Determiners (the, my, some, this)

Determiners are words such as the, my, this, some, twenty, each, any, which are used before
nouns. Determiners include the following common types:
Articles:a, an, the
Demonstratives:this, that, these, those
Possessives:my, your, his, her, etc.
Quantifiers:(a) few, some, many, etc.
Numbers:one, two, three, etc.

Determiners are words such as the, my, this, some, twenty, each, any, which are used before
nouns:
the countryside some paper this old sofa

my father five green chairs each person

Determiners include the following common types:

Articles: a/an, the
Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, x’s (possessive ’s)
Quantifiers: (a) few, fewer, (a) little, many, much, more, most, some, any, etc.
Numbers: one, two, three, etc.

Here is a list of the determiners.

Many of them have individual entries:
(a) few, fewer, fewest every most that

(a) little half much the

(an)other her my their

a/an his neither these

all its no this

any Jim’s, Anna’s, etc. one, two, three, etc. those

both least our what

each less several which

either many some whose

enough more such your

Sometimes we don’t use a determiner before the noun. We call this ‘zero determiner’:
Dogs love biscuits.

What do determiners do?

Determiners have two main functions: referring and quantifying.
Referring
Referring means showing us who or what the noun is pointing to or talking about.

The most common types of determiners which we use for referring are articles, possessives and
demonstratives:
A:
Where’s the newspaper?
B:
It’s on the sofa. (the means the noun refers to something the speaker and listener both know or
are familiar with)
A:
Have you seen my MP3 player anywhere?
B:
Yes. It’s on the kitchen table. (my refers to something which belongs to the speaker; the refers
to something the speaker and listener can both identify because they both know or share
knowledge about it.)
Do you want this bag or are you going to put it in that box? (this refers to something near the
speaker; that refers to something further away.)
Charles is looking for his dictionary. Have you got it? (his means the noun refers to something
belonging to a male, in this case, Charles.)

Quantifying
‘Quantifying’ means showing how much of something there is, or how many:
Five people were arrested during an anti-war demonstration in London today.
There are some letters here for you. (some means a non-specific, small number or quantity of
something.)
Do you have enough flour to make the bread. (enough means a quantity that is sufficient or
adequate for something).

Determiners and any type of noun

Some determiners can be used with any type of noun, singular or plural, countable or
uncountable.
Determiners which can be used in this way:
1. any (‘strong form’ meaning ‘it doesn’t matter which’)
2. some (‘strong form’ meaning ‘certain/particular’; stressed and pronounced /sʌm/)
3. which (as a question word)
what (as a question word)
4. my, your, his, Anna’s, etc.
5. such
6. the
7. what
8. whose
9. no
countable uncountable

A: Any information you can give me

Singular Where would you like to sit? about the trains would be very
B: useful.
 countable uncountable

Any seat in the front row will be fine. (I Whose advice do you listen to
don’t mind which seat/It’s not important most, your parents’ or your
which seat) teachers’?
Whose jacket is this?

Some students always turn up late for Some processed meat contains a
Plural class. (certain students) high level of salt.
There were no children at the hotel. I have no news for you.
See also:
• Some and any
Determiners followed by pronouns
We can use these determiners + of before pronouns:
(a) few, fewer each many one, two, three, etc.

(a) little either more several

another enough most some

all every one much those

any half neither which

both less
We had twenty tickets to sell and we sold all of them in less than an hour.
A:Which box do you want?
B:Either of them will be fine, thanks.
We’ve got loads of umbrellas – you can borrow one of ours.

Determiners: position and order

Where do determiners go?

Determiners come first in noun phrases, before adjectives and noun modifiers.
determiner(s) adjective(s) noun modifier(s) head noun

her little brother

every university student

three big, old kitchen tables

my two best friends

More than one determiner

We can use more than one determiner in a noun phrase:
My two best friends at school were Mike and Terry.
All your books got wet when you left them in the garden – do you remember?
We don’t use two referring determiners or two quantifying determiners together:
We sold the house.
We sold our house.
Not: We sold the our house.
I have some questions.
I have many questions.
Not: I have some many questions.
However, we can use a quantifying determiner (some, many, enough, etc.) + of together with
a referring determiner (the, this, my, etc):
Many of the people present were very angry.
Some of his friends are awful people.

