Top Tips Grammar: Determiners

Main points

*Determiners are used at the beginning of noun groups.
*You use specific determiner when people know exactly which things or people you are talking about.

 

a) When you use a determiner, you put it at the beginning of a noun group, in front of numbers or adjectives.

- I met the two Swedish girls in London.
- Our main bedroom is through there.
- Have you got another red card?
- Several young boys were waiting.

 

b) When the people or things you are talking about have already been mentioned, or the people you are talking to know exactly which one you mean, you use a specific determiner.

- The man began to run towards the boy.
- Young people don’t like these operas.
- Her face was very red.

The specific determiners are:

The definite article	: the
Demonstratives	: this, that, these, those
Possessives	: my, your, his, her, its, our, their

 

c) When you are mentioning people or things for the first time, or talking about them generally without saying which ones you mean, you use a general determiner.

- There was a man in the lift.
- We went to an art exhibition.
- You can stop at any time you like.
- There were several reasons for this.

The general determiners are:

a	both	few	more	other
all	each	fewer	most	several
an	either	less	much	some
another	enough	little	neither
any	every	many	no

 

d) Each general determiner is used with particular types of nouns, such as:

*singular count nouns

a	another	each	every	no
an	any	either	neither

- I got a postcard from Rita.
- He opened another shop.
- Any big tin container will do.

*plural count nouns

all	enough	many	no	some
any	few	more	other
both	fewer	most	several

- There were few doctors available.
- Several projects postponed.
- He spoke many different languages.

*uncount nouns

all	enough	little	most	no
any	less	more	much	some

- There was little applause.
- He did not speak much English.
- We need more information.

Remember that the following general determiners can never be used with uncount nouns.

a	both	every	neither
an	each	few	several
another	either	many

 

e) Most of the determiners are also pronouns, except ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘every’, ‘no’ and the possessives.

- I saw several in the woods last night.
- There is enough for all of us.
- Have you got any that I could borrow?

You use ‘one’ as a pronoun instead of ‘a’ or ‘an’, ‘none’ instead of ‘no’, and ‘each’ instead of ‘every’.

- Have you got one?
- There are none left.
- Each has a separate box and number.

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Main uses of ‘the’

Main points

*You can use ‘the’ in front of any noun.
*You use ‘the’ when the person you are talking to know which person or thing you mean.
*You use ‘the’ when you are referring back to someone or something.
*You use ‘the’ when you are specifying which person or thing you are talking about.
*You use ‘the’ when you are referring to something that is unique.
*You use ‘the’ when you want to use one thing as an example to say something about all things of the same type.

 

a) ‘The’ is called the definite article, and is the commonest determiner. You use ‘the’ when the person you are talking to knows which person or thing you mean you can use ‘the’ in front of any noun, whether it is a singular count noun, an uncount noun, or a plural count noun.

- She dropped the can.
- I remembered the fun I had with them.
- The girls were not at home.

 

b) You use ‘the’ with a noun when you are referring back to someone or something that has already been mentioned.

- I called for a waiter… … The waiter with a moustache came.
- I have bought a house in Wales… … The house is in an agricultural area.

 

c) You use ‘the’ with a noun and a qualifier, such as a prepositional phrase or a relative clause, when you are specifying which person or thing you are talking about.

- I’ve no idea about the geography of Peru.
- The book that I recommended now cost over three pounds.

 

d) You use ‘the’ with a noun when you are referring to something of which there is only one in the world.

- They all sat in the sun.
- We have landed men on the moon.
- The sky was a brilliant blue.

You also use ‘the’ when you are referring to something of which there is only one in a particular place.

- Mrs. Robertson heard that the church had been bombed.
- He decided to put some words on the blackboard.

 

e) You can use ‘the’ with a singular count noun when you want to make a general statement about all things of that type. For example, if you say ‘The whale is the largest mammal in the world’, you mean all whales, not one particular whale.

- The computer allows us to deal with a lot of data very quickly.
- My father’s favourite flower is the rose.

 

f) You can use ‘the’ with a singular count noun when you are referring to a system or service. For example, you can use ‘the phone’ to refer to a telephone system and ‘the bus’ to refer to a bus service.

