Determiners and quantifiers

Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how determiners and quantifiers are used. Then, put your grammar knowledge into practice by doing the exercises.

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Hello sir, in the following sentence should it be a plural noun or singular after the determiner any ? •We should wash our hands and feet to avoid any (infections / infection). As per my understanding in this sentence singular 'infection' seems correct. Sir am I right?

Hello amrita_enakshi,

With countable nouns we use the plural form after 'any', and with uncountable nouns we use the singular. 'Infection' can be used as a countable or an uncountable noun and so both singular and plural are possible in this sentence.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello dear Peter M, Thank you, thanks a lot.

Hello dear team, I really should get going. Does (get) here imply sort of delay? Thank you.

Hello Hosseinpour,

The meaning here is either 'I need to leave' or 'I need to start'. For example:

Oh dear, is that the time? It's really late - I should get going. [= I should leave]

I've got a lot of work to do today. I'd better get going. [= I need to start]

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Sirs, I wrote the following sentence: "At the theoretical level, I aim to forge a middle way between two popular approaches." But I was confused about the phrase "at the theoretical level." Should or can I say "at theoretical level" with zero article or "at a theoretical level" with an indefinite article? Are all the forms acceptable or have they different meanings? Many thanks as always.

Hello cbenglish,

The most common option here is 'a but 'the' is also possible and I don't think there is any difference in meaning. The zero article is incorrect here.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Many thanks sir. Is it possible for you to give a quick response regarding why zero article is not possible? Is it because it's a fixed phrase? I feel that zero article is possible since the term level sounds like an abstract noun. I know I am wrong but can't figure out how to think about it correctly.

Hello cbenglish,

While there are similar phrases with others than words than level, there is no real consistency in how articles are used with them. For example, we can say in the theoretical realm but not ~~in a theoretical realm~~ in this kind of context. Thus, I would say that this is best treated as an expression to be memorised rather than the expression of a grammatical rule.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Help please, I'm confused. According to Cambridge dictionary we don't use the article THE when referring to activities in the building. So why do we use the article THE in the second sentence but not in the first sentence? 1) He's at school (for teacher or student) 2) He's at the hospital (for doctor or patient)

Hello freemeu,

We have several options here:

He's at school = he's a pupil

He's at the school / He's in the school = he's visiting it (in = inside the building; at = more general)

He's in hospital = he's a patient

He's at the hospital / He's in the hospital = he's visiting it (in = inside the building; at = more general)

Please posts questions once only. Posting the same question more than once only slows the process down as we have to delete the additional examples.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you! But if someone is in there doing what the building is meant for, then we omit the article THE as in: He's in bed sleeping and He's in the bed watching TV.! For example we say The pastor is at church. The Student is at school. In both sentence we omitted THE to show that they are there to do the activity the building is meant for(student to learn and pastor to preach the gospel). Here is my question: The doctor is at the hospital The guard is at the prison In these two sentences why don't we omit the article THE to show that the doctor is there to do the activity the building is meant for (to treat the patients).

Hello freemeu,

There are many examples which follow the rule you quote but it is not completely consistent. For example, we say a patient is in hospital but we say a doctor is in (or at) the hospital. Similarly, we say that a criminal is in prison but we say a guard is in (or at) the prison.

The reason for the inconsistency is simply convention. This is how the language has developed through use over many years. It's unfortunate but English is hardly unique in having exceptions to some of its grammatical and lexical rules!

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, Can we use "a/an" before a noun showing relation. For e.g Catherine has_____ in London. Can we say "an" if I want to say she have 1 aunt.

Hello amol,

The indefinite article is used before non-specified countable nouns. Nouns describing relations are no different from any other nouns in this regard. Thus we would say 'an aunt' in your example if it is the first time we have mentioned her. Once we know which aunt is being referred to then we would say 'the aunt'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, Can we use any article before the word showing nationality? e.g John is ______Spanish. I think, in the above example, the word "Spanish" is used as an adjective, so no article is required. I am confused. :-* Regards

Hello amol,

Articles are used before nouns so when an adjective is used without a noun no article is needed. This we would not use an article in your example.

It is possible to use the definite article before certain adjectives to describe a group: the rich, the poor, the Spanish, the English, the sick, the healthy, the old, the young etc.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, What article do we use before "hotel" If I want to say, They stayed in ______ hotel.

Hi amol,

Both 'a' and 'the' are possible here and I'm afraid it's not possible to answer your question without knowing what the speaker means. Please see our Articles 1, Articles 2, and our indefinite and definite article pages for more information about what they mean and how they are used.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Can an article be added before an adjective? 'Titanic had an advanced safety features' Is it correct to add 'an' here? Please explain in details. Thanks

Hello Sad,

Articles are a part of the noun phrase and are connected to the noun. The adjective does not change this. However, we do not use 'a' or 'an' with plural verbs, so that is a mistake in your sentence ('features' is a plural noun). You could say:

The Titanic had advanced safety features. [more than one]

The Titanic had an advanced safety feature. [one]

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks for replying. I am confused. I thought any word which starts with a vowel must have 'an' before it. So 'advanced' here must have 'an' before it. What you wrote means that the article is related to the word 'feature' and not related to 'advanced' as an adjective. If it is related to 'feature' then what is the use of putting 'an' here since 'feature' cones in the end of the sentence? Please explain in details so it can be clear for me. Thanks

Hello Sad,

'a' and 'an' are the same indefinite article. The only difference is that 'an' is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (not with a vowel, but a vowel sound). This is a purely phonological change -- in other words, grammatically, 'a' and 'an' are the same word; we only say 'an' instead of 'a' because it's easier to pronounce due to the vowel sound that follows it. This is somewhat similar to changing 'y' to 'e' in Spanish -- 'padres y hijos' is not correct, instead it is 'padres e hijos' -- though grammatically 'y' is a conjunction, not a determiner. But 'y' changes to 'e' based on the first sound in the word after it, not based on grammar -- this is just like how 'a' changes to 'an' based on the first sound in the word after it, not based on grammar.