When there is more than one determiner in a noun phrase, we put them in a fixed order. The
table shows the order from left to right.

quantifier possessive
number
(e.g. all, article (a/an, demonstrative (this, (e.g. my, head
(e.g. one,
both, the) that, these, those) her, our, noun
three, 26)
some) Anna’s)

all (of) the children

both (of) my parents

his two sisters

many of these animals

the three girls

half a mile

none of those six glasses

some of our friends

Many, much, more, most, few, little

We can use many, much, more, most, few and little after the or after a demonstrative or a
possessive, especially in formal styles:
She spent the little money she had left on a new coat and hat.
Those few books which were not destroyed in the fire have been transferred to the new
library.
I shall invite my many friends to join me on my 65th birthday.
All, both, half
All, both and half can come before articles, demonstratives and possessives. We can use them
with or without of, with no difference in meaning:
All that food should be put in the fridge. (or All of that food)
Do both your parents work in the city? (or both of your parents)
Half the people at the party hadn’t been invited. (or Half of the people)

One of, most of, etc.

Determiners other than all, both and half must be used with of if they come before articles,
demonstratives or possessives:
Do you want any of these boxes, or shall I throw them away?
Not: Do you want any these boxes…
Most of her school friends got married before she did.
I’d like some of the green grapes, please.
Two of my favourite programmes are on TV at the same time!

Determiners which we use with of in this way are:

(a) few enough most

(a) little every (every one of) much

all fewer neither

another fewest no (pronoun form none)

any least one, two, three, etc.

both less several

each many some

either more which

In formal styles, we use each of, every one of, none of and any of with a singular verb when
they are the subject:
Each of the children was given a place to hang their coat and bag.
None of my friends owns a house.
However, in informal speaking, people often use plural verbs:
None of the computers are working. They’re all being repaired at the moment.
Determiners with and without of may have slightly different meanings.
Compare
without of with of

Some of the people in the hall sounded very

Some people had gathered in the main
angry. (a proportion of the particular group of
square. (a fairly small number of people)
people)

I wish we had more of this paper. I like the

The school needs more teachers. (a
colour. (a greater quantity of this particular
greater number of teachers)
paper)

Few cities have solved the problems Very few of the children seemed to know
associated with traffic congestion. (not basic maths. (not many of the particular group
many cities) of children)
Determiners and modifiers
Determiners which show quantity (underlined) may occasionally have words before them
(modifiers, in bold) which make them more specific or stronger:
Nearly every shop was closed for the public holiday.
The college has received many more applications this year than last year, but the total is
still far fewer than ten years ago.
They were able to give me very little information.

Determiners: typical errors

Some determiners are restricted to certain types of noun:

She gave me some advice.
Not: She gave me an advice (We can’t use a/an with an uncountable noun.)
Europe will face many challenges in the future.
Not: … much challenges… (We can’t use much with a plural noun.)

We can’t use two referring determiners together:

The restaurant is in the middle of my home town.
Not: … of the my home town. (the and my are both referring determiners)

We must use of between a quantifier and another determiner:

I was at a party with some of my friends.
Not: … with some my friends. (some must be followed by of before another determiner)

Determiners used as pronouns

Determiners are words such as the, my, this, some, twenty, each, any, which are used before nouns. We can also
use some determiners as pronouns (i.e. without a noun following and when the meaning is clear without
including the noun).

Compare

before a noun as a pronoun (no noun following)

Would you like some bread with your soup? I’ve got a bar of chocolate here. Would you like some?

A:
We didn’t have enough volunteers to make the Do you need more paper?
project work. B:
No. I’ve got enough, thanks.

Several people complained about the slow It’s not just one school that is in financial difficulty;
service. there are several.

Determiners which can be used as pronouns in this way are:

(a) few either less neither these

(a) little enough many one, two, three, etc. this

another fewer more several those

any fewest most some which

 both least much that whose

each

I’ve had a lot of pairs of sunglasses of different kinds, and I’ve lost a few over the years on various trips.
A:D’you want tea or coffee?
B:Neither, thanks. I’ve just had breakfast.
A:Which shoes do you want to put on?
B:Pass me those, please. The black ones.

Every
Every is a determiner.

Every meaning ‘each member of a group’

We use every + singular noun to refer individually to all the members of a complete group of something:
There’s a photograph on the wall of every child in the school.
Try to answer every question.
When every refers to the subject of the clause, we use a singular verb:
Every player wants to be in a winning team.
Not: Every player want …
Every cook needs good knives and a chopping board.
The negative of every is normally not every:
Not every noun has a plural form.
We use singular pronouns and possessives to refer back to every + noun, especially in more formal styles, and
especially when what we refer to is not human:
Every store has a manager in charge of it.
Every area has its own park.
In less formal styles, the pronoun or possessive may be plural:
Every student gets a laptop. They have to give it back at the end of the course.
Every user has their own password.

