Imagine for a moment if current English had expressions such as these:<\/p>\n
Raymond has been looking for notebook.<\/em><\/p>\n
Does Busara have shoe?<\/em><\/p>\n
The baseball team will not board plane.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Aside from sounding primitive, these sentences leave us with potentially incomplete information. For example, in the first sentence, has Raymond been looking for any notebook or a specific notebook?<\/p>\n
To be clear in our communication, we often need information beyond a noun alone (notebook<\/em>, shoe<\/em>, plane<\/em>). A grammatical unit that helps us focus understanding is the determiner.<\/p>\n
What Is a Determiner?<\/h2>\n
A determiner is a word that precedes a noun to further explain it. It tells us something more about the noun, such as its quantity, ownership, definiteness, or identity.<\/p>\n
Determiners help us establish whether we are communicating about something specific or general, singular or plural, or near or far in terms of distance or time.<\/p>\n
Determiners are also known as limiting adjectives<\/em> because where descriptive adjectives enhance a noun by adding information, determiners subtract it to make the noun more specific.<\/p>\n
For example, the following phrases include descriptive adjectives modifying nouns.<\/p>\n
blue, creased notebook<\/em><\/p>\n
laced leather shoe<\/em><\/p>\n
large corporate plane<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
They tell us about the notebook, shoe, and plane by adding information (blue<\/em>, creased<\/em>; laced leather<\/em>; large corporate<\/em>).<\/p>\n
Now let’s look at the same nouns with determiners that limit the context to clarify our understanding.<\/p>\n
Raymond has been looking for a<\/u> notebook.<\/em><\/p>\n
Does Busara have the<\/u> shoe?<\/em><\/p>\n
The baseball team will not board that<\/u> plane.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
By adding a determiner to each sentence, we are now more aware that:<\/p>\n
Raymond is looking for a notebook in general, not for a particular one.<\/p>\n
We are asking if Busara has a particular shoe, not just any shoe.<\/p>\n
The baseball team objects to boarding a particular plane, not all planes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We see that descriptive adjectives and determiners both come before nouns but their functions for us differ. Descriptive adjectives add details for noun qualities; determiners narrow the noun scope for greater definition.<\/p>\n
Descriptive Adjective:<\/strong> My favorite<\/u> color is blue.
\nDeterminer:<\/strong> I like this<\/u> shade of blue.<\/p>\nDescriptive Adjective:<\/strong> Shane collects sports<\/u> cars.
\nDeterminer:<\/strong> Which<\/u> car does Shane drive most?<\/p>\nDescriptive Adjective:<\/strong> Aaliyah likes dark-haired<\/u> dogs.
\nDeterminer:<\/strong> Aaliyah has three<\/u> dogs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nTypes of Determiners<\/h2>\n
Determiners can often be categorized in four primary groups: articles, demonstratives, possessives, and quantifiers. Being familiar with each group helps us use determiners with greater precision in our writing.<\/p>\n
Articles <\/strong>(specific or nonspecific reference<\/a>)
\na, an, the<\/p>\nJean-Pierre has a<\/u> midnight deadline.<\/em><\/p>\n
Would you like an<\/u> apple to eat?<\/em><\/p>\n
Stephanie has seen the<\/u> movie you’d recommended.<\/em><\/p>\n
Demonstratives <\/strong>(location, proximity, specificity)
\nthis, that, these, those<\/p>\nThis<\/u> lasagna lacks flavor.<\/em><\/p>\n
Jasmine said she applied for that<\/u> position.<\/em><\/p>\n
Marisol prefers those<\/u> gloves for winter.<\/em><\/p>\n
Possessives <\/strong>(ownership, belonging)
\nmy, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose<\/p>\nI should be done building my<\/u> spaceship next month.<\/em><\/p>\n
Leora wants time to finish her<\/u> essay.<\/em><\/p>\n
Is it our<\/u> responsibility to shovel snow?<\/em><\/p>\n
Quantifiers <\/strong>(general amount, quantity)
\ne.g., most, much, any, more, some<\/p>\nTomasz provides most<\/u> consultations on weekends.<\/em><\/p>\n
Forward any<\/u> referrals to human resources staff.<\/em><\/p>\n
This room needs more<\/u> air freshener.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Determiners also can be classified as distributive, numeric, interrogative, and relative.<\/p>\n
Distributive <\/strong>(separate or collective inclusion)
\neach, every, both, all<\/p>\nEach<\/u> estimate has been reviewed by the panel. <\/em>(separate inclusion)<\/p>\n
The panel has reviewed both<\/u> estimates. <\/em>(collective inclusion)<\/p>\n
Numeric <\/strong>(cardinal or ordinal values)
\ne.g., one, two, three; first, second, third<\/p>\nShane owns four<\/u> cars. <\/em>(cardinal)<\/p>\n
Shane’s 1972 Chevy Camaro won second<\/u> place for people’s choice. <\/em>(ordinal)<\/p>\n
Interrogative and Relative <\/strong>(questions; specificity to introduce a dependent clause<\/a>)
\nwhat, which, whose, whichever, whatever<\/p>\nWhat<\/u> approach to compromise is Bettina taking?<\/em><\/p>\n
Whose<\/u> sledgehammers are on the lawn?<\/em><\/p>\n
The director will determine which<\/u> account they will charge for trade shows.<\/em><\/p>\n
You may ride whichever<\/u> camel you choose.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
More About Determiners<\/h2>\n
The following are other aspects to note about using determiners.<\/p>\n