- I don’t like using the phone.
- How long does it take on the train?

 

g) You can use ‘the’ with the name of a musical instrument when you are talking about someone’s ability to play the instrument.

- ‘You play the guitar, I see,’ said Simon.
- Geoff plays the piano very well.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Other uses of ‘the’

Main points

*You do not normally use ‘the’ with proper nouns referring to people. You do use ‘the’ with many proper nouns referring to geographical places.
*You use ‘the’ with some adjectives to talk about groups of people.

 

a) You do not normally use ‘the’ with proper nouns that are people’s names. However, if you are talking about a family, you can say ‘the Browns.

You use ‘the’ with some titles, such as ‘the Queen of England’, and with the names of some organizations, buildings, newspapers, and works of art.

…the United Nations…	… the Taj Mahal…
… the Times…	… the Mona Lisa…

 

b) You do use ‘the’ with some proper nouns referring to geographical places.

… the Bay of Biscay…	… the Suez Canal…
… the Arabian Gulf…	… the Pacific Ocean…

You use ‘the’ with countries whose names include words such as ‘kingdom’, ‘republic’, ‘states’, or ‘union’.

… the United Kingdom…

… the Soviet Union…

You use ‘the’ with countries that have plural nouns as their names.

… the Netherlands…

… the Philippines…

Note that you do not use ‘the’ with countries that have singular nouns as their names, such as ‘China’, ‘Italy’, or ‘Turkey’.

You use ‘the’ with names of mountain ranges and groups of islands.

… the Alps…	… the Himalayas…
… the Bahamas…	… the Canaries…

Note that you do not use ‘the’ with names of individual mountain such as ‘Everest’ or ‘Etna’, or the names of individuals islands such as ‘Sicily’, ‘Minorca’, or ‘Bali’.

You use ‘the’ with regions of the world, or regions of a country that include ‘north’, ‘south’, ‘east’, or ‘west’.

… the Middle East…	… the north of England…
… the Far East.	… the west of Ireland.

Note that there are some exceptions.

… North America…

… South-East Asia.

You do not use ‘the’ with ‘northern’, ‘southern’, ‘eastern’ or ‘western’ and a singular name.

… northern England…

... western Africa…

You use ‘the’ with the names of areas of water such as seas, oceans, rivers, canals, gulfs, and straits.

… the Mediterranean Sea…	… the Atlantic Ocean.
… the river Ganges…	… the Panama Canal.
… the Gulf of Mexico…	… the straits of Gibraltar.

.

Note that you do not use ‘the’ with lakes.

…Lake Geneva…

... Lake Superior.

Note that you do not use ‘the’ with continents, cities, streets, or addresses.

…Asia…	…Tokyo.
…Atahualpa Street…	…15 Park Street.

 

c) You use ‘the’ with adjectives such as ‘rich’, ‘poor’, ‘young’, ‘old’, and ‘unemployed’ to talk about a general group of people. You do not need a noun.

- Only the rich could afford his firm’s products.
- They were discussing the problem of the unemployed.

When you use ‘the’ with an adjective as the subject of a verb, you use a plural verb.

- In the cities the poor are as badly off as they were in the villages.

 

d) You use ‘the’ with some nationally adjectives to talk about the people who live in a country.

- They will be increasingly dependent on the support of the French.
- The Spanish claimed that the money had not been paid.

With other nationalities, you use a plural noun.

…Germans…

…the Americans…

When you use ‘the’ with a nationality adjective as the subject of a verb, you use a plural verb.

- The British are worried.

 

e) You use ‘the’ with superlatives.

- He was the cleverest man I ever knew.
- He was the youngest.
- His shoulders hurt the worst.
- It was the most exciting summer of their lives.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: A, An

Main points

You only use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with singular count nouns.
You use ‘a’ or ‘an’ to talk about a person or thing for the first time.

 

a) You only use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with singular count nouns. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are called the indefinite article.

- I got a postcard from Susan.
- He was eating an apple.

Remember that you use ‘a’ in front of a word that begins with a consonant sound even if the first letter is a vowel, for example ‘a piece, a university, a European language’. You use ‘an’ in front of a word that begins with a vowel sound even if the first letter is a consonant, for example ‘an exercise, an idea, an honest man’.

 

b) You use ‘a’ or ‘an’ when you are talking about a person or thing for the first time.

- She picked up a book.
- After weeks of looking, we eventually bought a house.
- A colleague and I got some money to do research on rats.

Note that the second time you refer to the same person or thing, you use ‘the’.

- She picked up a book… The book was lying on the table.
- After weeks of looking, we bought a house… The house was in a village.

 

c) After the verb ‘be’ or another link verb, you can use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with an adjective and a noun to give more information about someone or something.

- His brother was a sensitive child.
- He seemed a worried man.
- It was a really beautiful house.

You can also use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with a noun followed by a qualifier, such as a prepositional phrase or a relative clause, when you want to give more information about someone or something.

- The information was contained in an article on biology.
- I chose a picture that reminded me of my own country.

 

d) You use ‘a’ or ‘an’ after the verb ‘be’ or another link verb when you are saying what someone is or what job they have.

- He became a school teacher.
- She is a model and an artist.

 

e) You use ‘a’ or ‘an’ to mean ‘one’ with some numbers. You can use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with nouns that refer to whole numbers, fractions, money, weights, or measures.

a hundred	a pound	a thousand	a dollar
a quarter	a kilo	a half	a litre

 

f) You do not use ‘a’ or ‘an’ with uncount nouns or plural nouns. You do not need to use a determiner at all with plural count nouns, but you can use the determiners ‘any’, ‘a few’, ‘many’, ‘several’, or ‘some’.

- I love dogs.
- Do you have any dogs?
- Many adults don’t listen to children.
- I have some children like that in my class.

Note that if you do not use a determiner with a plural count noun, you are often making a general statement about people or things of that type. For example, if you say ‘I love dogs’, you mean all dogs. However, if you say ‘There are eggs in the kitchen’, you mean there are some eggs. If you do use a determiner, you mean a number of people or things but not all of them, without saying exactly how many.

- I have some friends coming for dinner.
- He has bought some plants for the house.
- I have some important things to tell him.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: All, Most, No, One

Main points

*You use ‘all’ with plurals count nouns and uncount nouns. You use ‘all’ to talk about every person or thing in the world, or in the group you are talking about.
*You use ‘most’ with plural count nouns and uncount nouns. You use ‘most’ to talk about nearly all of number of people or things, or nearly all of a quantity of something.
*You use ‘no’ with singular and plural count nouns and uncount nouns. You use ‘no’ to say that something does not exist or is not present.

 

a) You use ‘all’ with plural count nouns and uncount nouns to talk about every person or thing in the world or in the group that you are talking about.

- All children should complete the primary course.
- All important decisions were taken by the government.
- He soon lost all hope of becoming a rock star.
- All luggage will be searched.

 

b) You use ‘most’ with plural count nouns and uncount nouns to talk about nearly all of number of people or things, or nearly all of a quantity of something.

- The method was suitable for most purposes.
- Most good drivers stop at zebra crossings.
- Most milk is still delivered to people’s houses.
- He ignored most advice, and did what he thought best.

 

c) You use ‘no’ with singular count nouns, plural count nouns, and uncount nouns to say that something does not exist or is not present.

- There was no chair for me to sit on.
- They had no immediate plans to change house.
- No money was available for the operation.

Note that if there is another in the clause that makes it negative, you use ‘any’, not ‘no’.

- It hasn’t made any difference.
- He will never do any work for me again.

 

d) ‘All’ and ‘most’ are also pronouns, so you can say ‘all of’ and ‘most of’. ‘No’ is not a pronoun, so you must say ‘none of’.

- He spent all of the money on a new car.
- Most of my friends live in London.
- None of those farmers had ever driven a tractor.

Note that you use ‘all of’, ‘most of’, and ‘none of’, with an object pronoun.

- All of us were sleeping.
- I had seen most of them before.
- None of them came to the party.

