Determiners: The Building Blocks of Language

Determiners are words that help us identify and specify nouns in a sentence. They can be categorized into several types, including determiners of quantity, determiners of distribution, interrogative determiners, pre-determiners, central determiners, and post-determiners.

Determiners of Quantity

When we use countable nouns, such as birds or pencils, we often use determiners to specify how many or which specific item is being referred to. For example, "many birds" indicates a large number of birds, while "some water" implies a smaller amount. Conversely, when we use uncountable nouns like "water", the lack of specificity requires additional context or clarification.

The distinction between countable and uncountable nouns is crucial in determining which determiner to use. As an example, "a little water" suggests that only a small amount of water is being referred to, while "much water" implies a larger quantity. Uncountable nouns like "water" do not have distinct units or quantities, so the concept of determiners is less applicable.

Determiners of Distribution

Determiners of distribution refer to words that express whether something can exist in one place or another, and which ones it can exist in. These determiners help us understand how many options are available. For instance, "this wall" implies that there are two colors: red and blue. The word "neither" indicates that a particular option is not available.

The use of determiners of distribution helps us make decisions based on our preferences. In the sentence "I will choose neither coffee nor tea", the speaker is indicating that they do not want either option, but rather are open to other alternatives.

Interrogative Determiners

When we ask questions, we typically use interrogative determiners like "what", "which", and "whose". These words help us identify a specific noun or object being referred to in the question. For example, "Which book did you read?" implies that we want to know which particular book is being asked about.

Interrogative determiners play an essential role in asking questions and seeking clarification. They provide context and specificity, helping us narrow down the focus of our inquiry.

Pre-Determiners

Pre-determiners are words that specify a quantity or amount before the noun they modify. These determiners help to clarify how much or how many something is. For instance, "once", "twice", and "three" all indicate specific quantities or amounts.

Examples of pre-determiners include "the price of the ticket was three dollars", where "three" indicates a specific amount, and "I spent once on vacation", where "once" implies a single event.

Central Determiners

Central determiners are words that stand between pre-determiners and post-determiners in a sentence. They provide more specificity than pre-determiners but less than post-determiners. The most commonly used central determiner is the article, specifically "the".

Articles, such as "the" or "a", help to clarify which noun is being referred to. For example, "I bought the book you recommended" implies that only one specific book was chosen.

Examples of other central determiners include "both", "all", and "some". These words provide more specificity than pre-determiners but are less precise than post-determiners.

Post-Determiners

Post-determiners are words that come after the noun they modify. They can be used to express a quantity, an amount, or a specific description. Cardinal numbers like "one", "two", and "three" are examples of post-determiners.

Ordinal numbers like "first", "second", and "third" also fall under this category. These words provide more specificity than pre-determiners but less than central determiners. For instance, "I finished first in the competition" implies that only one person came in first place.

