GRAMMAR

General and specific determiners

Determiners are words which come at the
beginning of the noun phrase.
They tell us whether the noun phrase is specific
or general.
Determiners are either specific or general
 Specific determiners

The specific determiners are:

the definite article: the
possessives: my, your, his, her, its; our, their, whose
demonstratives: this, that, these, those
interrogatives: which
We use a specific determiner when we believe the
listener/reader knows exactly what we are referring to:
Can you pass me the salt please?
Look at those lovely flowers.
Thank you very much for your letter.
General determiners
The general determiners are:
a; an; any; another; other; what
When we are talking about things in general and the listener/reader does not know exactly what we are referring to,
we can use an uncount noun or a plural noun with no determiner:
Milk is very good for you. (= uncount noun)
Health and education are very important. (= 2 uncount nouns)
Girls normally do better in school than boys. (= plural nouns with no determiner)
or you can use a singular noun with the indefinite article a or an:
A woman was lifted to safety by a helicopter.
A man climbing nearby saw the accident.
We use the general determiner any with a singular noun or an uncount noun when we are talking about all of those
people or things:
Its very easy. Any child can do it. (= All children can do it)
With a full licence you are allowed to drive any car.
I like beef, lamb, pork - any meat.
We use the general determiner another to talk about an additional person or thing:
Would you like another glass of wine?
The plural form of another is other:
I spoke to John, Helen and a few other friends.
interrogative determiners:
which and what
We use "which" as a determiner to ask a question about a specific group of people or things:
Which restaurant did you go to?
Which countries in South America have you visited?
When we are asking a general question we use "what" as a determiner:
What films do you like?
What university did you go to?
 indefinite article: a and an
1. We use the indefinite article, a/an, with count nouns when the
hearer/reader does not know exactly which one we are referring to:
Police are searching for a 14 year-old girl.
2. We also use it to show the person or thing is one of a group:
She is a pupil at London Road School.
Police have been searching for a 14 year-old girl who has been missing since Friday.

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described as 1.6 metres tall with short
blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse and dark blue jeans and
blue shoes.
indefinite article: a and an
3. We do not use an indefinite article with plural nouns and uncount
nouns:
She was wearing blue shoes. (= plural noun)
She has short blonde hair. (= uncount noun)

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described

as 1.6 metres tall with short blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white
blouse and dark blue jeans and blue shoes.
indefinite article: a and an

4. We use a/an to say what someone is or what job they do:

My brother is a doctor.
George is a student.
5. We use a/an with a singular noun to say something about all things
of that kind:
A man needs friends. (= All men need friends)
A dog likes to eat meat. (= All dogs like to eat meat)
definite article: the

The definite article the is the most frequent word in English.

We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the
hearer/reader knows exactly what we are referring to.
because there is only one:
The Pope is visiting Russia.
The moon is very bright tonight.
The Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979.
This is why we use the definite article with a superlative adjective:
He is the tallest boy in the class.
It is the oldest building in the town.
definite article: the

because there is only one in that place or in those surroundings:

definite article: the
because we have already mentioned it:
A woman who fell 10 metres from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter. The
woman fell while climbing.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two
men walking on the peak were killed in a fall.
We also use the definite article:
to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:
The wolf is not really a dangerous animal (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals)
The kangaroo is found only in Australia (= Kangaroos are found only in Australia)
The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around bodies)
We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical instruments:
Joe plays the piano really well.(= Joe can play any piano)
She is learning the guitar.(= She is learning to play any guitar)
definite article: the
to refer to a system or service:
How long does it take on the train?
I heard it on the radio.
You should tell the police.
With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, unemployed to talk about groups of people:
Life can be very hard for the poor.
I think the rich should pay more taxes.
She works for a group to help the disabled.
The definite article with names:
We do not normally use the definite article with names:
William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
Paris is the capital of France.
Iran is in Asia.
definite article: the
But we do use the definite article with:
countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic:
the United Kingdom; the Kingdom of Nepal; the United States; the Peoples Republic of
China.
countries which have plural nouns as their names:
the Netherlands; the Philippines
geographical features, such as mountain ranges, groups of islands, rivers, seas, oceans and
canals:
the Himalayas; the Canaries; the Atlantic; the Atlantic Ocean; the Amazon; the
Panama Canal.
newspapers:
The Times; The Washington Post
well known buildings or works of art:
the Empire State Building; the Taj Mahal; the Mona Lisa; the Sunflowers
organisations:
the United Nations; the Seamens Union
definite article: the
hotels, pubs and restaurants*:
the Ritz; the Ritz Hotel; the Kings Head; the Dj Vu
*Note: We do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or
restaurant is the name of the owner, e.g.,Browns; Browns Hotel;
Morels; Morels Restaurant, etc.
families:
the Obamas; the Jacksons
quantifiers
We use these quantifiers with both count and uncount nouns:
quantifiers
Some quantifiers can be used only with count nouns
quantifiers
 quantifiers

Members of groups
You can put a noun after a quantifier when you are talking about members of a group in
general
Few snakes are dangerous.
Both brothers work with their father.
I never have enough money.
but if you are talking about a specific group of people or things, use of the as well
Few of the snakes are dangerous.
All of the children live at home.
He has spent all of his money.
:
 quantifiers
Note that, if we are talking about two people or things we use the quantifiers both, either
and neither: