Determiners ( types of determiners.... definite and indefinite articles)

Introduction: 

A Determiner is a word, phrase or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. That is, a determiner may indicate whether the noun is referring to a definite or indefinite element of a class, to a closer or more distant element, to an element belonging to a specified person or thing, to a particular number or quantity, etc.Common kinds of determiners include definite and indefinite articles (like the English the and a[n]), demonstratives (like this and that), possessive determiners (like my and their), and quantifiers (like many, few and several).

Examples

The girl is a student.

I've lost my keys.

Some folks get all the luck.

Which book is that?

I only had thirty-seven drinks.

I'll take this one.

Both windows were open.      

Types of determiners:

Articles:

The definite and indefinite articles are all determiners.

• Definite article - the
• Indefinite article - a or an (a is used before a consonant sound; an is used before a vowel sound.)

Close the door, please.
I've got a friend in Canada.

Demonstratives

There are four demonstrative determiners in English and they are: this, that, these and those

Note that demonstrative determiners can also be used as demonstrative pronouns. When they are used as determiners they are followed by the nouns they modify. Compare:

This is my camera. (Demonstrative used as a pronoun, subject of the verb is)
This camera is mine. (Demonstrative used as a determiner modifying the noun camera.)

Possessives

Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun following it in order to show possession.

Possessive determiners are different from possessive pronouns - mine, his, hers, yours, ours, their.

• Possessive pronouns can stand alone and are not followed by nouns.
• Possessive determiners, on the other hand, are followed by nouns.

Compare:

This is my house. (my is a possessive determiner. It is followed by the noun housewhich it modifies)
Is that car yours? (yours is a possessive pronoun. It is not followed by a noun.)

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are followed by nouns which they modify. Examples of quantifiers include:

some, any, few, little, more, much, many, each, every, both, all, enough, half, little, whole, less etc.

Quantifiers are commonly used before either countable or uncountable nouns.

He knows more people than his wife.
Little knowledge is a dangerous thing .

Numerals

Numbers are cardinal (one, two, three, etc) and ordinal (first, second, third, etc). Cardinal numbers are adjectives that indicate quantity (There are five apples on the table), and ordinal numbers indicate rank or order (This is the first time for me on a plane).

There are five apples on the table.

Distributives

The words all, both, half, each, every, either and neither are known as distributives.

All my life I have been waiting for this moment.
Both the dogs have passed away.
Half the village perished in the floods.

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