In addition to cardinal and ordinal numbers, post-determiners can include words like "the", "some", and "any". The word "a" is also a type of post-determiner when used before singular nouns.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: engood morning students today we shall discuss our first chapter of everyday English grammar and composition that is determinant so determiners are the words that specify or determine the reference of nouns and noun phrases items used in almost every sentence like articles possessives and demonstrative are called determiners example several people admit to what more spec so before the noun people but several is determinant determinant may be classified based on the function they perform first is article so as we all know that II and the are called articles so first of all we will read the use of P and M so E and n are used before single countable now example next is we need an artist to paint over our window glasses so both are used before singular countable nouns next is thoo thoo is used to refer to specific things like the red car in front of the house is new the old man and a young boy went for a walk though is used to refer to specific thing next is demonstratives so this that these those are demonstrate this example if can you give me this pen so this is used for the things that are near to and that that word is used for the things that these word is plural of this and those birdies plural of that so next is possessives my your his her it's our and day our house is on a hill so they car broke down in front of the mall so and they are examples of possessives next is determiners of quantity these tells us how much or how many some of these determiners are used solely with countable nouns while others are used with uncountable now see some examples are a few few or little o any both enough many more much so these are examples of determiners of quantity c with countable nouns birds like many pencils much water is an example of uncountable no and next is with both countable or uncountable Oh whole bodies used with both countable and uncountable now all word is used for both countable and uncountable see next example a few pencils in countable and with uncountable now a little water and we bought some pencils water next is much is normally used for questions and negative statements like how much wire do we need so much is used with questions and negative statements it didn't take much time but much work to clean this room so this is negative statement we use most with journal Laurel know most schools today have a computer left so schools word is plural no a singular noun follows the expression many or many a young man has aspirations to fame without really working towards it so this is an example of singular now tallest expression many next is determiners of number when we use numbers before a noun their functions as function as determiners so there are two types of numbers are there first is cardinal and second one is ordinal so cardinal numbers tells us about quantity see example we will take five minutes to reach there are 10 packets of noodles and 20 hungry children when we use ordinal numbers like first second third as determiners they show sequence so we use ordinal numbers for telling sequence and we use cardinal number for telling quantity this determiners of distribution determiners of distribution the determiners either neither each and every show distribution like this wall can be either color red or blue so red or blue shows distribution so next is neither sister is willing to help him so this is an example of determiners of distribution next is interrogative determiners when we ask questions we use interrogative determinants like what which and whose whose house is this so this is an example of interrogative determiners next we will discuss pre determiner central determiners then post determiner so in a sentence we often use more than one determiner before unknown we gave present to all our teachers on teachers day now we can divide determiners into three categories based on the order in which they occur in of phrase see first is predetermine our second one is central determiners and third is post determiners so but we will discuss pre determiners when we wish to specify a quantity known we use pre determiners before them which include expressions that multiply quantity including expression that ends in 4 times like once twice ten times etc you need to make thrice this effort to pass so words like price once ten times are called pre determiners words that stand for fractions like half one third three fourth etcetera are also called pre determiners example manish finished off half the ice cream the words like all and both are also considered as as pre determiners like did you read both the books so this is an example of pre determiners which specify quantity enough now next is central determiners central determiners occur after pre determiners and before post Dominus examples the most commonly used central determiners are the articles e n though there is half a glass of milk in the fridge so so this is an example of particles next is the possessives are also classified as central to terminals words like my his there these are also central determinacy example i spent all my money at the fair next is the demonstratives our central d terminals like this that these those these words are also considered as central determiners like please put all these marbles in the jar next is central determiners include interrogative determiners what which whose so whose pencil is this this is also an example of central determiners other central determiners include no each every either neither some any you know so these are examples of central determiners next we will discuss postie terminus cardinal and ordinal numbers are post determinist o4 v v etc then we left the two children home it was quite late so this is an example of post determiner next is journal ordinals like last next other another etcetera are also posted terminus please try another color this is to prime so this is an example of post autonomy when used together ordinal always comes before Cardinals so when we use both ordinal and cardinal numbers so the ordinal number will always come first the last six runs was caught by searching so last is Cottonelle and six is Cardinal quantifies like many few several much little etcetera post determiners I hope my little contribution will help so this is an example of quantifiers which is post determiners so remember if an adjective is used to describe a noun it comes after all the pain all the determiners example the first famous person I met was Kieran baby so this is an example of this kind as we we can see from