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Study Notes - Determiners

The document discusses various types of determiners in English: 1. Articles like a, an, the and their uses with nouns and adjectives. 2. Demonstratives like this, that, these, those and their uses referring to things that are close or far away. 3. Possessives like his, her, their to show possession of nouns. 4. Quantifiers like many, much, some, any to indicate quantities. It discusses the different uses of little, a little, the little as well as few, a few, the few. 5. Other determiners discussed are distributives like each, every, either, neither and interrogatives

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86 views5 pages

Study Notes - Determiners

The document discusses various types of determiners in English: 1. Articles like a, an, the and their uses with nouns and adjectives. 2. Demonstratives like this, that, these, those and their uses referring to things that are close or far away. 3. Possessives like his, her, their to show possession of nouns. 4. Quantifiers like many, much, some, any to indicate quantities. It discusses the different uses of little, a little, the little as well as few, a few, the few. 5. Other determiners discussed are distributives like each, every, either, neither and interrogatives

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Rudra Patel
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DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL - BOPAL, AHMEDABAD

STUDY MATERIAL – 2021-22


CLASS: IX SUBJECT: English
____________________________________________________________________________

DETERMINERS

A. Articles
We already know that there are three articles in English—A, An, and The. Of these, ‘a’ and ‘an’
are indefinite articles while ‘the’ is the definite article. An article is placed before a noun but if
there is an adjective before a noun, the article is placed before the adjective.

 a carpenter – a skilled carpenter


 the ball – the heavy ball

Difference between W and ‘An’


‘A’ is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound. An’ is used before a word
beginning with a vowel sound.

 a cow, a man, a girl, a Canadian, a dreamy boy, etc.


 an MLA, an egg, an hour, an honest man, an apple, etc.

Use of ‘A’ and ‘An’

 To convey the numerical sense of ‘one’.


An honest man is an asset to the nation.
 To change a Proper Noun into a Common Noun.
There should be a Krishan in every family.
 To point out an unfamiliar person, animal or a thing.
I met a girl in the street.
 To- talk about any one member of a class.
A dog is a very faithful animal.

Use of ‘The’
‘The’ is used in the following cases:

1. Before the superlative degree.

Neena is the shortest girl in her class.


o
2. When we talk of a particular person or a thing.
o Did you meet the girl?
o Have you seen the movie?
3. We use ‘the’ with something or someone already referred to.
o The man who is standing at the door is my uncle.
o This is the ring you gave me.
4. With a common noun when that noun represents the whole class.
o The donkey is a beast of burden.
5. When we refer to holy books, newspapers, geographical places, rivers, seas and oceans,
well-known buildings, mountain ranges, races, some countries, whole families, etc.
o The Gita, The Arabian Sea.
o The United Kingdom. The Gandhis.
o The Aravalis.
o The Times of India.
o The Brahmaputra.
o The Red Fort.
6. We use ‘the’ when there is only one of something which is unique.
o The Sun, The EJarth, The Equator,
o The North Pole.
7. With adjectives when those adjectives area used as nouns.
o The rich always exploit the poor.
8. Note the use of ‘the’ in the following phrases and expressions.
o Sold by the dozen, on the other hand”
o The more, the merrier, speak the truth.

Demonstratives
1. This and these refer to persons or objects close by. This is used before a singular noun and
these before plural nouns.
This dress has been stitched by my mother.
These gifts are for you.

2. That and Those refer to persons or things at a distance. That is used before a singular noun and
those before plural nouns.
That building was constructed long time back.
Those birds are flying quite high.

3. This and That can be used before the uncountable nouns also.
This crop has got spoilt.
That food was for beggars.

Possessives
‘They are called possessives because they possess the nouns that follow them.
His mother. Her book. My bag.
Their house. Our work. Your car.
(a) Possessives can be used before both singular and plural nouns.
My chair His wallet Your wallet
My chairs Her bags Her bed.

(b) They can also be used before the countable noun^ and uncountable nouns.
His office Our office Their ministers

Distributives
Each, Every
(a) Each is used in speaking of two or more persons or things. It signifies the individuals in a
limited group.

 Each child was dressed beautifully.


 Each individual from the group shall be given the ration.

(b) Every is used in speaking of more than two persons or things. It signifies a large or indefinite
number.

 Every child should obey rules.


 Every Indian should be proud of his/her country. ‘

(c) Either
It has two meanings.
(i) Any of the two different things or persons.

 You can take either road, (anyone road)


 Beautiful landscape is there on either side of the museum, (on both the sides)

(d) Neither
It is the opposite of either. It means not one nor the other.
(i) She is on neither side.

 I liked neither of the designs.

Quantifiers
These tell us about number or quantity. Some quantifiers can be used only with countable, some
with only uncountables and there are some which go with both.
(a) Many: It is used before the countable noun and suggests a large number.

 I carry many books and notebooks to school.

(b) Several: Suggests number and is used before countables.


 There were several instruments in the shop.

(c) Much: Denotes large quantity and is used before uncountables.

 Much water has flown since then.

(d) Some: Suggests quantity, number or degree. It is used in Affirmative or Interrogative


sentences
when a positive response is desired or expected.

 There were some confidential papers kept on the table.


 Can you please pass me some sugar?

(e) Any: Also suggests quantity, degree or number. It is used in Negative sentences or where
a negative response is expected.

 Have you done any work so far?


 Is there any female in the office?
 I don’t have any money.

(f) Little, A Little, the Little – denote quantity

 Little – means not much, almost nil in quantity. It has negative meaning.
She has little hope of recovery.
 A little – means some in quantity, though not much. It has a positive meaning.
There is hope of a little water for villagers.
 The little – means the whole quantity though very small.
The little money that he offered, proved useful.

(g) Few, A few, The few, – denote number

 Few – means almost nil in number. It has a negative meaning.


Few students try to improve themselves.
 A few – means some at least though not many. It has a positive meaning. *
Only a few were able to complete.
 The few – means all of what is left, though small in number.
The few children who participated scored very well.

Interrogatives
These determine help to ask questions. What, which, whose, how much, and how many are
interrogatives. These can be used before any kind of noun.

 Which train goes to Patna?


 How many bottles of cold drinks will be served at the party?
 Whose books are these?

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