Determiners in English with Rules, Examples, and Exercise
Determiners are words such as (the, my, this, some, twenty, each, and any) which are used before nouns (subject and object) to determine them.
Definition: Determiners are words such as (the, my, this, some, twenty, each, and any) which are used before nouns (subject and object) to determine them by referring or quantifying them:
Types of Determiners: Determiners include the followings.
1-: Articles: the, a, an
Use of ‘The’ (for definite sense) : I saw the boy who stole your purse.
Use of ‘A’ (for consonant sound): I saw a boy.
Use of ‘A’ (for consonant sound): An honest man gave me an apple.
2- Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
Use:
This pen is better than that.
These people will fight with those ones.
3- Pronouns and possessive determiners: my, your, his, her, its, our, their……Possessives are used according to the particular subjects and objects.
| Subject | Object | Possessive |
| I | me | my |
| We | us | our |
| You | you | your |
| He | him | his |
| She | her | her |
| They | them | their |
| It | it | its |
| One | one | ones |
Use: My father went to Delhi with his parents.
One should obey one’s parents.
4- Quantifiers: a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough
Use: A lot of students appeared in the exam but only a few students succeeded.
Numbers: one, ten, thirty
Twenty flowers were white in the garden, but five flowers were red.
5- Distributives: all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
Use: Either boy of the two was there, but neither girl of them could reach.
6- Difference words: other, another
Use: Other people gathered there and took the patient to the hospital.
7- Pre-determiners: such, what, rather, quite
Use: Avoid such boys who waste their time.
Exercise-1 Fill in the blank with the correct determiner.
- Could you bring me……. books I left in the garden?
- ………..sun rises from the east.
- The doctor advised me to eat……… apple every morning.
- There aren’t……….. students in the library.
- I haven’t got ………. pictures in my bedroom.
- She gave a cookie to……… child.
- I’ve got to solve……….. math problems before I go to sleep.
- (With a bowl of cherries on your lap)………. cherries are delicious!
- My mother doesn’t drink ………… coffee.
- I always keep …………. money in my wallet for emergencies.
Exercise-2 Fill in the blanks with the suitable option from the given ones.
- I don’t like ………………….. of my competitors.
either
neither
both
2. ……………………… people don’t trust politicians.
Most
Most of
3. Neither …………………………………… the door.
keys open
key opens
key open
4. Neither of …………………………………… valid.
this argument is
these arguments is
these arguments are
5. ………………….. the shops are closed on Sundays.
Most
Most of
Either could be used here
6. They spend ……………………… their income on movies.
half
half of
Either could be used here
7. …………………………… my friends wished me on my birthday.
No one of
None of
None
8. ……………… child was given a present.
Each
Each of
9. ……………………………. his ideas are quite interesting.
All
All of
Either could be used here
10. ………………………….. my children are engineers.
Both
Both of
Either could be used here
11. His ideas are ………………………. different from those of his peers.
little
less
least
12. The new job isn’t …………………………. different from the old one.
many
much
most