For example:-

"The dog barked at the boy."- ARTICLE

"These apples are rotten."-
DEMONSTRATIVE
"Their bus was late."- POSSESSIVE
"Have you seen my keys?"-POSSESSIVE
Articles
1. The two indefinite articles in English language are ‘a’ and ‘an’.

AEIOU SOUND an An M(AM)LA A U(YOU)ROPEAN

AN ORANGE CONSONANT a

2. Before noun
3. The definite article in English language is ‘the’. For indefinite articles, you can use either of them depending upon the
sound of the first letter of the next word. This is done for pronunciation reasons.
Use of ‘a’ takes place in the following instances -
1. In places where the following word starts with a consonant sound, the determiner ‘a’ is used. 2. Also, ‘a’ is used
where the following word is a singular countable noun.
The determiner ‘an’ also does the same work as ‘a’ but is used in the following instances -
1. places where the following word is a singular countable noun and starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).
4. ‘The’ is mostly used before both singular and plural nouns. Its main function of use is that it is used to specify a
person, place or thing.
5. Uses of Articles with Rules and Examples:
‘a’ and ‘an’ (Indefinite Determiners) are used before the following-
6. 1) A singular countable noun which is being mentioned for the first time. The rule can be understood with the help of
the following example sentences -

7. I (S)have never seen a gun(O)=NOUN

8. I saw a sports bike (O)at the store today.
9. 2) A singular countable noun or adjective beginning with a consonant sound. The rule can be understood with the
help of the following example sentences -

10. I ate the banana you gave me

11. I saw a tall girl today.
12. 3) A singular, countable noun which is an example of a class of things. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences -

13. A pet needs love . (Class of things is pets)

14. A father deserves to be respected by his children.
15. 4) The noun to express a quantity. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
16. I need a dozen bananas.

17. I need to buy a couple of books.

18. 5) The units of price, speed, ratio, weight etc.The rule can be understood with the help of the following example
sentences -
19. This bike gives 35 kilometres a litre.
20. You can run a mile in just 5 minutes.
21. 6) Certain numbers or monetary units. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -
22. I want to earn a billion dollars by the age of 40.
23. Can you lend me a hundred rupees?
24. 7) The expression of frequency. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

25. Put these ear drops twice a day.

 26. Wash your face three times a day in summers.
27. 8) Certain exclamatory expressions. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

What a beautiful morning! What a cute dog!

1. Few Important rules to remember about the use of indefinite determiners:

The spelling of the word following the determiner is not important only the sound is important. Few words given below start
with vowel letters but do not have vowel sounds. So the determiner ‘a’ is attached to them.

For example: A u(y)nion, A one(y) rupee coin, etc an one x

1. There are a few words that start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds. They are preceded by the determiner ‘an’.
For example:

An honest man, An honour. An hour

1. Indefinite determiners are mostly prefixed before the noun that does not refer to any particular person, place or thing. For
example:

A cat, a boy, an hour

1. Indefinite determiners can be used before uncountable nouns if the noun is used in a particular sense. For example:

I always have a tea after my lunch.

She is a great pianist.

1. Indefinite determiner can be attached before the adjective if the adjective is followed by a countable noun. For example:

It is a red coloured T-shirt.

He is a hard working man.

‘The’ (Definite Determiners) is used before the following-

1) A singular noun when it refers to a particular class or group. The rule can be understood with the help of
the following example sentences -

1. The luxury car is a rich man’s vehicle.

2. My brother has joined the NDA.

2) Names of rivers, ranges of mountains, gulfs, seas, oceans, groups, islands, ships, etc.

1. The Jamuna river

2. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
3. The Titanic
4. The Shivalik range of mountains.

3) Countries with plural names.

1. The Philippines
2. The Maldives

4) Books of religion (Religious books).

 1. The Shreemad Bhagavad Gita
2. The Holy Quran , the bible

5) Names of hotels, museums, and certain building names

1. The Oberoi group of Hotels

2. The Burj Khalifa.

6) Last names of families in the plural.

1. The Madans
2. The Malhotras , The Patels=FAMILY

7) Names of newspapers and magazines.

1. The Top Gear

2. The Hindustan Times

8) Superlatives of adjectives.

1. The best boy in the class.

2. The tallest building in the world.ABDULLAH IS A MOST TALKATIVE BOY IN THE CLASS

9) Descriptive adjectives referring to a whole group or class.

1. The working class.

2. The middle class.

10) The names of races and communities.

1. The Hindu
2. The Christian

11) Few expressions of the English language.

