How to Use Determiners for IELTS Grammar

Determiners, also known as noun signals, are special adjectives that precede nouns and serve to modify the noun by providing context and particularity to the noun. The knowledge of grammar is a very important aspect in every section of IELTS, be it reading, writing, speaking, or listening. Although there are varieties, the most widely known determiners are articles, demonstratives, possessives, quantifiers and numbers.

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1. The Articles (a/an/the)

The determiners a/an are used with singular nouns and are called indefinite articles. Nouns beginning with a consonant are used before a and nouns beginning with a vowel are used before an. It is used when we talk about something in general. On the other hand, we use the at the beginning of all nouns and it is called the definite article. It is used when we talk about something in particular.

For example:

1. “I had a strange dream last night.”
2. “Megan is reading a storybook.”
3. “I bought a brand-new laptop.”
4. “Mark had an apple for breakfast.”
5. “Do you have an umbrella?”
6. “Is that an elephant?”
7. “The Capital of Germany is Berlin.”
8. “Your milkshake is on the counter.”
9. “Sarah is sunbathing on the beach.”

Additionally, when you are speaking generally, you can also use a noun or plural noun without an article.

For example:

1. Dogs are my favorite pet animal.
2. The sky is blue.
3. Purple is my favorite color.

2. Demonstratives Determiners (this/that/these/those)

The determiners this/that/ (singular) and these/those (plural) are special pronouns used to demonstrate the identity of a noun. They are used to specify the proximity of the word or phrase and clarify whether the noun is general or particular.

For example:

1. “This orchard belongs to my grandparents.”
2. “Who is the owner of this house?”
3. “Do you recognize this woman?”
4. “That is a beautiful garden.”
5. “Put that mug on the coffee table.”
6. “That child is hungry.”
7. “These flowers smell heavenly.”
8. “Who do these bags belong to?”
9. “These past days have been hectic.”
10. “Those books belong to me.”
11. “Could you pass me those glasses?”
12. “Those were the days.”

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3. Possessive Determiners (my/your/his/her/its/our/their)

Determiners my/your/his/her/its/our/their indicates possession and is used to illustrate ownership. Alike to the preceding determiners, possessive determiners predate any noun and are placed in front of any adjective (s).

For example:

1. “Suzan came over to my house yesterday.”
2. “This is my car.”
3. “James is using my book.”
4. “Could you lend me your textbook?”
5. “You dropped your wallet.”
6. “Is this your aunt’s place?”
7. “His name is Peter.”
8. “Yesterday was his uncle’s funeral.”
9. “Gerald said that his parents were on a vacation.”
10. “Mary is her sister-in-law.”
11. “Mercy lost her phone.”
12. “They found her hiding in the closet.”
13. “The cat was licking its paws.”
14. “The dog was wagging its tail.
15. The bulldog was barking at its owner.”
16. “This is our home country.”
17. “Izzy is our baby sister.”
18. “Today is our anniversary.”
19. “They sold their car.”
20. “Matthew is their son.”
21. “Their daughter is a world-renowned chef.”

4. Quantifier Determiners (all/many/much/several/most/a/some/each/every/some/any/none/few/a lot etc)

Determiners that define the quantity of a noun are called quantifiers. They, like articles, come at the beginning of a noun phrase and thus, in front of an adjective (s). They are used to specify the quantity: “How much?” or “How many?” Quantifiers can be used with countable nouns, uncountable nouns, or with either of them.

For example:

With countable Nouns— Nouns that are countable and which can be expressed in singular or plural form are called countable nouns.

1. The Eiffel Tower is visited by many tourists every year.
2. There are several stalls set up for the carnival.
3. Few students showed up in class today.
4. There are a number of places I would like to go to before the end of summer.

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With uncountable Nouns—Nouns that are not countable and which cannot be expressed in plural form are called uncountable nouns.

5. I want my tea with a few cubes of sugar.
6. The customer service department has been receiving a lot of complaints lately.
7. I ate a little too much junk food yesterday.
8. He has less than 10 minutes to finish the assignment.
9. The new venture cost me a great deal of loss.
10. None of the information provided is correct.

Both countable and uncountable Nouns—

11. Do you want some coffee?
12. Do you have any siblings?
13. I have enough time left before the train arrives.
14. Most students attended the farewell programme.
15. There are plenty of fish in the pond.

Some quantifiers are used when we are speaking of specific people or things, like both, either, neither, every:

16. Neither of the stores was open.
17. They were both hungry.
18. It was either take the risk or lose it all.
19. There was enough food for each one of us.
20. Every student can realize their dreams.

5. Numbers (two/four/five/sixty/first/third etc)

Used before noun phrases and in front of an adjective (s), it is used to show the number of people and things.

21. Two birds are sitting on the rooftop.
22. He bought five eggs from the supermarket.
23. There are sixty students in my class.
24. I came first in the marathon.
25. He ranked third in the swimming competition.
26. There are four weeks in a month.