b o t h ,

y , a l l, a l,
e , a n s ev e r
, t h e ,
a, an any, som this, that,
t le , m t h e r ,
lit c h , ei t w o ,
a ,
few, e those, one r numbers
e s e , ll o t h e
t h n d a UNIT 12
e , a
thre
 Determiners Definition
• Words that identify whether or not a noun is
specific or general.
• They are used to helps us know if we are
talking about a particular object or any object.
 EXAMPLES

a, an, the, any, all,

both, little, many,
some, several, few,
each, either, this,
that, these, those,
one, two, three, and
all other numbers
 TYPES OF DETERMINERSmore
than one type.
• Determiners can be grouped into various
types such as specific and general, count and
non-count etc.

• A determiner can belong to more than one

type.
 Specific and General Determiners
• “A” and “an” are the most common general
determiners, and “the” is the most common
specific determiner.
Examples:
• I want to watch a new film. - “A” is a general
determiner and it tells us that it could be any film you
are talking about.
• The films that are showing this week look awesome. –
“The” is a specific determiner because it refers to only
a certain group of films
 more SPECIFIC DETERMINERS

"All", "those", "this", "that", and numbers are

Examples:
• All students at the school participate in the
fire drill. – “All” is specific to the students in
the school.
• Some students at the school participate in the
fire drill. – “Some” is general and refers to
some students but not others.
 Each Every

• Each’ and ‘every’ are determiners, words that

are ‘used with singular nouns to indicate
quantity’.

• There are differences between the two that

are important to grasp for usage, though
 EACH
• ‘Each’ is used when there are

• There are two boys. Each is smiling.

• There are 5 worksheets. Please take one of
each
 In many cases EACH and EVERY
CAN BE USED
• But there is a little difference in meaning:
We prefer EACH if we are thinking of people or
things SEPARATELY, ONE AT A TIME
EX:
EACH
student gave
the teacher a
present
EVERY policeman
is looking for
the killer
In case there are than objects,
either of the two may be used.

• He wanted each/every item on the catalogue.

• There is a bathroom in each/every room.
• The manager wants to speak to every
employee in his office.
• They enjoyed each and every minute of their
holidays.
 ‘Each’ can be used as a pronoun, but
‘every’ cannot.
• Note the difference between the following
sentences:
1. The students were waiting for the question sheets to
be handed out. Each was in a state of great
nervousness.
2. The students were waiting for the question sheets to
be handed out. Every student/one of them was in a
state of great nervousness.
Clearly, ‘each’ replaces the noun ‘student’.
‘Every’ does not; it requires to be followed by the noun, or
by ‘one of them’.