Indefinite Determiners For Intermediate learners

In this lesson, discover indefinite determiners, which are used to refer to non-specific nouns. Improve with simple explanations and easy examples.

definiteness indefinite determiners

Indefinite Determiners in English Grammar

What Are Indefinite Determiners?

When we want to indicate the quantity of unknown nouns or noun phrases, we use indefinite determiners. Mainly, these determiners are used to answer questions that start with 'how much' and 'how many'.

English Indefinite Determiners

There are two groups of indefinite determiners in English. Look at the list below:

Indefinite Pre-determiners
Indefinite Post-determiners

Indefinite Pre-determiners

'Both', 'all', and other indefinite partitives are categorized as indefinite pre-determiners. The following list presents some of the most common indefinite determiners in English:

all/both
a lot of/lots of/plenty of/enough of/several of
none of/any of

Now, let us see how each group is used in different contexts.

All and Both

These determiners are the only ones that do not need a preposition with them. Let us study the following examples:

All members of the class must remain seated.

Both you and Helmer are forming new ties with other people.

A Lot of, Lots of, Plenty of, Enough of, Several of

These terms are all indefinite pre-determiners that indicate the number of things. Remember that 'several of' and 'plenty of' are only used with plural nouns. The other terms can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Let us examine the examples:

Several of the users have been notified of the danger.

A lot of the milk was spilled on the floor when I got home.

Warning!

Remember to always add the preposition 'of' to this group of pre-determiners. Otherwise, the sentences will not make sense.

None of, Any of

'None' is used when we want to indicate that there are no members or objects of a particular group. However, 'any' is used in questions and negative sentences to refer to one or more members or objects of a particular group. 'None' is only used with plural countable nouns, while 'any' can be used with both plural countable and uncountable nouns. Take a look at the following examples:

None of our family members can attend the meeting today.

None of his dreams came true.

Does any one feel like they don't belong to this world?

I don't need any information on that topic.

Indefinite Post-determiners

This group of determiners mainly consists of quantifiers. Take a look at the following list to get to know them:

most/more/every
several/little/enough
any/many/some

Now, take a look at some examples:

They received many different comments on this.

Several people were injured in the accident.

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What Are Indefinite Determiners?
- All and Both
  A Lot of, Lots of, Plenty of, Enough of, Several of
  None of, Any of
Indefinite Post-determiners

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Possessive Determiners

Possessive determiners are function words used before a noun to show ownership or possession. In this lesson, we will learn all about them.

Interrogative Determiners

There are three interrogative determiners in English: what, which, and whose. In this lesson, we will go through each one of them.

Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative determiners in English are this, these, that and those. They are used to identify the person or thing that is being referred to.

Relative Determiners

Relative determiners modify nouns within a relative clause. Follow the article to learn more about them.

Articles

Articles are used as modifiers for nouns. However, some nouns do not need to be modified. In this lesson, we will learn about them.

Indefinite Articles

The indefinite articles in English language are 'a/an'. They refer to a noun for the first time or a general noun when its identity is unknown.

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