Every: regular situations

We use every with a singular noun to refer to something that happens regularly:
The festival is held every August in Budapest.
I leave the house every morning at 6 am.
Not: I leave the house every mornings at 6 am.
We use every with a number and a plural noun to refer to regular intervals of time or numbers:
There are buses into town every ten minutes.
He now works from home, travelling to Amsterdam every two weeks.
Every day or everyday?
We write two words when every day means each day. The adjective everyday is one word. It means ‘normal’ or
‘usual’:
The boys meet up every day in the park.
Not: The boys meet up everyday in the park.
In the Soviet Union, poetry was at the centre of everyday life.

Every single
We often use single with every to emphasise each member of a complete group of people or things:
He was the only player who played in every single match last season.
I’ve got to photocopy every single page.

Every one or everyone?

We use every one, written as two words, to refer back to a noun we have already mentioned:
I received more than a hundred letters from him while I was away and I’ve kept every one.
Everyone, written as one word, means ‘every person’:
Everyone enjoyed themselves.
We use every one of before pronouns and determiners:
There are 107 two-letter words in the dictionary and John Catto, an Aberdeen lorry driver, knows every one
of them.
When Jenkins joined the bank, one of his first acts was to make every one of the bank’s employees reapply for
their jobs.

Every other
We use every other to mean ‘alternate’:
We worked every other Sunday. (One Sunday he worked, the next Sunday he didn’t work, the next Sunday he
worked, etc.)
He works in Germany every other week. (One week he works in Germany, the next week he doesn’t, the next
week he does, etc.)

Every: typical errors

• We don’t use every on its own, without a noun or without one:
There were five rooms. Every room was decorated in a different style.
Not: Every was decorated in a different style.
• We don’t use every with a plural noun:
I go swimming every day.
Not: I go swimming every days.

Possession (John’s car, a friend of mine)

Possessive ’s
We use apostrophe s (’s), also called possessive ’s, as a determiner to show that something belongs to someone
or something:
Is that Olivia’s bag?
Britain’s coastline is very beautiful.
We can also use it in complex noun phrases (underlined):
Greg is her youngest daughter’s husband.
We can use two possessive ’s constructions in the same noun phrase:
We went to Jake’s father’s funeral.
We also use possessive ’s to talk about time and duration:
Is that yesterday’s paper?
I’ve only had one week’s holiday so far this year.
Rules for using possessive ’s
We use ’s after a singular noun and ’ after a plural noun.

Compare

singular noun + ’s plural noun + ’

The girl’s bedroom The girls’ bedroom.

(The bedroom belongs to one girl.) (The bedroom belongs to more than one girl.)

We use ’s with irregular plural nouns (e.g. children, men, people, women):
The children’s parents decided which university they would go to.
They have no respect for other people’s property.
The rules for the pronunciation of a noun with ’s are the same as the rules for pronunciation of plural forms of
nouns.

Compare

noun + ’s or ’ plural noun pronunciation

The cat’s dinner is in the fridge. The cats were running around the garden. /s/

The kids’ uncle gave them all some money. The kids are getting impatient. /z/

George’s brother was there. There are three Georges in my family. /ɪz/
When a first or second name ends in -s, we can either add ’ or ’s. It is more common to use ’ than ’s. When we
speak, we usually pronounce the final part of the word as /zɪz/ or /sɪz/:
Is that James’ car? (or Is that James’s car?) (both usually pronounced /ˈdʒeɪmzɪz/)
I love Keats’ poetry. (or I love Keats’s poetry.) (both usually pronounced /ˈki:tsɪz/)

With compound nouns, we add ’s to the final noun:

My sister-in-law’s friend came with us.
Not: My sister’s-in-law friend
We don’t usually use the possessive ’s with things:
the door handle
Not: the door’s handle
the shop window
Not: the shop’s window
the kitchen table
Not: the kitchen’s table

Spoken English:
When we talk about places which are familiar to the speaker and the listener, we sometimes don’t use the noun
after possessive ’s:
the hairdresser’s salon – the hairdresser’s
the doctor’s surgery – the doctor’s
We had to take our cat to the vet’s twice last month. (the same as: We had to take our cat to the vet’s clinic twice
last month.)
Do you shop in Marks and Spencer’s?
We decided to go to John’s after the cinema. (the same as: We decided to go to John’s house after the cinema.)
In short answers, we can omit the noun if it is not necessary to repeat it:
A:Is that your coat?
B:No, it’s Sandra’s.
We use possessive ’s with words such as one, anyone, someone, anybody, somebody:
It’s important to know one’s rights as a tenant.
Is this someone’s coat here?
When we use else with these words, the ’s is added to else:
Why didn’t you come? Everyone else’s husband was there.