Note that if the clause is already negative, you use ‘any of’, not ‘none of’.

- I hadn’t eaten any of the biscuits.

When ‘none of’ is followed by a plural noun or pronoun, the verb is usually plural, but can be singular.

- None of us are the same.
- None of them has lasted very long.

 

e) You can use ‘all the’ with a plural count noun or an uncount noun. There is no difference in meaning between ‘all the’ and ‘all of the’.

- All the girls think it’s great.
- All the best jokes came at the end of the programme.
- Thank you for all the help you have me.

Remember that you cannot say ‘most the’, or ‘none the’. You must say ‘most of the’ or ‘none of the’.

 

f) You can use ‘all’ after a noun or pronoun to emphasize that the noun or pronoun refers to everyone or everything that has been mentioned or is involved.

Note that you can use ‘all’ to emphasize the subject or the object.

- The band all live together in the same house.
- I enjoyed it all.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Both, Either, Neither

Main points

*You use ‘both’, ‘either’, and ‘neither’ to talk about two people or things that have been mentioned or are known to the hearer.
*You use ‘both’ with plural nouns, and ‘either’ and ‘neither’ with singular nouns.
*You use ‘both of’, ‘either of’, and ‘neither of’ with plural nouns or pronouns.

 

a) You use ‘both’, ‘either’, and ‘neither’ when you are saying something about two people or things that have been mentioned, or are known to the person you are talking to.

- There were excellent performances from both actresses.
- Denis held his cocoa in both hands.
- No argument could move either man from this decision.
- Neither report mentioned the Americans.

 

b) You use ‘both’ when you think of the two people or things as a group. You use ‘both’ with a plural noun.

- Both children were happy with their presents.
- Both policies make good sense.

 

c) You use ‘either’ when you think of the two people or things as individuals. You use ‘either’ with a singular noun.

- Either way is acceptable.            
- She could not see either man.

 

d) You use ‘neither’ when you are thinking of the two people or thins as individuals and you are making a negative statement about them. You use ‘neither’ with a singular noun.

- In reality, neither party was enthusiastic.
- Neither man knew what he was doing.

 

e) You can use ‘both’ with a specific determiner such as ‘the’, ‘these’, or ‘my’.

- Both the young men agreed to come.
- Both these books have been recommended to us.
- Both her parents were dead.

Remember that you cannot use ‘either’ or ‘neither’ with a specific determiner.

 

f) You can use ‘both of’, ‘either of’, or ‘neither of’ with a plural noun or pronoun.

Note that when ‘both of’, either of’, and ‘neither of’ are followed by a noun rather than a pronoun, you must use a specific determiner such as ‘the’, ‘these’, or ‘her’ before the noun.

- Both of these restaurants are excellent.
- Either of them could have done the job.
- Neither of our boys was involved.

Note that ‘neither of’ is normally used with a singular verb but it can be used with a plural verb.

- Neither of us was having any luck.
- Neither of the children were there.

 

g) Remember that you can also use ‘both’, ‘either’, and ‘neither’ as conjunctions you use ‘both… and’ to give two alternatives and say that each of them is possible or true.

- I am looking for opportunities both in this country and abroad.
- Both I and my wife were surprised to see you there.

You use ‘either… or’ to give two alternatives and say that only one of them is possible true.

- You can have either fruit or ice cream.
- I was expecting you either today or tomorrow.
- You either love him or hate him.

You also use ‘neither… nor’ to give two alternatives and say that each of them is not possible or is not true.

- Neither Margaret nor Josh was there.
- He did it neither quickly nor well.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Quantity 1

Main points

*You use ‘much’ and ‘little’ with a uncount nouns to talk about a quantity of something.
*You use ‘many’ and ‘few’ with plural nouns to talk about a number of people or things.
*You use ‘much’ in negative sentences and questions, and ‘a lot of’ or ‘plenty of’ rather than ‘much’ in affirmative sentences.
*You use ‘more’ and ‘less’ with uncount nouns, and ‘more’ and ‘fewer’ with plural count nouns.

