What Is a Determiner?

A determiner is a type of word that goes directly in front of a noun to provide more contextual information about it. It can tell you something about the location of the noun in relation to the speaker, something about its amount, or information about ownership. The words ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are also a type of determiner, known as articles.

What types of determiners are there?

The main types of determiners are as follows:

Articles – The define and indefinite articles, ‘the,’ ‘a’ and ‘an.’
Demonstratives – ‘this’ and ‘that.’ These provide more context about the location of the noun in relation to the speaker (i.e. this one here and that one there).
Numbers – Words such as ‘one,’ ‘two,’ ‘three’ (cardinal numbers); and ‘first,’ ‘second’ and ‘third’ (ordinal numbers, so called as they place items in an order).
Quantifiers – Tell you how much or how many of something there is. They include words such as ‘some,’ ‘any,’ ‘all,’ ‘much,’ ‘more,’ and ‘few.’
Possessive Adjectives – Telling you about ownership, we use the words ‘my,’ ‘your,’ ‘his,’ ‘her,’ ‘its,’ ‘our’ and ‘their’ as possessive adjectives in English.
Interrogative determiners – These are used when we are subjecting the noun to a question, or interrogating the noun. For example: ‘which car?’, ‘what food?’ or ‘whose house?’

What is the difference between the definite and indefinite article?

An article is used to determine whether a noun in a sentence is either known to the audience (the definite article) or non-specific and general (the indefinite article). For more, see ‘What is an article?‘

How do the demonstrative determiners work in English?

The demonstrative determiners are inflected by number in English – this means the form changes based on whether the noun is singular or plural. The table below shows the declension of the demonstrative determiner:

What is the difference between cardinal and ordinal numbers?

Cardinal numbers are used with countable nouns and tell you how many of something there is. Ordinal numbers, on the other hand, tell you the position of something in an order. Ordinal numbers are formed by taking the cardinal number and adding the suffix ‘-th,’ except for first, second and third, which are irregular. Notice also the variations for fifth, eighth and ninth.

Cardinal Numbers	Ordinal Numbers
one	first
two	second
three	third
four	fourth
five	fifth
six	sixth
seven	seventh
eight	eighth
nine	ninth
ten	tenth

How do quantifiers as determiners work?

Quantifiers tell you how many or how much of something there is. The quantities are often wholly unspecific, such as ‘many,’ and ‘much,’ or only vaguely specific, such as ‘several’ or ‘few’ or ‘little.’ They can also be negative, such as the use of ‘no’ in the phrase, “No house was left undamaged by the storm.”

Sometimes we must use different quantifying determiners depending on whether the noun is countable or uncountable.

Countable nouns are those that can have a quantity applied, while uncountable nouns are impossible to count, such as ‘air’ or ‘water.’

For example, dogs are countable. You can therefore say, “Many dogs like to bury bones.” However, you can’t say “Many water is used.” In this case, we say “Much water is used.”

What are the possessive adjectives?

We use the words ‘my’, ‘your,’ ‘his,’ ‘her,’ ‘its,’ ‘our’ and ‘their’ as possessive adjectives in English.

What are interrogative determiners?

These can also be referred to as interrogative adjectives.

These are used when we are subjecting the noun to a question, or interrogating the noun. For example: ‘which car?,’ ‘what food?’ or ‘whose house?’

We use ‘which’ when we are asking about a choice from a known selection. For example, if we know there are two cars in the garage, we might say, “Which car shall we take?” On the other hand, when the selection is less understood, we use ‘what.’ Compare for example, “What car should we buy?” or a question such as, “What food do you like?”