Determiners

Introduction

Nouns usually come with a particular kind word in front of them : The cat, a cat, this cat, that cat, these cats These words  are all known as determiners.

What job do determiners do?

They help you identify which particular thing or things you are referring to. They help determine or define how many how definite we are about being able to identify something.

The Discussion
Look at the following statement: Cat sat on mat.

We can understand it, but we don’t know which “cat” or whether there was more than one. Nor do we know if it was a particular “cat” we know about or some other “cat”. Similarly, with regard to the “mat”, we don’t know which “mat” or if it was just any “mat”. The sentence lacks a particular type of word before the nouns that help us be more specific. These words are called “determiners”.

Now compare the following statements:

1. The cat sat on the mat.
2. A cat sat on the mat.
3. This cat sat on the mat.
4. That cat sat on the mat.
5. These cats sat on the mat.
   In 1, we know which cat we are talking about. In 2, we don’t know which cat we are talking about. All we know is that there was “a cat” and it “sat on the mat.” In 3, we know which cat sat on the mat: it was the one nearest to us and we might even be pointing at it. In 4, we again know which cat sat on the mat: it was the one over there and again we might be pointing at it. In 5, we know it was a group of cats. They were the ones nearest to us (as opposed to those) cats.

The words that help us make these distinctions – the, a, this, that, these – are called determiners. They enable us to determine something more specific about the noun.

Definite and indefinite articles
The following determiner is known as the definite article: The. The following determiners are known as indefinite articles: a, an, some.

What job do articles do?
Compare the following sentences:

a. The cat sat on the mat.

b. A cat sat on the mat.

c. Some cats sat on the mat.

In which one is it clear that we know which specific cat is being talked about? It’s the first one. The article “The” makes this clear. It identifies a definite cat. Hence, it is known as the definite article.

In contrast, “A cat” doesn’t make it clear which cat is being referred to. Hence, the word “a” is known as the indefinite article. If you are referring to more than one cat, then you need the plural form of the indefinite article, “some”.
The article is rarely omitted, but when it is left out, it can have a significant effect on meaning. Compare the following:

a. I went to school this morning.

b. I went to a school this morning.

c. I went to school this morning.

In which sentence did you go to school in order to teach or to study? The answer is the first one. Leaving out the article means that you went to the school in order to perform the function for which the school was built.

Sentence two might be spoken by someone to, say, an architect:
Manager: What did you do this morning?
Architect: I went to a school this morning. I wanted to discuss plans for the new hall.

Sentence three might be said between parents of children at the school because they would both know which school is being referred to. It is specific and definite:
Parent 1: I went to the school this morning.
Parent 2: Really? What about?

To sum up, determiners are little words that can have a big impact.

In the Classroom
To be honest, students don’t really need to know the names of these for GCSE – although the investigation of their use might be something to pursue at A Level. However, if you did want to do something to highlight their significance then asking students to compare the meanings of the above sentences would be interesting.