 

a) You use ‘much’ to talk about a large quantity of something, and ‘little’ to talk about a small quantity of something you only use ‘much’ and ‘little’ with uncount nouns.

- I haven’t got much time.
- We’ve made little progress.

 

b) You use ’many’ to talk about a large number of people or things, and ‘few’ to talk about a small number of people or things. You can only use ‘many’ and ‘few’ with plural count nouns.

- He wrote many novels.
- There were few visitors to our house.

 

c) You normally use ‘much’ in negative sentences and questions.

- He did not speak much English.
- Why haven’t I given much attention to his problem?

In affirmative sentences you do not use ‘much’, you use ‘a lot of’, ‘lots of’, or ‘plenty of’ instead. You can use them with both uncount nouns and plural nouns.

- He demanded a lot of attention.
- I make a lot of mistakes
- They spent lots of time on the project.
- He remembered a large room with lots of windows.
- I’ve got plenty of money.
- There are always plenty of jobs to be done.

Note that you can use ‘so much’ and ‘too much’ in affirmative sentences.

- She spends so much time here.
- There is too much chance of error.

 

d) You use ‘so much’ to emphasize that a large quantity of something is involved.

- I have so much work to do.
- They have so much money and we have so little.

You use ‘too much’ and ‘too many’ to say that quantity of something, or the number of people or things, is larger than is reasonable or necessary.

- He has too much work.
- Too many people still smoke.

You use ‘very many’ to emphasize that a large number of people or things are involved.

- Very many old people live alone.

Note that ‘very much’ is used with nouns and verbs.

- There isn’t very much time.
- I liked it very much.

 

e) You use ‘few’ and ‘little’ to emphasize that only a small quantity of something or a small number of people or things are involved. They can be used with ‘very’ for greater emphasis.

- The town has few monuments.
- I have little time for anything but work.
- Very few cars had reversing lights.
- I had very little money left.

Note that ‘a few’ and ‘a little’ just indicate that a quantity or number is small.

- He spread a little honey on a slice of bread.
- I usually do a few jobs for him in the house.

 

f) You use ‘more’ with uncount nouns and plural count nouns to refer to a quantity of something or a number of people or things that is greater than another quantity or number.

- His visit might do more harm than good.
- He does more hours than I do.

You use ‘less’ with uncount nouns to refer to an amount of something that is smaller than another amount.

- The poor have less access to education.
- This machinery uses less energy.

You use ‘fewer’, or ‘less’ in informal English, with plural nouns to refer to a number of people or things that is smaller than another number. 

- There are fewer trees here.
- They have sold less computers this year.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Quantity 2

Main points

*You use ‘some’ to talk about a quantity or number without being precise.
*You use ‘any’ to talk about a quantity or number that may or may not exist.
*You use ‘another’, or ‘another’ and a number, to talk about additional people or things.
*You use ‘each’ and ‘every’ to talk about all the members of a group of people or things.

 

a) You use ‘some’ with uncount nouns and plural nouns to talk about a quantity of something or a number of people or things without being precise.

- I have left some food for you in the fridge.
- Some trains are running late.

You normally use ‘some’ in affirmative sentences.

- There’s some chocolate cake over there.
- I had some good ideas.

You use ‘some’ in questions when you expect the answer to be ‘yes’, for example in offer or request.

- Would you like some coffee?
- Could you give me some examples?

You can use ‘some’ with a singular noun when you do not know which person or thing is involved, or you think it does not matter.

- Some man phoned, but didn’t leave his number.
- Is there some problem?

 

b) You use ‘any’ in front of plural and uncount nouns to talk about a quantity of something that may or may not exist. You normally use ‘any’ in questions and negative sentences.

- Are there any jobs men can do but women can’t?
- It hasn’t made any difference.

You use ‘any’ with a singular noun to emphasize that it does not matter which person or thing is involved.

- Any container will do.

You can use ‘no’ with an affirmative verb instead of ‘not any’.

- There weren’t any tomatoes left.
- There were no tomatoes left.

You can also use ‘not’ and ‘any’, or ‘no’, with a comparative.

- Her house wasn’t any better than ours.
- Her house was no better than ours.

