1. What is a determiner?
A determiner is a word that tells us which thing.
2. What are the determiners?
There are different types of determiners:
Articles (general vs. specific one): a, an, the
Demonstratives (which one): this, that, these, those
Possessive determiners (whose one): my, your, his, her, its, our, your
Quantifiers (how many): all, many, some, few, no
However, the basic idea remains: one word to tell people which thing.
| Determiners | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a / an | any one out of many | Give me a pencil. I don’t care which one. |
| the | the specific one that we know we are talking about | I need the money I gave you last week. |
| this | the specific one close to me | I found this box outside my door. |
| that | the specific one far from me | Could you pass me that plate please? |
| these | several specific ones close to me | These oranges taste delicious. |
| those | several specific ones far from me | Don’t eat those apples. They are rotten. |
| my / your / his / her / its / our / their | the one belonging to (me / you / him / her / it / us / them) | Did you take my car? |
| all / many / some / few / no | He has all the students’ books. |
3. Examples of determiners
| He ate a pizza. (any pizza; we don’t know which pizza) | He ate the pizza. (the pizza we know about; we know which pizza) |
| This box is mine. (the one box here) | That box is mine. (the one box there) |
| These toys are broken. (the collection of toys here) | Those toys are broken. (the collection of toys there) |
| You kissed your girlfriend. (the girlfriend who is yours) | You kissed my girlfriend. (the girlfriend who is mine) |
| All dogs are stupid. (every dog) | Some cats are stupid. (not all, but some) |
| She took all the money. (all of the money) | She took all his money. (all the money which was his) |
4. Test yourself
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