DETERMINERS
Word Order: Using Pre-determiners / Central Determiners / Post-determiners
What is a determiner?
Determiner Noun
the road
A determiner is a word used before a noun to give more information about the noun.
What are pre-determiners, central determiners, and post-determiners?
Pre-determiner Central Post-determiner Noun
Determiner
all the many roads
Depending on its position before the noun, a determiner can be: a central determiner,
a pre-determiner or a post-determiner. A phrase like this example is rare. We usually
only use one or two determiners.
There are different types of central determiners. The main ones are:
Main Central Determiners Example Words Example Phrases
articles a, an, the all the time
this, that, half this p
age
demonstratives
these, those
possessives my, your, his, her, its, our, their both my parents
Pre-determiners include:
Main Pre-determiners Example Words Example Phrases
multipliers once, twice, three times… twice the money
fractions half, one fourth… half an hour
intensifiers what, such What a mess!
other words both, all both my legs
Post-determiners include:
Main Post-determiners Example Words Example Phrases
cardinal numbers one, two, eighty… the three eagles
ordinal numbers first, second, twenty-third… the f
irst time
general ordinals last, next, previous… our next meeting
quantifiers few, several, many… his several
successes
Some words can be determiners or post-determiners, depending on the number of
determiners in a sentence and their place.
Examples:
‘two’ is a determiner in: I need two rackets.
‘two’ is a post-determiner in: I need the two r ackets in the garage. (‘two’ is placed
after the central determiner ‘the’)
‘many’ is a determiner in: We know many u
ses for these products.
‘many’ is a post-determiner in: We know their m
any uses. (‘many’ is placed after the
central determiner ‘their’)
Usually, we only use one pre-determiner. However, it is possible to use two post-
determiners, as shown in the 2 examples below.
Examples:
his n
ext two
projects the first
three d ays
Place the following words in the table below, in alphabetical order:
all, this, second, such, both, five, her, the, previous
Pre-determiners Central Determiners Post-determiners
Such THIS second
All THE five
Both HER previous
Complete with the correct determiner:
1. I make ___half________ his salary! (half/all)
2. We brush our teeth __twice________ a day. (two/twice)
3. ______All_____ the customers were satisfied. (all/both)
4. Are you available for the ___next__ meeting? (last/next)
5. ____Both____ my uncles live in Switzerland. (both/twice)
6. __One third of_____ this amount is enough. (all/one third of)
7. __What__________ a great invention! (What/How)
8. This is ___such______ an amazing story! (so/such)
9. I never want to speak to those __two________ crooks again. (both/two)
10. He explained his __many_________ projects. (much/many)
Reorder the words and underline the determiners.
1. only / ate / plate / she / her / half
She only ate her half plate _
2. colleagues / amount / get / get / the / we / double / some
Some colleagues get the double amount we get _
3. proud / many / of / is / achievements / he / his
He is proud of many of his achievements. _
4. lost / three / first / here / got / the / I / I / came / times
I got lost the first three times I came here. _
5. such / is / difficult / a / this / exercise
This is such a difficult exercise. _ _
Tell your teacher which is the correct phrase: A, B or both?
A B
1. the first two hours C 1. the two first hours C
2. a such good investment 2. such a good investment C
3. several his objectives 3. his several objectives C
4. my both ears C 4. both my ears
5. two-fifths of the candidates C 5. two-fifth candidates C
6. twice the money 6. double the money C
7. my two eyes C 7. both my eyes C
8. the all day 8. all the day C
9. their few friends C 9. few their friends
10. the last four days C 10. the four last days
Underline the determiners:
1. Most days, Jack speaks to Jennifer at least once a day.
2. He earns twice her salary.
3. Last week, he took her to quite an expensive restaurant.
4. That evening, he spent three times the amount he had anticipated!
5. What a gentleman!
Listen to your teacher’s questions. Then, answer.
1. How often do you go to the cinema? I used to go to the cinema once a month.
2. What part of a vacation do you usually enjoy most: the first few days or the
last few days? The first few days.
3. Do you have the same vision level with both of your eyes? No, my left eye has less
vision.
4. Do you check your emails all the time? Twice a week.
5. What have you been working on these last few days? I’ve been doing homework and
reading History books.
Watch the Video!
This video, about the More Birthdays Campaign of the American Cancer
Society, will allow you to practice using pre-determiners, central determiners,
and post-determiners.
Watch the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9KI7QZRHfU
Watch it again and complete the phrases from the video with the correct pre-
determiners, central determiners, and post-determiners.
1. Timing 1:50, post-determiner:
On someone’s birthday, let’s say they’re celebrating their thirdiest
birthday, just a normal birthday
2. Timing 2:30, pre-determiner:
They can do all those things that they already do
3. In the name of the video, post-determiner:
More Birthdays – Behind the Scenes of Our Next Step
Quiz: True or False?
1. Usually, we use several pre-determiners. true false
2. ‘next’ is a pre-determiner. true false
3. Some words can be determiners or post-determiners. true false
4. It is rare to have a pre-determiner, a central determiner and a post-determiner
in one sentence. true false
Match the determiner on the left to its category on the right
1. all a. pre-determiner (1)
2. second b. central determiner (4)
3. mine c. post-determiner (2)
4. the d. not a determiner (3)
Put the words in the correct order:
1. three / first / failed / the / attempts
The first three attempts failed. _
2. difference / their / a / quite / contributions / made
Their contributions made a quite difference. _
3. our / engineering / both / study / sons / chemical
Both our sons study chemical engineering.
4. several / we / successes / admire / his
We admire his several successes.
________________