1. All the colleagues.

2. Both the sisters.

1. Few Places where the definite determiner ‘The’ should not be used are as follows -

1. ‘The’ should not be used before abstract nouns, plural nouns, proper nouns, names of meals, colours, materials when they
are being used in general sense.

1. They should not be used before the name of games.

1. The expression like all day, by road, by air.

In certain expression of quality with certain numbers and expression of ‘Price/rate, speed, ratio’. For example.

(i) Rupees ten a kilo.

(ii) A dozen mangoes.

(iii) Half a dozen.

 (E) When’A/An’ represents a weakened form of preposition ‘in’. For example

(i) He earns fifty thousand rupees a year.

(ii) We should brush our teeth two times a day.

(F) In exclamations with ‘what’ or ‘how’ before singular countable nouns. For example

(i) What a hot day!

(ii) What a pretty girl!

(iii) What a naughty child!

(iv) how fine a day!

(v) What a fool he is.

(vi) What kind of a teacher.

(vii) What fool will believe it?

*But we don’t say ‘What a kind of’.

(G) Note the position of indefinite article in the following adverbs : ‘Rather, very, much, quite, so, too, such, as’. For
example

(i)it is rather a nuisance.

(ii) It is rather a good step (or a rather good step)

(iii) He is a very good person.

(iv) He is a much hated character.

(v) He is such a nice man that everybody likes him.

(vi) It is quite an interesting story.

(vii) She is as intelligent a student as her brother is.(X)

(viii) She is too weak a student to pass. (X)

(ix) She is so weak a student that she can’t pass.

Before proper nouns (unique objects) when they refer to the name of historical buildings, mountain ranges, planets, rivers,
oceans, gulfs, groups of islands, holy books, ordinals, descriptive names of countries, states, newspapers, magazines,
deserts, superlative degree, names of trains, hotels, shops, trains. For example

The Persian Gulf

The Taj Mahal

The Netherlands

The Indian Ocean

The best picture

The Sudan

The Ganges
The first man

The USA

The Himalayan

The Sahara

The Maurya Sheraton

The Ramayana

The Bay of Bengal

The Ranjit

The Vedas

The Rajdhani Express

The Moon

The Times of India

The Sun

The Frontline

The Earth

The North Pole

Note : ‘The’ is not used before Araveli and Everest because they are not mountain ranges.

(C) When a singular noun expresses a class of animal or things. But ‘the’ is avoided with their plural forms and persons to
express a class. For example

(i) The dog is a faithful animal.

(ii) The rose is a sweet flower.

(iii) The cow is economically useful.

(iv) Dogs are faithful.

(v) The cows are economically useful. (Delete ‘the’)

Before inventions. For example

(i) The telephone.

(ii) The wireless.

(iii) The television. (as an invention)

(iv) He was watching television. (‘television’ is used as a set)

(v) He was listening to the radio.

(S) Before the name of professions used collectively. For example

(i) The Press

(ii) The Bench

(T) Before a noun, qualified by adjectives. For example

(i) The former President Abdul Kalam

(ii) The immortal Shakespeare

(iii) The late Shri S.C. Bose

Before the political parties. For example

(i) The BJP

(ii) The Labour Party

(iii) The Janta Party

(Z) Before the Armed forces. For example.

(i) The Army

(ii) The Police

(iii) The Air Force

Z1) (a) Before the dynasties, empires, wars, revolutions, centuries. For example

(i) The Gupta Dynasty

(ii) The British Empire

(iii) The Red revolution

(iv) The Vedic ages

(v) The Civil war

(vi) The Vedic ages

(vii)The sixth century

Before the language to signify nationality. For example

(i) The Chinese are hard working.

(ii) The Japanese are patriots out and out.

(c) Before nationality (plural). For example

(i) The Greeks

(ii) The Indians

(iii) The Asians

Note : But we say, An Indian, An Asian, A Greek

(d) Before little and few.

(i) The little — some but all

(ii) The few — some but all

Rule 4 : The Omission of Articles

The article ‘A/An, The’ are omitted.

(A) Before proper noun. For example

(i) Shakespeare was the greatest dramatist.

(ii) Delhi is the capital of India.

Note : (a) When indefinite article is used before proper nouns, they become common nouns.

(b) ‘The’ before a proper noun is used for the sake of comparison. For example

(i) This man is a Shylock. (a miser)

(ii) Samudra Gupta was the Napolean of his age. (The greatest general of his time)

(B) Before names of materials. For example

(i) Silver is a useful metal.

(ii) Tea grows in India.

(iii) The tea of Assam is very famous. (particular tea)

(iv) The water of the Ganga is sacred. (particular water)

(C) Before common noun used in its widest sense. For example

(i) Man is Mortal.

