Unit : Part of Speech
Lesson 8: Determiners
e.g.
A black dog is standing in the road.
This kid is my nephew.
Little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
There are some books on the desk.
A determiner is used to modify a noun. It indicates reference to something specific or something of a particular type. This function is usually performed by articles, demonstratives, possessive determiners, or quantifiers. The determiners always come before the nouns they modify.
articles
2.Types of determiners possessive adjectives
demonstrative adjectives
quantifiers
a.What is an article?
Articles are used to indicate whether a noun refers to a specific or a general item. There are two types of articles, definite and indefinite. Definite article tells us about a specific item (person, thing…) while indefinite article speaks of any person, thing or place.
1.Some basic rules for using articles
The first thing you need to decide is whether the noun is countable or uncountable.
Countable nouns in English are usually those that can take a plural form (e.g. book / books, table/ tables, student, students).
Uncountable nouns in English usually do not have a plural form. They include names for languages, subjects (biology, economics, history), solids (iron, coal), liquids (water, oil), gases (oxygen, hydrogen), powders (sugar, flour). However, some nouns can be both countable and uncountable, depending on the context or meaning. This group includes words like paper, discipline, space.
Rules for using the indefinite article (a/an)
The indefinite article (a, an) cannot be used with uncountable nouns or with plural nouns.
The article a / an is used when we don't specify the things or people we are talking about.
Use ‘an’ if the word immediately after the article begins with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o or u, ) except where the ‘u’ is pronounced like a ‘y’ (e.g. an apple, an egg, an interesting result, an odd couple, an umbrella, BUT a university). While a comes before a consonant sound.( a boy, a hospital, a car)
Use a, an when you first mention a singular countable noun.
Use zero article when you first mention a plural noun or an uncountable noun.
Use the indefinite article (a/an) with a singular countable noun to refer to a representative of the class of things (e.g. A mobile phone is a prime example of how technology has shaped our lives. / A dog is a domestic animal)
Use a(n) with uncountable nouns to mean a kind of, or with kind of, or certain.
Use a(n) before few and little to mean some but not many. Plural forms for a / an are zero article and some.
To make a common noun of a proper noun ; (e.g. A Daniel came to judgement! )
Rules for using the definite article (the)
The article the is used when the speaker talks about a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know.
When we speak of something or someone for the first time we use a or an, the next time we repeat that object we use the definite article the. (e.g. I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.)
Use ‘the’ before superlatives and before ordinal numbers (e.g. This is the best cake I have ever eaten. / The first students )
Use ‘the’ when using words that specify a particular item (e.g. The same student, the only essay, the principal reason)
Use ‘the’ for reference to an item that is understood by all speakers (the sun, the planets, the moon, the stars)
use the to identify a noun that shows referrence forward to an identification soon to be made, often by modifiers following the noun. ( e.g. Every student should know something about the history of his own country.)/ ( The man at the door wants to speak to you.)
Identification of a class, especially in a generalization. (e.g. The child is the hope of the future.)
The beginning of a phrase containing an appositive. (e.g. This is my friend, the one I was telling you about.)
Rules for using the zero article
Use the zero article (absence of article)
To refer to all members of a class. (e.g. Dogs are domestic animals) / Mary like dogs. )
To distinguish one class from another. (e.g. Mary like dogs not cats)
To refer to an indefinite number but not necessarily to all members of a class. (e.g. Engineers make good salaries.)
With plural nouns after be. ( e.g. Most of my friends are students)
With institutions and practices felt to be unique. (e.g. School begins Monday.) / People are angry with Congress.)
With set phrases, usually pairs, such as ; man and wife/ father and son/ lock and key / sun, moon and stars )
With such set prepositional phrases, such as ; at war / at peace / in danger /in need/ on purpose/ on vacation / by accident / by heart / out of control / out of date…
With nouns used in headlines in newspapers, captions in books, signs, labels…(e.g. Entrance to Parking / BEWARE OF DOG)
Articles with proper nouns
Do not use an article with
Common nouns used as terms of address and therefore capitalized. (e.g. Thank you, Mother. / The patient is ready, Doctor.)
