Determiners (The articles and Demonstrative, Interrogative and Possessive Determiners)

Determiners 

Determiners are words such as this, those, my, their, which. They are special adjectives that are used before nouns.

The Articles

The words a, an and the belong to this group of words called determiners.
The words a and an are called indefinite articles. You can use them with singular nouns to talk about any single person or thing.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

* The article an is usually used before words beginning with vowels. The article a is used before words beginning with consonants.

The word the is called the definite article. Use the before a noun when you are talking about a certain person or thing.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

* You also use the before a noun when there is only one. For example:

• the sun
• the moon
• the sky
• the front door of my house

Demonstrative Determiners

The words this, that, these and those are determiners. They are used to tell which thing or person you mean. These words are called demonstrative determiners, or demonstrative adjectives.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

* You use this and these to point to people or things near you.
* You use that and those to point to people or things that are farther from you.
* You use this and that before singular nouns.
* You use these and those before plural nouns.

Here's a table to help you remember the rules:

Interrogative Determiners

Use the words what, which and whose before nouns to ask about people or things. These words are called interrogative determiners or interrogative adjectives.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Possessive Determiners

The words my, your, his, her, its, our, their are called possessive determiners or possessive adjectives. Use these words before nouns to say who something belongs to.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Here is a table to help you remember the possessive determiners.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks with a, an or the.

Exercise 2
Write a, an or the in the blanks to complete the sentences.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 3
Fill in the blanks with the correct demonstrative adjectives.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 4
Are the underlined words demonstrative adjectives or demonstrative pronouns? Write DA (for demonstrative adjectives) or DP (for demonstrative pronouns) in the blanks.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 5
Choose the correct possessive adjectives from the box to fill in the blanks.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 6
Choose the correct interrogative adjectives from the box to fill in the blanks.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1