(ii) God is omnipresent. (* But we say ‘the devil’)

(iii) The god and the goddesses are kind to him. (in the sense of deities)

(D) Before abstract nouns as qualities, feelings and states used in general sense. For example

(i) Truth is a noble quality.

(ii) Love is a natural feeling.

(iii). Honesty is the best policy.

Note: But we can say. For Example

(i) The honesty of my brother is beyond any doubt.

(ii) He always tells a lie.

(iii) He always speaks the truth.

(E) Before Noun Complement. ( Appoint, make, elect, select etc.) For Example

(i) The Committee appointed him Captain.

(ii) They elected him president.

(F) Before collective nouns in general sense. For Example

(i) Life is complex.

(ii) Society does not allow this.

(G) Before uncountable nouns. ( Refer to Rule I in the chapter on nouns ). For Example

(i) He gave me advice

(ii) He passed information to me.

(H) Before languages. For Example

(i) Chinese is difficult language.

(ii) He knows Russian very well.

(iii) He knows the Sanskrit language.

(I) Before ‘ school , college, home, church, temple, sea, work, bed, table, hospital, market, prison, court, ‘ when their
purpose is thought of rather than the actual building / place. For Example
(i) He go to temple on Mondays. ( for prayer)

(ii) The thief went to the bed. ( upto the bed)

(iii) I go to bed early. ( to sleep )

(iv) He was sent to prison after conviction ( as a prisoner )

(v) He went to sea is early youth. ( as a sailor )

(vi) He went to the sea alone. ( travel & other purposes )

Note: This is used before ” Office, cinema, movie, theatre, picture, circus, station, bus stop, etc. ”

(J) Before ‘ hobbies, profession and sports’. For Example

(i) Dancing is her profession

(ii) Gardening is his hobby.

(K) Before names of disease. For Example

(i) Cancer is the dreaded disease.

(ii) AIDS is spreading like wild fire.

Note: But we can say the Measies, Mumps, the rickets, the plague, the flu.

(L) Before Regular meals except when preceded by an adjective. For Example

(i) I take breakfast at 8. am.

(ii) You should take dinner early.

(iii) They gave us a good breakfast.

(iv) A good breakfast is necessary.

(v) A dinner in honour of the president will be held. ( In the sense of Party

Before the adjectives ‘little’ and ‘few’ to give the sense of ‘some’

A little – some (Quality)

A few – some (Number)

(i) I have little money to buy a house. (hardly any)

(ii) Please give me a little sugar. (some)

(iii) He has spent the little money that he had. (some but all)

(iv) There are few boys in the class. (hardly anyone)

(v) I met a few students in the university. (some)

(vi) The few students that were in the class were sitting idle. (some but all)

(M) There is no plural of ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘some’ or ‘Any’ is the equivalent of the plural.

A house (some horses/ any horses)

An orange (some oranges/any oranges)

Before the verbs used as nouns. For example

(i) For a swim

(ii) For a talk

(iii) For a visit

(iv) For a walk

(v) For a drive

(vi) For a rest

(vii) For a taste

(viii) Have a mind

(ix) Have a pain

(J) Before certain phrases. For example

(i) In a hurry

(ii) A pitty

(iii) Take a liking

(iv) Feel a shame

(v) Take a fancy

(vi) Make a noise

(vii) Tell a lie

With a mute ‘h’. For example

an hour

an heir

an honourable person

an honest man

an honorary post

an hourly visit

(iii) With a consonant pronounced with the sound of a vowel. For example

an LL.B student

an M.P.

an M.L.A

an S.P.

an X-ray

an F.I.R

Demonstratives

The demonstrative determiners in the English language are this, that, these, those.

1. The demonstrative determiner ‘That’ (Plural- Those) is used to avoid repetition of a preceding noun. The rule can be
understood with the help of the following example sentences -
 1. My shorts are better than those of my brother.
2.Our defence academies are better than those of Afghanistan.
The demonstrative determiner ‘This (Plural- These)’ is used to refer to a person/ persons or thing/ things near to the speaker.
The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

EXAMPLES

1. This movie is boring.

2. (1+)These magazines are very good.
The demonstrative determiner ‘That (Plural- Those)’ refers to a person/ persons or thing/ things far from the speaker.
The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

EXAMPLES

 Get that dog out of the house.

 Throw away those shoes in the garbage.

Possessives
The possessive determiners in the English language are my, your, our, his, her, its, their. These are used to
show or determine the ownership of a certain thing.

