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.

SubjectObjectPossessive
Imemy
Weusour
Youyouyour
Hehimhis
Sheherher
Theythemtheir
Ititits
Oneoneones

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.

  1. Could you bring me…….  books I left in the garden?
  2. ………..sun rises from the east.
  3. The doctor advised me to eat……… apple every morning.
  4. There aren’t………..  students in the library.
  5. I haven’t got ………. pictures in my bedroom.
  6. She gave a cookie to………  child.
  7. I’ve got to solve………..  math problems before I go to sleep.
  8. (With a bowl of cherries on your lap)………. cherries are delicious!
  9. My mother doesn’t drink ………… coffee.
  10. I always keep …………. money in my wallet for emergencies.

Exercise-2 Fill in the blanks with the suitable option from the given ones.

  1. 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

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