Other proper nouns.( e.g. Algeria is a beautiful country.)
Use a(n)
When using a proper noun to indicate the characteristics of the person named. (e.g. He is a Hercules.)
To mean a certain person whose name is. (e.g. A Dr. Jones called this morning.)
Use the
For a family name in the plural. (e.g. The Hendersons have moved.)
To distinguish two people who have the same name. (e.g.The George Brown who teaches here is not the George Brown you knew in college.)
When the article is accepted as part of geographical name, BUT do not use the with names of individual lakes. ( e.g. The United States , The Philipines, The Black Sea…,The Amazon, Lake Superior)
When the article is accepted as part of any kind of proper name. (e.g. The New York Times, The Hilton…)
When the identifying name of a college or university is first, do not use the.(e.g. Harvard University.)
other organizations and institutions. (e.g. The United Nations), BUT Central Park.
b.Possessive and demonstrative determiners are the possessive and demontrative adjectives that have been seen before with pronouns.
c. What are quantifiers?
A quantifier is a word or phrase which is used before a noun to indicate the amount or quantity. Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
Examples:
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.
Examples of quantifiers
With Uncountable Nouns
With Both
With Countable Nouns
Much, a little/little/very little , a bit (of), a great deal of, a large amount of, a large quantity of all, enough, more/most, less/least, no/none, not any, some , any, a lot of, lots of, plenty of
Many, a few/few/very few , a number (of), several, a large number of, a great number of, a majority of
NOTES
few, very few mean that there is not enough of something.
a few means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.
little, very little mean that there is not enough of something.
a little means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.
Few and little are often used in a negative sense to suggest disappointment or pessimism, while a few and a little are used in a positive sense to suggest that things are better than they might have been.
There is a long list of quantifiers which require a specific use : either, neither, both, all, any, such, enough, each, every, one, only, other, others,…
Exercise 1 : Complete with a / an/ one.
…………….day, last year- it was ………vey hot afternoon in June –I was hurrying to get home. I was about ….. hour late – well, to be precise, exactly………hour and ten minutes : I had missed my train. Anyway, there was ……..woman standing under the trees, and there were several children with her. I saw…..child clearly- she was ……lovely dark-haired girl- but I only heard the others. Suddenly…….strange thing happened. The girl took some stones out of her pocket, and threw……..stone after another into the air.
Exercise 2 : Choose the correct definite or indefinite article: "the", "a", "an" or "x" (zero article)
I bought …………..pair of shoes.
I saw ………..movie last night.
They are staying at………… hotel.
Look at ………..woman over there! She is ……… famous actress.
I do not like ………….basketball.
That is ………girl I told you about.
………….night is quiet. Let's take ……….. walk!
…………..price of gas keeps rising.
John traveled to ……….Mexico.
Juan is ………..Spanish.
I read ……….. amazing story yesterday.
My brother doesn't eat ……….chicken.
……….love is such ………..beautiful thing.
I live in ………..apartment. ………….apartment is new.
I would like ………..piece of cake.
I was in …………...Japanese. …………… restaurant. restaurant served good food.
Sara can play ………..guitar.
Are you coming to …………. party next Saturday?
I bought ………… new TV set yesterday.
I think ………… man over there is very ill. He can't stand on his feet.
I watched …….. video you had sent me.
She was wearing ……… ugly dress when she met him.
I am crazy about reading …………. history books.
She is …….. nice girl.
Do you want to go to ……….restaurant where we first met?
He is …… engineer.
He thinks that ………. love is what will save us all.
Exercise 3 Complete with the right words (that, those, this or these)
Waiter, I'm sorry to say it but ……. cake you have just served me is awful.
I met him two five hours ago …….. morning.
Look at ………. kids playning in the garden over there; they're so cute.
