- Kosur, Heather Marie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 197 Pages – 04/21/2021 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
Level 1 is the first workbook in the elementary series. Lesson 7 teaches about determiners, specifically possessive determiners and demonstrative determiners. Determiners are words that go with nouns. Possessive determiners are determiners that tell if a noun belongs to someone or has some other relationship with someone. Demonstrative determiners are determiners that tell about the distance of a noun.
Transcript
A Form-Function English Grammar
Level 1
Lesson 7
Determiners: Possessive and Demonstrative Determiners
What is a possessive determiner? What is a demonstrative determiner?
Remember that determiners are words that go with nouns. But determiners do not describe nouns. Instead, determiners provide other information about nouns such as which one, whose, where, and how many.
Possessive determiners are one kind of determiner. Possessive determiners tell if a noun belongs to someone or has some other relationship with someone. Seven possessive determiners in English are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. Possessive determiners go with singular and plural nouns.
Look at the sentences I am washing my hands and We put away our toys. Both sentences contain a possessive determiner. The first sentence has my. The second sentence has our. My goes with the noun hands. Our goes with the noun toys.
The possessive determiner my shows a relationship between I and hands. The hands belong to me, the speaker. The possessive determiner our shows a relationship between we and toys. The toys belong to us.
Now look at the sentences The big fluffy dog ate its treat and Some of the children did their work. Both sentences also contain a possessive determiner. The first sentence has its. The second sentence has their. Its goes with the noun treat. Their goes with the noun work.
The possessive determiner its shows a relationship between the big fluffy dog and treat. The treat belongs to the big fluffy dog. The possessive determiner their shows a relationship between some of the children and work. The work belongs to some of the children.
Demonstrative determiners are another kind of determiner. Demonstrative determiners tell about the distance, either physical or emotional, of a noun. The four demonstrative determiners in English are this, that, these, and those.
Remember that singular means “one” and plural means “not one.” This and that are singular and go with singular nouns. These and those are plural and go with plural nouns.
For example, this cat and that cat. This, that, and cat are singular. These cats and those cats. These, those, and cats are plural.
Demonstrative determiners tell about the distance of a noun. The distance can be physical or emotional. This and these show nearness. That and those show farness.
For example, this problem and these problems. The problem and problems are near. That problem and those problems. The problem and problems are far.
Now look at the sentence That kitten played with those strings. The sentence contains two demonstrative determiners: that and those. That goes with the noun kitten. Those goes with the noun strings.
So, what are possessive determiners? What are demonstrative determiners?
Determiners are words that go with nouns. But determiners do not describe nouns. Instead, determiners give information about nouns such as which one, whose, where, and how many.
Possessive determiners are one type of determiner. Possessive determiners tell if a noun belongs to someone or has some other relationship with someone. Seven possessive determiners in English are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. Possessive determiners go with singular and plural nouns.
Demonstrative determiners are another type of determiner. The four demonstrative determiners in English are this, that, these, and those. This and that are singular; these and those are plural. This and these show nearness. That and those show farness.
Now practice your knowledge of possessive and demonstrative determiners by completing the exercises in Lesson 7 of A Form-Function English Grammar: Level 1, pages 28 through 31.