 

c) You use ‘another’ with singular nouns to talk about an additional person or thing.

- Could I have another cup of coffee?
- He opened another shop last month.

You can also use ‘another’ with a number and a plural noun to talk about more people or things.

- Another four years passed before we met again.
- I’ve got another three books to read.

You use ‘other’ with plural nouns and ‘the other’ with singular or plural nouns.

- I’ve got other things to think about.
- The other man has gone.
- The other European countries have beaten us.

 

d) You use ‘each’ or ‘every’ with a singular noun to talk about all the members of a group of people or things. You use ‘each’ when you are thinking about the members as individuals, and ‘every’ when you are making a general statement about all of them.

- Each country is subdivided into several districts.
- Each applicant has five choices.
- Every child would have milk every day.
- She spoke to every person at that party.

You can modify ‘every’ but not ‘each’.

- He spoke to them nearly every day.
- He went out almost every evening.

 

e) You can use ‘some of’, ‘any of’, or ‘each of’, and a noun group to talk about a number of people or things in a group of people or things.

- Some of the information has already been analysed.
- It was more expensive than any of the other magazines.
- He gave each of us advice about our present goals.

You can use ‘each of’ ad a plural noun group but ‘every’ must be followed by ‘one of’.

- Each of the drawings is different.
- Every one of them is given a financial target.

Note that you can also use ‘each’ with ‘one of’.

- This view of poverty influences each one of us.

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
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See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

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Advanced Vocabulary - Determiners

Determiners

a determiner

used when you are mentioning a person or a thing for the first time, or when the person listening to you does not already know about them.

a determiner

used before a person’s name when you do not know anything about them.

a determiner

used when you mean any person or thing of a particular type, but you are not referring to a specific one.

a determiner

used when you say what class, type, or group someone or something belongs to, or what job someone has.

a determiner

used before a family name to mean a member of that family.

a determiner

used before a singular noun that represents every person or thing of a particular type.

a determiner

used before the name of a famous person to mean someone else with similar abilities, a similar appearance, or a similar character.

a determiner

used when you are referring to a person or thing as one of several people or things of this type.

a determiner

used in expressions of quantity such as ‘a lot’, ‘a few’, or ‘a great deal’.

a determiner

used in numbers and measurements to mean ‘one’, as in ‘a thousand’ or ‘an hour’.

a determiner

used in phrases showing how much something costs, how often it happens, how fast it goes etc.

a determiner

used before a noun that means a substance, product, food etc when referring to a particular type of it.

a determiner

used before the name of some drinks to mean a cup or glass of that drink.

a determiner

used before a noun that means a particular quality or feeling when the quality or feeling is described in some way.

a determiner

used before a noun that is formed from a verb and means a single action of that verb.

a determiner

used before a noun that expresses your feelings about a situation.

a determiner

used before the name of a particular day, season, or holiday to mean one particular Tuesday, summer, Christmas etc.

an determiner

used instead of ‘a’ when the next word begins with a vowel sound.

baker’s dozen noun

old-fashioned 13 of something.

certain determiner

used for referring to someone or something without being specific about exactly what or who they are.

certain determiner

spoken used for referring to someone or something without saying their name, when you know that the person you are talking to knows who or what you are referring to.

determiner noun

linguistics a word used before a noun for showing which thing or things you are talking about. The words ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘this’, ‘some’, and ‘every’ are determiners.

double determiner

twice as much, or twice as many.

dozen determiner

a set of 12 things or people.

dozen determiner

a set of about 12 things or people.

dozens determiner

lots of things or people.

every determiner

used for referring to all the people or things of a particular type or in a particular group, or all the parts of something.

every determiner

used for showing how often something happens or how far apart things are, especially when there is a regular time or distance between them.

every determiner

used for showing how common something is by giving a number as a part of a larger number.

every determiner

used before some words for emphasis.

its determiner

belonging or relating to a thing, idea, place, animal etc when it has already been mentioned or when it is obvious which one you are referring to.

its determiner

belonging or relating to a baby or very young child when it has been mentioned or when it is obvious which one you are referring to.

mine determiner

an old word meaning ‘my’.