Take one of ………… files from that table.
He was sitting on ………… rocking chair he had bought from the flea market.
Many parents complain about their children ………… days.
Are you leaving …….weekend?
The jeans you have bought today are better than …….. you bought last month.
We used to do it differently in ………. days
You know the books I am carrying are just fantastic. I think ………… books will keep me company during ………summer holiday.
Exercise 4 : Choose the right answer (possessive adjective or possessive pronoun).
Jane has already eaten ………. lunch , but I'm saving ……….. until later
She has broken ………….. leg.
My mobile needs to be fixed, but …………. is working.
………… computer is a Mac, but …………..is a PC.
We gave them ………….telephone number, and they gave us …………….
…………. pencil is broken. Can I borrow ……….. ?
………….car is cheap, but ……….. is expensive .
You can't have any chocolate! It's all ……….
Activity 5 : Fill in the blanck with the correct word chosen from the pair given in ( )
1. I have three winter coats, but ………..of them are new. ( neither , none)
2. She has painted dozens of pictures. Have you seen ………of them ? (any, either)
3. Amy and Beth are twins. They ………..play the guitar. (all, both)
4. Two people said « Hello » to me, but I did not recognize ………..of them. (any, either)
5. I have read five books on the subject, but …………of them was very helpful. ( neither, none)
6. There are two texbooks for the course. …………….. of them is expensive. ( Neither, None)
7. He has three nephews. …………of them have graduated from university. (Both, All)
Activity 6 : Put in some, any , somebody, anybody, something or anything.
1. I can’t find ………...butter, but we’ve got ………margarine.
2. Did you meet ……………….interesting at the party ?
3. Emma has got…………… old pictures of the house.
4. Can I offer you ………wine ? 7. There is ……………………………waiting to see you.
5. Do you know ………….German ? 8. Shall we listen to …………music ?
6. Is there ……………..I can do ? 9. Would you like ………………..to help you ?
10. If you have …………….problems, just phone me.
Activity 7 : A/ Change not….any to no , or to not …any.
e.g. I haven’t got any American friends. I ‘ve got no American friends.
1. There ‘s no bread. ……………………………………………………………
2. He’s written no letters to her. ……………………………………………….
3. She hasn’t got any brothers or sisters. ………………………………………
B/ Rewrite these sentences as negative statements in which the word some is replaced by the word any.
1. I will make some salad. ………………………………………………..
2. She wants to take some courses in Archeology. …………………………………….
3. I recognized some of the students. ……………………………………………………..
Activity 8 : Little or a little / few or a few ?
1. There is ……………use trying to change her mind. 5. I only need …………minutes to get ready.
2. Could you possibly give me ……………help ? 6. She only wanted ……….. love, …….. kindness
3. ………………teenagers in the village could read. 7. Nadia drank ………coffee and no alcohol.
4. Slowly, ……………children began coming to school.
8. Unfortunately, he had ……………..friends.
Activity 9 : Write other or others.
I could see Karima and Nedjma at their desks, but where were the………… ?
2. Long after all the ……………cars had left, Dawson’s BMW was still there.
3. I’ll phone all the …………………if you ‘ll phone Ted and Lucy, ok ?
4. This doesn’t suit me. Have you got any ………………colours ?
Activity 10 : Put in much / many with so , as , too.
1. It was nice to have ……………..time to talk to you.
2. Are there ……………chairs as people.
3. You can never have ……………love.
4. I don’t have …………………friends as you.
5. She’s got ……………..relatives !
6. Get ………………tickets as you can.
Activity 11 : Choose the correct answer.
1. Several of my friends (was / were) present.
2. Each of the dogs pricked up(its / their )ears.
3. Both of the children wanted to finish (his / their ) work early.
4. Neither of my uncles( write/ writes ) to us often.
5. Few of her ideas (are/ is) as intriguing as this one.
6. Either of my daughters can lend you ( her / their ) skis.
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