Determiners What They Are and How to Use Them

Determiners What They Are and How to Use Them Determiners: What They Are and How to Use Them We use determiners in front of nouns to show what they refer to. The difference between â€Å"a hat† and â€Å"my hat,† for instance, is that â€Å"my† shows that the hat belongs to me. This makes determiners very important for clear communication, so make sure you know which terms to use in different situations. Articles (The / A / An) Articles are the most basic determiners to specify what you’re discussing. They  come in two kinds: the definite article (â€Å"the†) and the indefinite article (â€Å"a† or â€Å"an†). The definite article – â€Å"the† – is used when we refer to something specific. If I say â€Å"I am going to the library,† for example, I have a particular library in mind (not just any library). The indefinite article is used when not referring to a specific entity. If I go looking for â€Å"a library,† I’m not searching for a specific library (any library will do). Possessives (My / Your / His / Her / Its / Our / Their) A possessive determiner indicates ownership, like with â€Å"my hat† above. Other singular determiners include â€Å"your,† â€Å"his,† â€Å"her† and â€Å"its.† Plural determiners (i.e., determiners used to indicate something belongs to a group) include â€Å"our† (â€Å"welcome to our party!†), â€Å"their† (â€Å"I don’t want to go to their party†) and â€Å"your† (â€Å"I’m glad I went to your party†). Note that â€Å"your† can be either  singular or plural. Demonstratives (This / That / These / Those) Demonstrative determiners usually tell us about the position of something relative to the speaker. â€Å"This† (singular) and â€Å"these† (plural) indicate something is close. â€Å"That† (singular) and â€Å"those† (plural) usually apply when something is far away. Determiners (This, That, These, Those) As with â€Å"the,† demonstratives  are used when we refer  to something in particular (e.g., â€Å"this cake† and â€Å"that cake† both refer to a specific cake, unlike â€Å"a cake†). We also use â€Å"this† to refer to something we have just mentioned. This makes it possible to follow on from a preceding sentence without having to re-identify the thing being discussed. Quantifiers (All / Any / Some / Every) This category of determiners includes a wide variety of terms relating to quantity, including â€Å"all,† â€Å"any,† â€Å"both,† â€Å"either,† â€Å"enough,† â€Å"a few,† â€Å"some,† â€Å"every† and many others. Like â€Å"a† or â€Å"an,† these words do not specify singular things, but nevertheless tell us something about the noun being described, usually to do with the number or quantity being discussed. In the sentence â€Å"I will cuddle every puppy,† for example, â€Å"every† shows I’m referring to every single puppy in the room, in the world, or every puppy available. In â€Å"I will cuddle any puppy,† meanwhile, the determiner â€Å"any† shows that, while I’m happy to cuddle a puppy, I will not necessarily commit to cuddling all of them. No matter how adorable they are. Sorry, little dude. Youll have to cuddle yourself. [Photo: Jonathon Kriz]