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Words that are used before a noun to give the precise meaning of the noun are called determiners. These are short, common words. Determiners can be
- articles (a, an, the)
- demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those),
- possessive pronouns (my, your, his, hers, its, our, their) or
- quantifiers (one, few, many, some).
Use of a, an and the:
The determiners 'a and an' are used to indicate the singular number. We use
'a' when the noun that follows is singular and begins with a consonant. We use
an when the noun that follows begins with a vowel. 'The' is used in a variety
of occasions. - When the object referred to is a familiar
one we use 'the'
- When the noun is plural in number we use 'the'.
Read the given sentences and observe the use of 'a' 'an' and 'the'
- I am a tailor. (I am one tailor among many tailors)
I am the tailor. (I am the particular tailor of this
person)
- They enjoy listening to songs. (It could be any kind of
song).
They are listening to the songs. (Here some
particular songs are being spoken of).
- He bought an orange. (one among many oranges)
- He ate the orange. (the orange that he had bought)
Use the chart below to help determine whether a, an or the is needed in a specific construction.
Determiners are used with proper nouns and common nouns Use of
determiners with proper nouns Most proper nouns do not take determiners at
all. Thus names of cities, people, educational institutions and languages do
not take determiners. - I visited Bombay.
- Cairo is a beautiful city.
- Have you met Mina.
- I study at Carmel's.
Some proper nouns that indicate a
collection or a group take the determiner 'the'
- We visited
the Bahamas (group of islands)
- He climbed the Alps (range of mountains)
- The Koreans are brave people (group of people)
Use of determiners with common nouns
Common nouns are broadly classified into countables and non countables.
You can learn more about that under the section of nouns.
Countable nouns
These take a or an or the. They also take the determiners few, many, one, two
etc
Here are some examples. - General mention
- A desk
- An Apple
- Few tables
- Many mistakes
- First Mention
- I read a good novel
-
I will go for a walk
- He bought a basket
- I plucked a mango
- Second Mention
- The novel was about animals
- I enjoyed the walk
- He dropped the basket
- I ate the mango
- Specific Mention
- He sat on the bench. (there was
only one bench)
- The Dean of the college (only on Dean in
the college)
- My book
Uncountable nouns
Determiner are used with uncoutable nouns.
While 'the' can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. The other
determiners are more specific to the kind of noun. Use some, much,
little, etc for noncountable nouns
- Some sugar
- Much rice
- Little rain
Determiners warn us about the nouns that are to follow. They mark
the noun and we make inference about the noun based on the determiner used
before it. Remember that determiners convey important meaning.
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