the examples above we may have 200 or more post determiners before now so I hope you understand this chapter well thanksgood morning students today we shall discuss our first chapter of everyday English grammar and composition that is determinant so determiners are the words that specify or determine the reference of nouns and noun phrases items used in almost every sentence like articles possessives and demonstrative are called determiners example several people admit to what more spec so before the noun people but several is determinant determinant may be classified based on the function they perform first is article so as we all know that II and the are called articles so first of all we will read the use of P and M so E and n are used before single countable now example next is we need an artist to paint over our window glasses so both are used before singular countable nouns next is thoo thoo is used to refer to specific things like the red car in front of the house is new the old man and a young boy went for a walk though is used to refer to specific thing next is demonstratives so this that these those are demonstrate this example if can you give me this pen so this is used for the things that are near to and that that word is used for the things that these word is plural of this and those birdies plural of that so next is possessives my your his her it's our and day our house is on a hill so they car broke down in front of the mall so and they are examples of possessives next is determiners of quantity these tells us how much or how many some of these determiners are used solely with countable nouns while others are used with uncountable now see some examples are a few few or little o any both enough many more much so these are examples of determiners of quantity c with countable nouns birds like many pencils much water is an example of uncountable no and next is with both countable or uncountable Oh whole bodies used with both countable and uncountable now all word is used for both countable and uncountable see next example a few pencils in countable and with uncountable now a little water and we bought some pencils water next is much is normally used for questions and negative statements like how much wire do we need so much is used with questions and negative statements it didn't take much time but much work to clean this room so this is negative statement we use most with journal Laurel know most schools today have a computer left so schools word is plural no a singular noun follows the expression many or many a young man has aspirations to fame without really working towards it so this is an example of singular now tallest expression many next is determiners of number when we use numbers before a noun their functions as function as determiners so there are two types of numbers are there first is cardinal and second one is ordinal so cardinal numbers tells us about quantity see example we will take five minutes to reach there are 10 packets of noodles and 20 hungry children when we use ordinal numbers like first second third as determiners they show sequence so we use ordinal numbers for telling sequence and we use cardinal number for telling quantity this determiners of distribution determiners of distribution the determiners either neither each and every show distribution like this wall can be either color red or blue so red or blue shows distribution so next is neither sister is willing to help him so this is an example of determiners of distribution next is interrogative determiners when we ask questions we use interrogative determinants like what which and whose whose house is this so this is an example of interrogative determiners next we will discuss pre determiner central determiners then post determiner so in a sentence we often use more than one determiner before unknown we gave present to all our teachers on teachers day now we can divide determiners into three categories based on the order in which they occur in of phrase see first is predetermine our second one is central determiners and third is post determiners so but we will discuss pre determiners when we wish to specify a quantity known we use pre determiners before them which include expressions that multiply quantity including expression that ends in 4 times like once twice ten times etc you need to make thrice this effort to pass so words like price once ten times are called pre determiners words that stand for fractions like half one third three fourth etcetera are also called pre determiners example manish finished off half the ice cream the words like all and both are also considered as as pre determiners like did you read both the books so this is an example of pre determiners which specify quantity enough now next is central determiners central determiners occur after pre determiners and before post Dominus examples the most commonly used central determiners are the articles e n though there is half a glass of milk in the fridge so so this is an example of particles next is the possessives are also classified as central to terminals words like my his there these are also central determinacy example i spent all my money at the fair next is the demonstratives our central d terminals like this that these those these words are also considered as central determiners like please put all these marbles in the jar next is central determiners include interrogative determiners what which whose so whose pencil is this this is also an example of central determiners other central determiners include no each every either neither some any you know so these are examples of central determiners next we will discuss postie terminus cardinal and ordinal numbers are post determinist o4 v v etc then we left the two children home it was quite late so this is an example of post determiner next is journal ordinals like last next other another etcetera are also posted terminus please try another color this is to prime so this is an example of post autonomy when used together ordinal always comes before Cardinals so when we use both ordinal and cardinal numbers so the ordinal number will always come first the last six runs was caught by searching so last is Cottonelle and six is Cardinal quantifies like many few several much little etcetera post determiners I hope my little contribution will help so this is an example of quantifiers which is post determiners so remember if an adjective is used to describe a noun it comes after all the pain all the determiners example the first famous person I met was Kieran baby so this is an example of this kind as we we can see from the examples above we may have 200 or more post determiners before now so I hope you understand this chapter well thanks\n"