11+ English · Topic explained
Determiners
What tiny word sits in front of almost every noun?
The big idea
A determiner comes before a noun and tells you which one, whose or how many.
Picture it
A determiner is a pointing finger: the dog, my dog, that dog, every dog.
Key words
- determiner
- A word before a noun (and before any adjectives) that tells you which, whose or how many.
- article
- a, an and the.
- demonstrative
- this, that, these, those.
- possessives and quantities
- my, your, our, their… and some, many, every, two.
Worked examples
- 1Warm-up
The cat sat on a mat.
- the and a are articles.
- They come before the nouns cat and mat.
- 211+ standard
an owl an hour a unicorn
- Use an before a vowel sound, a before a consonant sound.
- hour starts with a silent h; unicorn starts with a "you" sound.
- 311+ standard
Those muddy boots are my favourite.
- those: a demonstrative, which boots
- my: a possessive, whose favourite
- The determiner comes before any adjective: those muddy boots.
- 411+ standard
This book is mine. / This is mine.
- This book: a determiner (a noun follows).
- This is mine: a pronoun (it stands alone).
The common mistake
The mistake
Use an before any word that starts with a vowel letter.
Instead
It's the sound that counts: a uniform, a European city, an honest girl.
Why: Uniform starts with a "you" sound; honest starts with a silent h.
Where it comes up in the 11+
Choosing a or an, and spotting determiners in word-class questions, appear in SPaG and cloze.
The video
Video coming soon
We're making a short video that explains determiners step by step. Until then, everything it covers is on this page.
Free printable
Determiners worksheet
Practice questions on this topic to print and try on paper, at home or on the way to school.
Download the worksheet (PDF)Free account needed: it takes a minute.
Quick quiz
Have a go first, then tap to see the answer.
1. Choose: "___ European holiday"
- a
- an
Show the answerHide the answer
a
European starts with a "you" sound, a consonant sound.
2. Which word is a determiner? "Several ducks swam past."
- Several
- ducks
- swam
- past
Show the answerHide the answer
Several
Several comes before the noun ducks and tells us how many.
3. In which sentence is "that" a determiner?
- That was fun.
- I liked that film.
- I know that you're right.
Show the answerHide the answer
I liked that film.
That comes before the noun film, telling us which film.