Warning:
The pronoun other has the same forms as nouns. We add ’s to the singular form, and we add an apostrophe after
the plural -s ending in the plural form:
They took each other’s hand and started walking.
All of our luggage arrived but the others’ cases didn’t. The airline promise they will be here this evening.

Warning:
We don’t use ’s with possessive pronouns:
Is that dog yours?
Not: Is that dog your’s?
I think that car is theirs.
Not: I think that car is theirs’
We don’t use ’s with the possessive determiner its. It’s means ‘it is’:
The city is proud of its parks.
Not: The city is proud of it’s parks.

Possessives with of
Noun phrase + of + possessive pronoun
We can talk about possession using the pattern: noun phrase + of + possessive pronoun:
A friend of mine told me that all of the tickets have already sold out.
A:Where’s Martin?
B:He’s gone to pick up a cousin of his at the station.
Is Linda McGrath a close friend of yours?
Warning:

We use a possessive pronoun, not the object form of the pronoun:

A neighbour of mine called late last night.
Not: A neighbour of me …

Noun phrase + of + possessive ’s noun phrase

We can also use the noun phrase + of pattern before a noun phrase with possessive ’s:
He’s a brother of Maria’s.
A friend of my sister’s has opened a café on Dawson Street.
She was a daughter of the President’s.

’s or of or either?
There are some general rules about when to use ’s and when to use of but there are many cases where both are
possible:
The film’s hero or The hero of the film
The car’s safety record or The safety record of the car
The report’s conclusion or The conclusion of the report
Sometimes when we first mention a noun, we use of, and later when we refer to it again, we use ’s:
The mountains of Pakistan are mostly in the north. At least one hundred of them are above 7,000 metres …
Most of Pakistan’s mountains are in the spectacular Karakoram range.

When we don’t use ’s

We don’t use ’s when the noun is not a person, animal, country, organisation, etc., or when the noun phrase is
very long:
The name of the ship was ‘Wonder Queen’. (preferred to The ship’s name was ‘Wonder Queen’.)
The house of the oldest woman in the village. (preferred to The oldest woman in the village’s house.)
When we don’t use of

When we are talking about things that belong to us, relationships and characteristics of people, animals,
countries, categories, groups or organisations made up of people, we usually use ’s:
The men’s dressing room is on the left at the end of the corridor.
Not: The dressing room of the men …
The cat’s paw was badly cut.
Not: The paw of the cat …

Possession: typical errors

• We don’t use ’s with plural nouns:
It’s my responsibility to deal with customers’ complaints.
Not: … to deal with customers's complaints.
• The possessive determiner its has no apostrophe:
We bought this car because we liked its colour.
Not: … because we liked it’s colour.
• We don’t use ’s to make nouns plural. When we want to show that something is plural, we add -
s without an apostrophe:
They had to rebuild the roads after the earthquake.
Not: They had to rebuild the road’s …

Such

Such as a determiner
We can use such (as a determiner) before a noun phrase to add emphasis:
We visited such fascinating places on our trip through central Asia.
She has such lovely hair.
She lived in such loneliness. (formal)
We use such before the indefinite article, a/an:
We had such an awful meal at that restaurant!
Not: We had a such awful meal …

Such meaning ‘of this or that kind’

In more formal situations, we can use such to mean ‘of this or that kind’. We can use it before a/an or after
expressions like the only, the first, the second:
You must not destroy people’s houses. I could never agree to such a plan. (a plan of that kind)
A college is offering a degree in pop music composition. It is the only such course in the country. (the only
course of that kind)

Such … that
We can use a that-clause after a noun phrase with such:
He is such a bad-tempered person that no one can work with him for long.
It was such a long and difficult exam that I was completely exhausted at the end.
This, that, these, those

This, that, these and those are demonstratives. We use this, that, these and those to point to people and
things. This and that are singular. These and those are plural. We use them as determiners and pronouns.

determiners pronouns

What’s in this box? Come and look at this.

That water tastes strange. That’s a very good idea.
I might get myself a pair of those shoes. Can I have one of these?