Personal Pronouns (Subject) Possessive Adjective Possessive Pronoun

I My Mine
You Your Yours
He His His
She Her Hers
It Its -
We Our Ours
They Their Theirs

Some common ones that you will see include, “my”, “your”, “his”, “her” and “our”. When using them, they
should always go before the noun.
 POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES -Some common Possessive pronouns are used after
ones that you will see include, “my”, the noun, unlike adjectives – and
“your”, “his”, “her” and “our”. When using they cannot be used before the
them, they should always go before the noun at all.
noun.

My favourite colour is red.” “This car (N)is mine.”-

“The tickets(N) they took were
my favourite is tandoori chicken"
actually ours.”
“ Our holiday was canceled.”
“The test results are hers.”
“He ate her food by mistake.”
1) This is my bike.
2) It is their house.

Indefinite Adjectives

Below mentioned is the use of Indefinite Adjectives along with formulas and examples-

Some
1. The indefinite adjective ‘Some’ is generally used in affirmative sentences with uncountable and plural countable nouns.
The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

There is some proof that he is guilty.

I have some good ideas on the project.

2.It can also be used in question where ‘Yes’ is expected as an answer. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences -

Would you like some tea?

Could you give me some food?

Any
 1. It is used in questions when you want to ask whether something exists or not. It is also used in negative sentences where
we want to say that something does not exist. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example
sentences -

I do not need any help.

Do you have any advice on the matter?

You do have any idea

Do they have any spiritual affiliation

Do you have any sense of music / feeling

2.It is also used in affirmative sentences before plural nouns and uncountable nouns when it refers to a quantity of something
which may or may not exist. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

You can stop at any point you like.

Little and Much

1. These are used to refer to amount or quantity. Little is used to emphasize that there is a small amount of something
whereas ‘Much’ is used for emphasizing on large quantities. Both of them are used with uncountable nouns. Little is also
used in reference to small amount of something without any emphasis. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences -

I want to spend a little time in Dubai.

I have studied very little for my exam.
Do you like to watch much television?

Few and Many

1. These are mostly used to refer to a number. They are used before plural countable nouns. Few emphasizes a smaller
number and many refer to more numbers. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

Few students came for the class today.

Many people went to welcome the Indian Cricket team.
They stayed in the U.S.A for a few days.

More, Less and Fewer

1. They are mostly used as comparative determiners. ‘More’ is used before plural and uncountable nouns (with than) to refer
to a quantity or amount which is greater than another quantity or amount. It is also used to refer to an additional quantity
of something. Less is used to refer to an amount that is less than another amount. Fewer is used where we refer to a group
of things that are smaller than another group before plural nouns. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences -

He does LESS cardio than I do.

The poor have less access to cleanliness.
There are fewer cars here.

Others

1. There are many other determiners that are used in the English language and can not be put under any fixed category. So we
have put them all one by one and then given along are their rules for using them in sentences along with examples.
 2. All
3. All is mostly used with a plural verb when followed by a countable plural noun. It includes all the persons or things of a
particular kind. Another rule for it is that it requires a singular verb when it is followed by an uncountable noun. The rule
can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

All children cannot be treated in the same manner.

Both

1. This determiner is mostly used to talk about two things of the same kind. It is used to show that two persons or things are
involved rather than one and is often followed by ‘and’. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example
sentences -

Both Raman and Raghav went out for a movie.

He held oranges in both his hands.

Either and Neither

1. These determiners usually refer to two persons or things but show that one out of the two is or is not involved in a
situation. Neither is used mostly with singular nouns and by either, it can mean both of two things especially when it is used
with ‘end’ or ’side’. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

Take either side of the bed, both are the same.

Neither of them are speaking the truth.

Each and Every

1. These determiners are used to refer to all members of a group, persons or things. When we talk about members as
individuals, we use ‘each’ and when we make a statement about all of them we use ‘every’. They are to be prefixed before a
singular countable noun and the verb attached with them should be singular. The rule can be understood with the help of
the following example sentences -

Each and every board member was present in the meeting.

Today a laptop and air conditioner can be seen in each house.
Every child is said to have his/ her own special abilities.

One-

1. This determiner is used when we are talking or writing about a group and we want to
say something about a particular member of the group. It is used in place of ‘a’ or ‘an’
and it explains things more clearly. The rule can be understood with the help of the
following example sentences -

I know one restaurant where you can get amazing Chinese food.
One man was falsely framed in a murder case.

Another
 1. It can be used with a singular countable noun to talk about an additional person or thing
of the same type. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example
sentences -

Can I have another cup of coffee?

He opened another branch last month.

1. Other
2. This determiner is used with plural nouns or sometimes with uncountable nouns. The rule can be understood with the help
of the following example sentences -

Other people might not have thought like this.

