What does determiner mean?
Word: Determiner
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Determiner means a word such as the, a, this, my or every that comes before a noun and shows which one, whose or how many is meant.
How do you spell determiner?
Syllables: de - ter - mi - ner
Tricky part: The last two letters are er, not or. Pupils who have learnt calculator and indicator often reach for or here and write determinor.
Watch out for: determinor, determinar
Memory tip: File it with two other grammar labels you meet in Class 8, modifier and qualifier: all three end in er.
Determiner in a sentence
Example 1: Our English teacher asked us to underline every determiner in the first paragraph.
Example 2: In the phrase this blue bag, the determiner is this.
Example 3: Ravi left out a determiner when he wrote I saw elephant at the zoo.
Fun Fact
Determiner is a fairly new grammar label. Linguists took it up in the twentieth century, and many older school books simply called the, a and an articles and treated words like my and this as adjectives.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
d_term_ner
a) e, i
b) e, e
c) i, e
d) i, i
Show answer
a) e, i. The word opens with de, and the vowel after the m is a short i.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
determinner
a) e
b) n
c) m
d) r
Show answer
b) n. The vowel before the n is unstressed, so the n stays single.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Grammar books list each, every and either as a etdernmrei because each one sits before a noun.
a) determined
b) terminal
c) determinant
d) determiner
Show answer
d) determiner. Determined needs a second d, while determinant and terminal both need an a; the ten letters spell determiner.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. conjuntion 2. ajective 3. determiner 4. preposision
a) a word that describes a noun, such as tall or green
b) a word such as some or that, placed in front of a noun
c) a word such as and or but that joins parts of a sentence
d) a word such as on or under that shows where something is
Show answer
b) a word such as some or that, placed in front of a noun. Adjective has a d before the j, preposition ends in tion, and conjunction needs a c before the t.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which word in 'Riya packed both mangoes for lunch' is a determiner?
a) lunch
b) both
c) mangoes
d) packed
Show answer
b) both
2. In which phrase is the determiner a number?
a) her red kite
b) three red kites
c) some red kites
d) that red kite
Show answer
b) three red kites
