Determiners, Quantifiers, Demonstratives and Possessives

A determiner is a word or expression that helps identify, limit, quantify, or specify a noun.

Determiners normally occur before nouns:

the book
my car
this house
some information
three students

They help answer questions such as:

Which one?
Whose?
How many?
How much?
Is it specific or general?

Major Types of Determiners

Articles:

a, an, the

Demonstratives:

this, that, these, those

Possessives:

my, your, his, her, its, our, their

Quantifiers:

some, any, much, many, few, little, several, enough, all, both, each, every

Numbers:

one, two, three, first, second

Interrogative determiners:

which, what, whose

For example:

These three books are mine.
Every student received a certificate.
My first teacher was very helpful.

Demonstratives

Demonstratives indicate distance and number:

this = singular, relatively near
that = singular, relatively distant
these = plural, relatively near
those = plural, relatively distant

Distance can be physical or conceptual:

This book is in my hand.
That building is across the road.
These ideas are important.
Those arguments are outdated.

Possessive Determiners

Possessive determiners indicate a relationship of possession or association:

my, your, his, her, its, our, their

They come before nouns:

my car
her office
their house

They should not normally be confused with possessive pronouns:

This is my book.
This book is mine.

Quantifiers

Quantifiers express quantity or amount.

many students
much water
several books
a little time
a few questions
enough money

Some quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns:

some books
some water
enough chairs
enough time

Others are more restricted:

many people
much information

Each and Every

Each emphasizes individual members:

Each student received a book.

Every refers to all members of a group individually considered but usually presents the group more collectively:

Every student must attend the class.

Both normally take a singular countable noun and singular verb:

Every student is ready.

Determiners and Noun Phrases

Determiners are part of larger noun phrases:

the three old buildings
my new English book
those very difficult questions

Understanding determiners therefore prepares students for more advanced study of noun phrases, sentence structure, reference, definiteness, and meaning.

A strong command of determiners is particularly important because many errors that appear to be vocabulary or article mistakes are actually problems of countability, definiteness, quantity, or noun-phrase structure.