The students are busy in other activities rather than participating in the math class.

Enough
1. The determiner ‘enough’ is used before uncountable nouns or plural nouns to say that there is something that is sufficient
and enough as much as needed. The rule can be understood with the help of the following example sentences -

The hotel had enough rooms for all the guests.

They did not have enough storage to store all that they had ordered for.

Most
1. ‘Most’ is used to indicate nearly all of an amount or of a group. The rule can be understood with the help of the following
example sentences -

Most of the people do not recover from this fatal disease.

Most of the people in India are working class.

Several
It is usually used to indicate an imprecise (lacking exactness and accuracy of expression or detail)
number that is not very large but more than two. The rule can be understood with the help of the following
example sentences -

"We have several houses."

(houses, cars, computers, ideas, items, things)

"We haven't seen him in several days."

(days, weeks, months, years)

"The power was out for several hours."

(hours)

"I'm going to the movies with several people."

(people, friends, classmates)

Interrogative Determiners
what, which, whose

The interrogative determiners are: what, which, whose

Whose iPad did you use?

car keys are these?

What stupid man told you that?

books did you read?

Which red pen do you want?

three teachers do you

prefer?

Whose means "belonging to which person": They didn't know whose car it was.

What is for asking for information specifying something: What time did you arrive? I
wonder what reason he gave.

Which is for asking for information specifying one or more people or things from a definite
set: Which table would you prefer? I wonder which teacher told him that.

Like all determiners, interrogative determiners come at the beginning of a noun phrase, so
they come in front of any adjective(s).

Look at these example sentences:

 Whose iPhone was stolen?

 He couldn't remember whose car keys they were.
 What idiot told you that?
 I don't know what non-fiction books he was reading.
 I asked them which Italian car was best.

List of Numeral Adjective

Numeral adjective is categorized into three types, so we have provided below numeral
adjective list into categorized form:

 Definite numeral adjectives: one, sixth, fifth, double, two, fifty five, second,
triple, seven, eleven, seventy fifth, quadruple, fifteen, first, one third, five seventh,
twenty, third, ninth, first, etc.
 Indefinite numeral adjectives: some, few, many, all, no, several, any, most,
more, too, much, none, too many, certain, etc.
 Distributive numeral adjectives: each, every, neither, either, etc.
Examples and Use
Following are some examples showing the use of adjectives of number in the sentence:

 The brilliant one of you can be the leader of this group.

 Two children make a family perfect.
 Few dogs are unhealthy.
 My legs have eight fingers and two
 Some women are upset.
 Most of the boys are selected for cricket.
 Four books of the Management Studies are very tough.
 I wrote many letters to you.
 I have learnt three languages.
 I wrote some letters to you but you did not replied.
 There are only nine class rooms in our school.
 One hour has sixty
 You can get twenty four hours service here.
 Five of the employees have resigned today.
 A week has seven

Exercises based on Determiners-

Fill in the blanks with suitable determiners:

1) ____That____ house is not mine.

2) I have ___SOME _____ more work to complete.

3) She doesn’t like him ___MUCH_____.

4) Nidhi answered __ALL , SOME OF ______ the questions wrong.

5) __ALL______ the girls had to carry their own luggage.

6) I shall not buy ___THESE _____ oranges. These are rotten.

7) I have bought ____A____ cycle.

8) I drive 10 Kms ____EVERY____ day to reach my school.

9) We are expecting __SOME _, SEVERAL _____ guests tonight.

10) __, MOST _____ of my answers were correct. So I passed.

11) Hello! ____THIS____is Nipun. Can I speak to Aman?

12) He spends ___MOST OF HIS _____ time on video games

13) What is your sister doing __THESE ______ days?

14) I can speak ___A LITTLE , LITTLE_____ Hindi.

15) He had built ____A, ___ unique house.

Answers:

1) That
2) Some
3) Much
4) All
5) All
6) These
7) A
8) Every
9) Several
10) Most
11) This
12) More
13) These
14) Little
15) A

miners are used with nouns to clarify the noun.

the type of determiner used depends on the type of noun.

 Singular Nouns - always needs a determiner

 Plural Nouns - the determiner is optional
 Uncountable Nouns - the determiner is also optional

There are about 50 different determiners in the English language they include:

 Articles - a, an, the

 Demonstratives - this, that, these, those, which etc.
 Possessive Determiners - my, your, our, their, his, hers, whose, my friend's, our
friends', etc.
 Quantifiers - few, a few, many, much, each, every, some, any etc.
 Numbers - one, two, three, t

went
y, forty