Determiners: Article, Demonstratives & Possessives | English Grammar Advanced - Class 10 PDF Download

Definition: Determiners are those words that are prefixed before nouns to determine their meaning. They can be divided into the following types:

1) Articles: a, an, the

2) Demonstratives: this, that, these, those

3) Possessives: my, your, our, his, her, its, their

4) Indefinite Adjectives: some, any, much, many, little, few, less

5) Others: all, each, every, both, neither, either, other, another, enough, most, several, one, two, etc.

Let us discuss each of them one by one -

Articles

The two indefinite articles in the English language are ‘a’ and ‘an’. The definite article in the English language is ‘the’. For indefinite articles, you can use either of them depending on the sound of the first letter of the next word. This is done for pronunciation reasons.

Use of ‘a’ takes place in the following instances:

• In places where the following word starts with a consonant sound, the determiner ‘a’ is used.
• Also, ‘a’ is used where the following word is a singular countable noun.

The determiner ‘an’ also does the same work as ‘a’ but is used in the following instances:

• Places where the following word is a singular countable noun and starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).
• ‘The’ is mostly used before both singular and plural nouns. Its main function is to specify a person, place, or thing.

Uses of Articles with Rules and Examples:

‘a’ and ‘an’ (Indefinite Determiners) are used before the following-

• A singular countable noun which is being mentioned for the first time. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. I have never seen a gun.
  2. I saw a sports bike at the store today.
• A singular countable noun or adjective begins with a consonant sound. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. I ate a banana.
  2. I saw a tall girl today.
• A singular, countable noun which is an example of a class of things. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. A pet needs love. (Class of things is pets.
  2. A father deserves to be respected by his children.
• The noun to express a quantity. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. I need a dozen bananas.
  2. I need to buy a couple of books.
• The units of price, speed, ratio, weight etc. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. This bike gives 35 kilometres a litre.
  2. You can run a mile in just 5 minutes.
• Certain numbers or monetary units. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. I want to earn a billion dollars by the age of 40.
  2. Can you lend me a hundred rupees?
• The expression of frequency. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. Put these ear drops twice a day.
  2. Wash your face three times a day in the summer.
• Certain exclamatory expressions. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
  1. What a beautiful morning!
  2. What a cute dog!

Here are a few Important rules to remember about the use of indefinite determiners:

• The spelling of the word following the determiner is not important. Only the sound is important. A few words given below start with vowel letters but do not have vowel sounds. So, the determiner ‘a’ is attached to them. For example: A union, A one rupee coin, etc
• There are a few words that start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds. They are preceded by the determiner ‘an’. For example: An honest man, An honour.
• Indefinite determiners are mostly prefixed before nouns that do not refer to any particular person, place, or thing. For example: A cat, a boy, an hour
• Indefinite determiners can be used before uncountable nouns if the noun is used in a particular sense. For example, I always have tea after my lunch. She is a great pianist.
• An indefinite determiner can be attached before the adjective if the adjective is followed by a countable noun. For example: It is a red colored T-shirt.

‘The’ (Definite Determiners) is used before the following-

1. A singular noun when it refers to a particular class or group. Example:
   The luxury car is a rich man’s vehicle.
2. Names of rivers, ranges of mountains, gulfs, seas, oceans, groups, islands, ships, etc.
3. Countries with plural names. Examples: The Philippines
4. Books of religion (Religious books). Examples: The Shreemad Bhagavad Gita
5. Names of hotels, museums, and certain building names. Examples: The Oberoi Group of Hotels
6. Last names of families in the plural. Examples: The Madans
7. Names of newspapers and magazines. Examples: The Top Gear
8. Superlatives of adjectives. Examples: The best boy in the class.
9. Descriptive adjectives refer to a whole group or class. Examples: The working class.
10. The names of races and communities. Examples: The Hindu
11. Few expressions of the English language. Examples: All the colleagues.

Demonstratives

• The demonstrative determiners in the English language are this, that, these, and those. The demonstrative determiner ‘That’ (Plural- Those) is used to avoid repetition of a preceding noun.
  Examples: My shorts are better than those of my brother.
• The demonstrative determiner ‘This (Plural- These)’ is used to refer to a person/ persons or thing/ things near to the speaker.
  Examples: This is the best coffee I have had.
• The demonstrative determiner ‘That (Plural- Those)’ refers to a person/ persons or thing/ things far from the speaker.
  Examples: Get that dog out of the house. 

Possessives:

The possessive determiners in the  English language are my, your, our, his, her, its, their. These are used to show or determine the ownership of a certain thing.

Examples:
1. This is my bike.

2. It is their house.