Determiners

Determiners are words that introduce a noun and provide some

information about it (but do NOT describe it).
Examples: the ball, his son, five cats, more cars.
TYPES OF DETERMINERS
Articles
Demonstratives
Possessives
Possessive pronoun
Possessive Noun

Articles
There are only three articles in English:
The, a, an

the is called the Definite Article:

the
It normally introduces a noun that is familiar to the listener.
Example: The earth is round.

the may introduce either a singular or a plural noun.

a or an are called the Indefinite Article:

a or an
normally introduce a noun that is not yet familiar to the listener.
Example:

I saw a new movie.

a or an may only introduce a singular noun.

a precedes words that start with a consonant sound.
Examples: a table, a chair,
an precedes words that start with a vowel sound.
Examples: an apple, an umbrella,

Demonstratives
Demonstratives are words that are used to point at someone or
something (whether its concrete or abstract).
Examples: that book; this time; these ideas; those chairs
There are only four demonstratives in English:
Singular Demonstratives:
This
That
Plural Demonstratives:
These
Those
In order to be called a DETERMINER, a
followed by a noun-phrase:
1. I like this room.

demonstrative MUST be

2. I like this.
1. I like this room.
this is a determiner
2. I like this.
this is NOT a determiner
How do we know?
Because determiners need to precede noun-phrases! In
sentence (2) no noun-phrase follows the word this
Possessives
Possessives are words that usually indicate possession or
belonging of a noun.
Examples: his birthday, Sams book, her idea, New Yorks
subway
There are two kinds of possessives:
1. possessive determiner pronouns
2. possessive determiner proper nouns
1. His essay was the best.
His is a determiner
2. His was the best essay.
His is NOT a determiner
1. His essay was the best.
His is a determiner
2. His was the best essay.

 His is NOT a determiner

How do we know?
Because determiners need to precede noun-phrases! In
sentence (2) no noun-phrase follows the word his.