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English Grammar Today

Determiners Means Refers Referring Noun Sofa Common Demonstratives

Topic Determiners (the, my, some, this)
Source https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/determiners-the-my-some-this
Section Nouns, pronouns and determiners
Content

Determiners are words such as the, my, this, some, twenty, each, any, which are used before nouns:

the countryside

some paper

this old sofa

my father

five green chairs

each person

Determiners include the following common types:

Articles: a/an, the

Demonstratives: this, that, these, those

Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, x’s (possessive ’s)

Quantifiers: (a) few, fewer, (a) little, many, much, more, most, some, any, etc.

Numbers: one, two, three, etc.

Here is a list of the determiners included in this book. Many of them have individual entries:

(a) few, fewer, fewest

every

most

that

(a) little

half

much

the

(an)other

her

my

their

a/an

his

neither

these

all

its

no

this

any

Jim’s, Anna’s, etc.

one, two, three, etc.

those

both

least

our

what

each

less

several

which

either

many

some

whose

enough

more

such

your

Sometimes we don’t use a determiner before the noun. We call this ‘zero determiner’:

Dogs love biscuits.

See also:

  • A/an and the
    https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/a-an-and-the

 

What do determiners do?

Determiners have two main functions: referring and quantifying.

Referring

Referring means showing us who or what the noun is pointing to or talking about. The most common types of determiners which we use for referring are articles, possessives and demonstratives:

A:

Where’s the newspaper?

B:

It’s on the sofa. (the means the noun refers to something the speaker and listener both know or are familiar with)

A:

Have you seen my MP3 player anywhere?

B:

Yes. It’s on the kitchen table. (my refers to something which belongs to the speaker; the refers to something the speaker and listener can both identify because they both know or share knowledge about it.)

Do you want this bag or are you going to put it in that box? (this refers to something near the speaker; that refers to something further away.)

Charles is looking for his dictionary. Have you got it? (his means the noun refers to something belonging to a male, in this case, Charles.)

Quantifying

‘Quantifying’ means showing how much of something there is, or how many:

Five people were arrested during an anti-war demonstration in London today.

There are some letters here for you. (some means a non-specific, small number or quantity of something.)

Do you have enough flour to make the bread. (enough means a quantity that is sufficient or adequate for something).

See also:

  • A/an and the
    https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/a-an-and-the

  • Possession (John’s car, a friend of mine)
    https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/possession-john-s-car-a-friend-of-mine

  • Some and any
    https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/some-and-any

  • Determiners and modifiers
    https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/determiners-position-and-order#determiners-position-and-order__3

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