mountains, important religious books,
some newspapers, and magazines.
e. in order to specify a person, place or thing.
As- Some of the boys were very week.
The film will be a box office hit.
f. Before a noun becoming particular by reason of its position, locality.
As- Father is in the lawn ( the lawn f the house)
Please pass the salt ( the salt on the table)
g. before adjectives to refer to a group or class.
As – the rich
the needy
As- She is the most intelligent girl in our class.
He is the bravest of all soldiers.
h. Before superlatives
As – The immortal Shakespeare lived here.
The Mr Verma you all know came to meet me
i. Before a noun made definite by a phrase or clause
As- by the dozen, by the litre,
both the brothers, the first chapter, the second person.
j. In certain expression
DETERMINERS : POSSESSIVES
Possessives indicate possession or ownership
SUBJECT PRONOUN
POSSESSIVE DETERMINER
I
MY
YOU
YOUR
HE
HIS
SHE
HER
IT
ITS
WE
OUR
THEY
THEIR
My dog
My home
My dogs
His dog
Her dog
Its dog
DETERMINERS :DEMONSTRATIVES
Demonstratives point to near or distant
person (s),place (s), or object(s)
Near
Far
Plural
Singular
This book
That book
These books
Those books
DETERMINERS -QUANTIFIERS
DETERMINERS
FOLLOWING NOUNS
EXAMPLES
Each
Every
Any
One
Countable Singular
Each boy was treated well
Any person can do it.
One boy was missing.
Some
Any
All
A lot of
Most
More No
None of the
Countable plural &
uncountable
There are some boys in the room.
A lot of Indians were there.
DETERMINERS
FOLLOWING NOUNS
EXAMPLES
Many
Several
Few
One of the
Both
A couple of
Much
Less little
Countable Plural
Many singers were praised.
Few girls were present.
There is much silence in the room.
A little sugar will do.
Uncountable
Note the use of the following determiners carefully:
Some/any
Some is used in affirmative sentences, in questions with ‘ yes’ as expected answer.
EXAMPLES
You are thirsty. Would you like some cold water?
SOME
ANY
EXAMPLES
Any is used in negative sentences and questions
I don’t have any novel to read.
Much / Many
Much indicates a large amount.
it is used with only uncountable nouns.
MUCH
Many indicates a large number .
It is used only with countable nouns
MANY
EXAMPLES
How much money do you have?
I know many Americans.
A Lot of / Lots of
We can use a lot of /lots of in place of much/many in an informal way.
EXAMPLES
You have a lot of time to do it.
Lots of people are still superstitious.
A little / little
A little indicates ‘Some’ amount and little ‘very small ‘ amount of something. Both are used before uncountable nouns.
EXAMPLES
the maid.
Plenty of
Plenty of indicates a fairly good amount / number.
EXAMPLES
fridge. ( uncountable)
them. ( countable)
Few/ A few
A few indicates ‘Some’ and few indicates a very small numbers.Both are used before countable nouns.
EXAMPLES
Only a few people know me here. (Some)
Few chairs were empty. ( a small number)
NOTE :
‘Quite a few’ can indicate a fairly large number. Quite a few persons know me here.( a good number)
No
No meaning ‘no’ amount or number , is used before countable and uncountable
There were no biscuits.
EXAMPLES
I have no information about today’s weather.
EITHER / NEITHER
Either/ neither refer to two persons or things, and mean that both of two persons /things are ( are not) involved.
EXAMPLES
We can park on either side of the road.
We will agree in neither case.
A LITTLE BIT OF / QUITE A BIT OF
These are informal phrases and used to qualify uncountable nouns.
EXAMPLES
The jar must have a little bit of water.
There was quite a bit of sugar in the tea
EXERCISES (PASSAGE I)
Complete the following passage with suitable determiners.
(a)……………morning, after breakfast, Naseem would come to (b)……..bed, in (c)………voice he would describe (d)……………scene, which I would work from dawn to dusk, as if (e)………………day would never end. (f)………….canvas finished and another started .
ANSWERS (PASSAGE I)
a) Every
b) my
c) a
d) a
e) the
f) one
EXERCISES (PASSAGE II)
Our principal is(a)……… man of honest and integrity. He does not accept (b)………gift from students, teachers or parents. On (c) …………. occasion of (d)…………children’s day ,he rewarded(e)……. students for (f)……….. honesty.
Complete the following passage with suitable determiners.
a) a
b) any
c) the
d) the
e) some
f) their
ANSWERS (PASSAGE II)
Thank You!