Determiners are words that introduce a noun and provide information about it without describing it. There are four main types of determiners: articles, demonstratives, possessives, and quantifiers. Articles include the definite article "the" and indefinite articles "a" and "an". Demonstratives are words like "this" and "that" that point to nouns. Possessives indicate noun possession, like "my" or "Sam's". Quantifiers provide information about quantity, such as "all", "some", or number words. Determiners must precede a noun or noun phrase.

2. •Determiners are words that introduce a noun and
provide some information about it (but do NOT describe
it).
•Examples: the ball, his son, five cats, more cars.
DETERMINERS

3. HOW DO WE IDENTIFY A DETERMINER?
If a word can appear here , it is a
determiner:
1. any common noun
Examples:
The thing, his things, five things, some things,
many things, a thing, several things, few things,
each thing, those things, their things, etc.
Note: some determiners, like “much”, may only
introduce noncount nouns.

4. THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF
DETERMINERS:
Articles
Possessives
Demonstratives
Quantifiers

5. ARTICLES
There are only three articles in English:
The, a, an

6. “the” is called the Definite Article:
It normally introduces a noun that is familiar
to the listener. Example: The earth is round.
“the” may introduce either a singular or a
plural noun.
“a” or “an” are called the Indefinite Article:
“a” or “an” normally introduce a noun that is
not yet familiar to the listener. Example:
I saw a new movie.
“a” or “an” may only introduce a singular noun.

7. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “A” AND “AN”?
“a” precedes words that start with a
consonant sound.
Examples: a table, a chair,
and also… a eulogy
“an” precedes words that start with a
vowel sound.
Examples: an apple, an umbrella,
and also… an hour

8. DEMONSTRATIVES
Demonstratives are words that are used
to point at someone or something
(whether it’s concrete or abstract).
Examples: that book; this time; these
ideas; those chairs
There are only four demonstratives in
English:

9. Singular Demonstratives:
This
That
Plural Demonstratives:
These
Those

10. In order to be called a DETERMINER, a demonstrative
MUST be followed by a noun-phrase:
1. I like this room.
 “this” is a determiner in sentence (1).
2. I like this.
“this” is NOT a determiner in sentence (2).
How do we know?
Because determiners need to precede noun-
phrases! In sentence (2) no noun-phrase follows
the word “this”

11. IS THE UNDERLINED WORDA
DETERMINER?
•
•
•
•
John likes that movie.
That is the best.
That guy is nice.
John thinks that apples are tasty.
“that” in (4) is NOT a determiner, because
it is not used to point at apples!

12. POSSESSIVES
Possessives are words that usually
indicate possession or belonging of a
noun.
Examples: his birthday, Sam’s book,
her idea, New York’s subway
There are two kinds of possessives:
1. possessive determiner pronouns
2. possessive determiner proper nouns

13. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
There are only seven possessive
determiner pronouns:
my; your; his ; her ; its ; our ; their
Note:
-The difference between its and it’s.
-The difference between “their”,
“there” and “they’re”.

14. In order to be called a DETERMINER, a possessive
pronoun MUST be followed by a noun-phrase:
1. His essay was the best.
 “His” is a determiner in sentence (1).
2. His was the best essay.
“His” is NOT a determiner in sentence (2).
How do we know?
Because determiners need to precede noun-
phrases! In sentence (2) no noun-phrase follows
the word “his”.

15. ANOTHER WAY TO TEST IF A POSSESSIVE
PRONOUN IS A DETERMINER OR NOT:
Replace “his” with “her”, and see if the
sentence is grammatical:
1. His essay was the best. 
Her essay was the best.
2. His was the best exam. 
*Her was the best exam.
Since in (2) the Test Sentence gets a *,
“his” in (2) is NOT a determiner.

16. POSSESSIVE PROPER NOUNS
A proper noun with apostrophe ‘s is a
“possessive proper noun”
Examples:
Mary’s car, CUNY’s students, Mr.
Smith’s wife
(Note: These are Determiners, and
NOT proper nouns).

17. QUANTIFIERS
•QUANTIFIERS ARE WORDS THAT INDICATE THE
•QUANTITY OR AMOUNT OF A NOUN.
•EXAMPLES: THREE PENCILS; ALL COUNTRIES; SOME
BOOKS; LITTLE TIME; EACH STORY.
•COMMON QUANTIFIERS:
•ALL, ANY, BOTH, EACH, EITHER, ENOUGH, EVERY, FEW,
LITTLE, MOST, MUCH, NEITHER, NO, SEVERAL, SOME, ANY
NUMBER (E.G. FIVE, TWELVE, ETC.)

18. TO CONCLUDE:
The Determiners are:
•
•
•
•
Articles
Demonstratives
Possessives
Quantifiers