Determiners

What is a determiner?

A determiner is a small word that comes before a noun. It tells us which one, whose it is, or how many there are.

• the dog (a particular dog)
• my dog (whose dog)
• three dogs (how many)
• this dog (which one)

Determiners are some of the most common words in English. You use them in almost every sentence, even if you never noticed them.

Why we need determiners

In English, most singular count nouns need a determiner. You can’t just say I saw cat. You need I saw a cat or I saw the cat or I saw your cat.

Determiners also change meaning in small but important ways:

• I ate an apple. (any apple)
• I ate the apple. (the one we both know about)
• I ate every apple. (all of them!)

The main types of determiners

1. Articles

The articles are a, an and the.

• a / an mean "one, any one": a pencil, an orange
• the means "this particular one": the pencil on my desk

Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound: a banana, an elephant, an hour, a unicorn.

2. Demonstratives

Demonstratives point: this, that, these, those.

this hat (near), those clouds (far)

3. Possessive determiners

A possessive determiner shows who owns something.

Notice that its has no apostrophe. It’s means it is.

4. Quantifiers

A quantifier tells how much or how many: some, any, many, much, few, little, several, every, each, all, no, enough, most.

• Some kids brought lunch.
• Every student gets a turn.
• There is no milk left.

5. Numbers

A number can be a determiner when it comes before a noun.

• Cardinal numbers count: one cookie, ten minutes
• Ordinal numbers show order: the first day, her second try

6. Question words

Which, what and whose can be determiners in questions: Which book do you want? Whose jacket is this?

Using more than one determiner

Sometimes determiners team up, but in a set order:

• all the students
• both my sisters
• the first three chapters
• my two cats

You can’t usually put two of the same type together. ✗ the my book → ✓ my book.

Determiner or pronoun?

Many determiners can also be pronouns when they stand alone.

Possessive determiners have separate pronoun forms: my → mine, your → yours, her → hers, our → ours, their → theirs. That is my pen. That pen is mine.

Common mistakes

• Leaving out a determiner. ✗ She is teacher. → ✓ She is a teacher.
• Wrong article. ✗ a apple, an banana → ✓ an apple, a banana
• Its vs it’s. ✗ The dog wagged it’s tail. → ✓ The dog wagged its tail.
• Their, there, they’re. Only their is a determiner showing ownership.
• Much with count nouns. ✗ much toys → ✓ many toys

Try it yourself

Underline the determiners:

1. My brother ate three slices of the pizza.
2. Those birds built their nest in an old tree.
3. Every child got some stickers.

Answers: My, three, the; Those, their, an; Every, some.

Quick recap

• Determiners come before nouns and tell which, whose or how many.
• Types include articles, demonstratives, possessives, quantifiers and numbers.
• Most singular count nouns need a determiner.
• Many determiners can also work as pronouns when they stand alone.