This, that, these, those as determiners

Pointing to things
We use this and that with singular and uncountable nouns:
Try to repeat this exercise every morning and evening. (this + singular countable noun)
What does this music make you think of? (this + singular uncountable noun)
I’ve never been to that part of France. (that + singular countable noun)
Can I have some of that juice, please? (that + singular uncountable noun)

We use these and those with plural nouns:

You can use any one of these computers. (these + plural noun)
I need to paint those windows. (those + plural noun)

Time phrases
We often use this with words describing time and dates like morning, afternoon, evening, week, month, year to
refer to ‘the one that’s coming’ or ‘the one we’re currently in’:
I’ll be with you some time this evening.
Johan seemed very happy this afternoon.
Ian is in Germany all this week.

This, that, these, those as pronouns

Referring to things or ideas
We normally use this, that, these and those as pronouns to refer to things or ideas:
Put the butter, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan. Heat this over a low flame until it melts.
We’re going to eat first and then go to the film. Are you happy with that? (Are you happy with the idea of eating
first, then going to the film?)
[talking about the TV]
Can you turn that off if you’re not watching it?
[talking about shoes]
What colour are those? Black or dark blue. I can’t see.

Referring to people
We can use this and that as pronouns to refer to people when we want to identify ourselves or others, or to ask
the identity of other speakers:
Linda, this is my mother, Anne.
Is that your brother over there?
We often do this in telephone calls and in answer-phone messages:
Hello, is that Ken Orm? This is Jane Bromham here.

This and these, that and those: uses

Physical closeness and distance
We use this and these most commonly to point to things and people that are close to the speaker or writer, or
things that are happening now:
Shall I use this knife here?
[pointing to something]
Is this what you mean?
I’ll post these letters on my way home.
[pointing to a pile of books]
Do these belong to the Bradshaws?
We use that and those most commonly to point to things and people which are not easy to identify in a situation.
They are often more distant from the speaker, and sometimes closer to the listener:
What’s in that bottle over there?
Could you blow out those candles near you?
Sometimes they are not visible to either the speaker or listener:
Budapest! That’s my favourite place!

Emotional distance
We sometimes use this, these, that, those to identify emotional distance. We use this and these to refer to things
that we feel positive about, that we are happy to be associated with, or we approve of:
I love these new woollen mobile phone covers that you can get.
We use that and those to create distance:
What are you going to say to that sister of yours?
[talking about a restaurant]
I didn’t like the decoration. It had those awful paintings.
Shared knowledge and new information
We sometimes use that instead of the to refer the listener to shared knowledge, often when we are telling a story
or explaining something:
You know that old shop on the corner? Well, they’re going to turn it into a restaurant.
We sometimes use this instead of a/an to refer to something important or recent, or to introduce a new person or
thing in a story:
This guy knocked on the door and asked if I wanted new windows.
Then suddenly she pulled out this big pile of papers from her briefcase and threw them on the table.

Substitution with that, those

In formal contexts, we can use that and those as substitutes meaning ‘the one(s)’:
The most important information is that given at the beginning of the manual. (that substitutes for the
information)
The methods employed are those familiar to researchers. (more formal than The methods employed are the ones
familiar to researchers.)
In formal contexts, especially in academic style, we use that of/those of instead of the one of/the ones of or the …
one/the … ones. This is preferred to the possessive X’s one/X’s ones:
The proton has a similar mass to that of a neutron. (preferred to The proton has a similar mass to the neutron’s.)
The emotions in the poems are those of loss and grief.
Not: The emotions in the poem are loss and grief ones.
We normally only use that as a substitute for a thing, not for a person or animal:
A:Have you met Mr Kelly?
B:The one who works at the town hall, or his brother?
A:The one at the town hall.
Not: That who works at the town hall.
We can use those as a substitute for persons, animals or things:
There are sports facilities for guests. Those interested in golf can enjoy our eighteen-hole course.

Whole

Whole is a determiner. We use whole before nouns and after other determiners (my, the, a/an, their) to talk about
quantity. We use it to describe the completeness of something:
I’ve wanted to be an actor my whole life.
Please can you check the whole document?
I thought the whole experience was very interesting.
We use the whole of when whole is followed by another determiner (my, her, this, the):
She had been in the same job for the whole of her life. (or … for her whole life.)
We often use the whole of with periods of time to emphasise duration:
At dawn, he would finally fall into bed and stay there the whole of the next day.
We also use whole as an adverb:
He took the cake and swallowed it whole.