my determiner, interjection

used for showing that something belongs to or is connected with you when you are the person speaking or writing.

other determiner, pronoun

used for referring to additional people or things of the type already mentioned or known about.

other determiner, pronoun

used for referring to a different person or thing from the one already mentioned or known about.

other determiner, pronoun

used when there are two things or people for referring to the one that has not already been mentioned or is not already known about.

other determiner, pronoun

used for referring to the rest of the people or things in a group.

other determiner, pronoun

used for referring to people in a general way when you are not including yourself as one of them.

our determiner

belonging to or connected with you and the group that you are a part of, when you are the person speaking or writing.

our determiner

spoken sometimes used by people when referring to a member of their family by name.

such determiner, predeterminer, pronoun

of the type that is being mentioned.

such determiner, predeterminer, pronoun

used for saying that a particular type of situation, behaviour, action etc causes the result that you are mentioning.

such determiner, predeterminer, pronoun

used for emphasizing a quality in someone or something, or for saying that something is unusual.

such determiner, predeterminer, pronoun

used for emphasizing a particular quality in something or someone by stating its result.

the determiner

used when you are referring to a particular thing or person that has already been mentioned or is already known about.

the determiner

used when referring to parts of the body.

the determiner

used before the names of seas, rivers, deserts, or groups of mountains.

the determiner

used before an adjective to form a plural noun when you are referring to people of a particular type or people from a particular country.

the determiner

used when it is obvious which one you are referring to because there is only one.

the determiner

used before a singular noun when making a general statement about people or things of a particular type.

the determiner

used before a plural name when you are referring to members of a particular family.

the determiner

used when you are referring to familiar things that people deal with regularly.

the determiner

used when referring to a part of a particular thing.

the determiner

used before dates or periods of time.

the determiner

used when explaining which person or thing you are referring to.

the determiner

used before a noun that refers to an action, especially when it is followed by ‘of’.

the determiner

used before an adjective to form a noun when you are referring to the type of thing that is described by the adjective.

the determiner

used before superlative adjectives and words such as ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘next’, and ‘last’.

the determiner

used when saying whether there is enough of something for a particular purpose.

the determiner

used when you are saying what type of musical instrument someone plays.

the determiner

used when a particular person, thing, or place that you are referring to is the famous one, or is the best or most fashionable.

the determiner

used before the name of a dish when ordering food, especially in an expensive restaurant.

their determiner

belonging to or relating to a particular group of people or things that have already been mentioned or when it is obvious which ones you are referring to.

their determiner

mainly spoken used instead of ‘his or her’, especially when you are referring back to a word such as ‘everyone’, ‘someone’, or ‘anyone’ Many people consider this use incorrect.

thy determiner

an old word meaning ‘your’ that was used for talking or writing to one person.

treble determiner

something that is treble the number or amount of another thing is three times greater than it.

twice determiner

two times the amount or rate of something.

whose determiner, pronoun

used for asking who someone or something belongs to or who they are connected with.

whose determiner, pronoun

used for showing that someone or something belongs to or is connected with the person or thing that you have just mentioned.

whose determiner, pronoun

used when someone knows or says who someone or something belongs to or who they are connected with.

wot determiner, pronoun

British informal a way of writing ‘what’ that shows how it sounds in informal conversation.

ye determiner

used instead of ‘the’, especially in the names of pubs and restaurants so that they will sound old or interesting.

yer determiner

a way of writing ‘your’ that shows how it sounds in informal conversation.

your determiner

used for showing that something belongs to or is connected with the person or people you are talking or writing to.

your determiner

used for showing that something belongs to or is connected with people in general.

your determiner

informal used for showing that something is a typical or normal example of its type.

a certain

some, but not very much.

a certain

used for talking about someone when you know their name but nothing else about them.

every last

used for emphasizing that you are referring to all of the people or things in a group.

one or other

British one of two people or things, when it does not matter which you are referring to.

someone something somewhere etc or other

used when you are not saying exactly which person thing place etc you mean.

such as

used for introducing more examples of the type of person or thing that you have just mentioned

total words = 83