Determiners For Kids – What Is It, Its Types And Examples

If you want to make the foundation of your English language strong, then you must understand the grammatical concepts that form the building blocks of the language. A sentence is made up up several elements like nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions and more. Understanding the role of each of these parts helps strengthen your grammar. An important concept that one must pay attention to in English Grammar is Determiners.

What Is A Determiner? 

A determiner is a word that is placed ahead of a noun to specify some details about it. This word clarifies what the noun refers to. They could be articles, possessives, demonstratives or quantifiers. By modifying nouns and noun phrases, determiners give more meaning to the words and add context to the complete sentence.  

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When Should Your Child Learn About Determiners? 

When talking in English or reading a story, determiners can go unnoticed by most people. Even when you come across these words, it may be hard to define their exact meaning. However, this element does more to give meaning and definition to the main idea of the sentence and helps pass on the information more clearly. 

Sometimes, it may be confusing for children to identify determiners, as some of them can even act as pronouns. For instance, the word “that” can be used in the following contexts: 

• That car is very nice 
• I want that. 

If you observe, both these sentences have the word ‘that’ in it, but the placement of the words in each sentence is different. In the first sentence, it is placed ahead of the noun, ‘car’. And in the second sentence, it is placed instead of a noun.  

Moreover, there are other kinds of words that come ahead of nouns. These are known as adjectives. A quick way to differentiate between adjectives and determiners is to try to modify the adjective ie. try to add  -er after it.  

• That is a big car 
• That car is very nice. 

The noun used here is ‘car’. In the first sentence, the word modifying the word car is ‘big’. Now let’s try adding ‘-er’ to it. It becomes ‘bigger’. In the second example, the word ahead of ‘car’ is ‘that’. If we try to add –er to it, it doesn’t create any sensible phrase or sentence. Hence, it is not an adjective but a determiner. 

When children learn to identify this correctly, they will perfect their knowledge of determiners in English language. Thus, it is important for kids to learn determiners. 

Why Are Determiners Important? 

Determiners are important parts of language as they modify words and add meaning and context to the entire sentence. When kids learn about determiners, they are able to differentiate between various parts of speech. With knowledge of determiners and knowing when to use which determiner before a noun, one can improve their written and spoken English grammar.  

What Are Different Type Of Determiners? 

Determiners can be broadly categorised into four types: articles, demonstratives, possessives and quantifiers. Below is a detailed explanation of the kinds of determiners:

1. Articles 

Articles are the words “a,” “an,” and “the.” They define whether something is specific or unspecific. There are two types of article determiners:

• Definitive, which is used while referring to a specific thing. This article is ‘The’.   
• Indefinite, which is used while referring to an unspecific thing. These articles are ‘a’ and ‘an’. 

Examples

• The house across the street is where my friend lives.
• I saw a huge animal roaming in the streets.
• The teacher gave us an easy assignment today.

2. The Demonstrative Determiners  

A demonstrative determiners defines where its noun or pronoun is in relation to the speaker.

The words ‘this’ and ‘these’ define close things (in terms of distance, psychological closeness or time). ‘That’ and ‘those’ define distant things. 

Examples

• This is one of the best books I have read.
• These tools can be used to construct furniture.
• I have always wanted to go to that restaurant.
• Those constructions on the street are illegal.

3. Possessive Determiners  

A possessive determiners sits before a noun (or a pronoun) to show who or what owns it. Some examples of possessives are my, your, his, her, its, our, their, and whose.

Examples

• My house is a few blocks away from here.
• His sweater has got a stain from some food that he dropped.
• When is your mother coming to pick you up?
• The children are excited because their teachers are taking them for a picnic today.

4. Quantifiers  

Any quantifiers determiners that refer, even loosely, to an amount or a quantity can be classified as a quantifier. So, cardinal and ordinal numbers like one, two, three, and fourth, and fifth are quantifiers. Not all quantifiers are so specific. Many refer to an undefined amount or quantity. The most common ones are any, all, many, much, several and some.

Examples

• I brought many chocolates for us all to share.
• I have collected nine stamps from various countries.
• Do you have any medicine for headaches?

Use Of Determiners 

Now that you have understood what determiners essentially are, let us understand how to use them. 

When using a noun in a sentence, think about what other details you want to share about that noun. Depending on whether you want to provide information about the quantity, specificity or ownership, choose the type of determiner that you need to use in the sentence.

Activities That Will Help Your Kids Learn Determiners 

Learning becomes more effective through interesting activities. With these ideas, you can help your child enjoy some activities to learn determiners:

1. Yes, Minister!

• This is a fun game, which you can mix up with your knowledge of determiners 
• Gather everyone at home and sit in a circle. 
• Take a simple storybook for children and start reading out the story word by word. 
• Each person reads out one word, and the next person reads the next word.  
• Every time someone speaks a word which is a determiner, the person has to shout, “Yes, Minister!” 
• This game encourages kids to be alert and recognise determiners in sentences.

2. Worksheets

• James always removes his shoes outside the house. 
• May I have an apple? 
• The second pie was sweeter. 

(Answers: 1. his; 2. an 3. second) 

Complete The Sentences With The Suitable Determiners

Fill in the blanks with the correct determiners sentences given below:

1. ___ book I read last night was interesting. (The/ A) 
2. Where have you parked ____ bicycle? (That/ Your) 
3. Look at ___ bird! It’s beautiful. (That/ There) 
4. ____ children are very good basketball players (These/ Their)
5. Please bring ____ apples from the market. (Three/ Third)
6. Do you know ____ shoes these are? (Whom/ Whose)
7. My sister came ____ in the race! (First/ One)
8. _____ students have not completed their homework (A/ Some)
9. Can you lend me ___ pen? (A/ The)
10. Is there ____ rice for everyone? (All/ enough)
11. Do you know who built ___ Eiffel Tower? (A/ The)
12. Can I have ___  burger for dinner? (Some/ A)
13. My brother is wearing ___ belt today. (All/ My)
14. We went for a drive in ____ car. (A/ Am)
15. ____ students must wear their uniform to school. (All/ Some)

Answers:

1. The
2. Your
3. That
4. These
5. Three
6. Whose
7. First
8. Some
9. A
10. Enough
11. The
12. A
13. My
14. A
15. All

With this article and the activities given above, you will have learnt how to use determiners in a sentence without any hesitation! Keep up the practice, and you will surely do well in your English grammar classes.

Also Read:

Descriptive Words for Kids to Learn
Modal Verbs for Kids with Types and Examples
Vocabulary Words for Children to Improve Language Skills