Nouns are often preceded by the words the, a, or an. These words are called DETERMINERS. They indicate the kind of reference which the noun has. The determiner the is known as the DEFINITE ARTICLE. It is used before both singular and plural nouns:
| Singular | Plural |
| the taxi | the taxis |
| the paper | the papers |
| the apple | the apples |
The determiner a (or an, when the following noun begins with a vowel) is the INDEFINITE ARTICLE. It is used when the noun is singular:
The articles the and a/an are the most common determiners, but there are many others:
any taxi
that question
those apples
this paper
some apple
whatever taxi
whichever taxi
Many determiners express quantity:
all examples
both parents
many people
each person
every night
several computers
few excuses
enough water
no escape
Perhaps the most common way to express quantity is to use a numeral. We look at numerals as determiners in the next section.
Numerals and Determiners
Numerals are determiners when they appear before a noun. In this position, cardinal numerals express quantity:
one book
two books
twenty books
In the same position, ordinal numerals express sequence:
first impressions
second chance
third prize
The subclass of ordinals includes a set of words which are not directly related to numbers (as first is related to one, second is related to two, etc). These are called general ordinals, and they include last, latter, next, previous, and subsequent. These words also function as determiners:
next week
last orders
previous engagement
subsequent developments
When they do not come before a noun, as we've already seen, numerals are a subclass of nouns. And like nouns, they can take determiners:
the two of us
the first of many
They can even have numerals as determiners before them:
In this example, twos is a plural noun and it has the determiner five before it.
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