Saturday, November 23, 2019
Determiners What They Are and How to Use Them
Determiners What They Are and How to Use Them Determiners: What They Are and How to Use Them We use determiners in front of nouns to show what they refer to. The difference between â€Å"a hat†and â€Å"my hat,†for instance, is that â€Å"my†shows that the hat belongs to me. This makes determiners very important for clear communication, so make sure you know which terms to use in different situations. Articles (The / A / An) Articles are the most basic determiners to specify what you’re discussing. They come in two kinds: the definite article (â€Å"the†) and the indefinite article (â€Å"a†or â€Å"an†). The definite article – â€Å"the†– is used when we refer to something specific. If I say â€Å"I am going to the library,†for example, I have a particular library in mind (not just any library). The indefinite article is used when not referring to a specific entity. If I go looking for â€Å"a library,†I’m not searching for a specific library (any library will do). Possessives (My / Your / His / Her / Its / Our / Their) A possessive determiner indicates ownership, like with â€Å"my hat†above. Other singular determiners include â€Å"your,†â€Å"his,†â€Å"her†and â€Å"its.†Plural determiners (i.e., determiners used to indicate something belongs to a group) include â€Å"our†(â€Å"welcome to our party!†), â€Å"their†(â€Å"I don’t want to go to their party†) and â€Å"your†(â€Å"I’m glad I went to your party†). Note that â€Å"your†can be either singular or plural. Demonstratives (This / That / These / Those) Demonstrative determiners usually tell us about the position of something relative to the speaker. â€Å"This†(singular) and â€Å"these†(plural) indicate something is close. â€Å"That†(singular) and â€Å"those†(plural) usually apply when something is far away. Determiners (This, That, These, Those) As with â€Å"the,†demonstratives are used when we refer to something in particular (e.g., â€Å"this cake†and â€Å"that cake†both refer to a specific cake, unlike â€Å"a cake†). We also use â€Å"this†to refer to something we have just mentioned. This makes it possible to follow on from a preceding sentence without having to re-identify the thing being discussed. Quantifiers (All / Any / Some / Every) This category of determiners includes a wide variety of terms relating to quantity, including â€Å"all,†â€Å"any,†â€Å"both,†â€Å"either,†â€Å"enough,†â€Å"a few,†â€Å"some,†â€Å"every†and many others. Like â€Å"a†or â€Å"an,†these words do not specify singular things, but nevertheless tell us something about the noun being described, usually to do with the number or quantity being discussed. In the sentence â€Å"I will cuddle every puppy,†for example, â€Å"every†shows I’m referring to every single puppy in the room, in the world, or every puppy available. In â€Å"I will cuddle any puppy,†meanwhile, the determiner â€Å"any†shows that, while I’m happy to cuddle a puppy, I will not necessarily commit to cuddling all of them. No matter how adorable they are. Sorry, little dude. Youll have to cuddle yourself. [Photo: Jonathon Kriz]
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