Articles are used in a noun phrase, i.e. they go with a noun (e.g. a safety feature). Sometimes there is an adjective between the article and the noun (e.g. an advanced safety feature), but the meaning of the article is the same and it modifies (tell us about) the noun, not the adjective.

Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Plus one more thing. 'An English language teacher' Using 'an' here, considered correct or not? Although it is referred to 'teacher' which does not take 'an' Please clarify Thanks

Hi Sad,

'an English teacher' is correct. My response below should hopefully help you understand this. If not, please see this page.

Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Dear all, if the first word the name of a person or a place, then we do not use "the" with namse like these, for examples: Victoria Station, Edinburg Castle, Buckingham Palace but we use "the" when say The Eiffel Tower - why?

Dear Sirs, Please look at the following sentence: "The Korean war never formally ended and the threat of a new devastating conflict has hung over the peninsula for decades." My question is about the article use before the noun threat. In this sentence, can I say:....and a threat of a new devastating... What if threat is used without an article (e.g.,...and threat of a new devastating...) since it appears to me that threat is an abstract noun in the sentence. Thank you very much for your wonderful support.

Hello cbenglish,

The definite article is used here because 'threat' is not general but is defined. It is not any devastating conflict which is referenced but a specific devastating conflict: renewed conflict in the aforementioned Korean War.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Sirs, Is the use of the before the phrase 'book nerd' in the following sentence correct? "You may not know this, but I am quite the book nerd – a voracious reader." Since the phrase 'book nerd' appears for the first time, I feel like it should be 'a book nerd.' Am I right in my thinking, or the both will be correct? Thank you very much.

Hello cbenglish,

Yes, it is correct but you could also say 'a book nerd'.

The phrase 'quite the...' is used with many nouns, often in a humorous way:

Your little boy is quite the explorer, isn't he?

You're quite the computer programmer, aren't you?

My boss is quite the little dictator.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Choose I play football at(a-the-no article ) school. Please explain the answer

Hello Adill,

We normally ask that our users tell us what they think the answer is. Most of the time, no article is used here, though 'a' and 'the' are also possible. It really depends on the context and meaning, which are missing here.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

How could we use the phrases “ in fact” or the word “indeed”? This is a quite complicated matter to learn this. I have read about their usages on the website, but could not understand unfortunately. Please explain in simple words how can we use it, why we use it and when we use it. Give some examples please if possible. Regards, Rox

Hello Rox4090,

Have you tried reading the entries for 'indeed' and 'in fact' in different dictionaries? I've put links to the Cambridge Dictionary, but I'd also recommend trying others, e.g. Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Longman and Collins. The definitions should help and then the example sentences should also be really useful.

If you have any specific questions after reading through those, please let us know.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, I'd like to ask a question about exclamator. Take an example: How interesting the films are! In writing, is it also correct to write "How interesting films are!". Can I leave out "the" in that case? Thanks in advance.

Hello clover315,

Yes, you can say this without the definite article. However, the meaning changes:

How interesting the films are! [a particular group or selection of films, such as those being shown at a film festival]

How interesting films are! [films in general]

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Is it neccessary to place determiners and quantifiers just before the nouns??

Hello Jaypee,

Adjectives and numbers come between determiners and quantifiers and the nouns they accompany:

The red house

The two sheep

Other than these the determiner or quantifier generally come immediately before the noun unless the word order is changed for rhetorical effect:

There are many problems, in my opinion.

There are many - in my opinion - problems.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Can adverb be preceded by determiner or quantifiers???

Hello Jaypee,

As is explained above, determiners and quantifiers come at the head of a noun phrase. In other words, they modify nouns. They do not modify adverbs. Only adverbs modify other adverbs.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Thanx

Hello, Are both correct? God forgive all of your sins. God forgive all your sins.

Hello Zeeshan Siddiqii,

Yes, both sentences are grammatically correct and there is no difference in meaning.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

i want to ask , why the word "any" use in positive sentences ? in the book I read any not for positive sentence but for negative sentence

Hello putridp9,

The determiner 'any' has two main meanings: one is to refer to indefinite quantities and the other means something like 'it doesn't matter which one'.

When 'any' is referring to indefinite quantities, we typically use it only in negative or interrogative sentences.

When 'any' means 'it doesn't matter which one' (which is the way it is used above), then it can be used in an affirmative sentences.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hello again and thanks for your support....I have a question about prepositions. Starting to write about a past holiday, what's the correct preposition to use before this noun? On my last holiday I went to.... Or For my last holiday I went to.... Thanks a lot.

Hello Ilariuccia,

In this context we would say 'for'. We could use 'on' when describing things that happened during the holiday:

For my last holiday I went to Cyprus.

On/During my last holiday I met a really nice guy who worked as a musician.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Is it right to say: I've learned English since I was five ? Is it formal? or should I say five years old when I was talking formally. Thanks

Hello Marwa.Mohamed,

You can say '...since I was five' or '...since I was five years old' here. Neither is informal, though the second sounds a little more offical than the first in my view.

Your sentence is not incorrect but I think the present perfect continuous would be a more natural choice: