Articles, Quantifiers, and Determiners

Articles, quantifiers, and determiners are the little words we use before nouns. When you see the words a, an, and the, you know that a noun will follow them. These words are articles. Words such as each, every, either, neither, much, enough, which, what, some, and any also mark nouns.

Quantifiers come before nouns or noun phrases and tell us how many or how much of something. These words include many, a few, much, a little, plenty, a lot, some, and enough. For example, "There are enough cookies for everyone," and, "I saw a couple of horses in the field."

The words some and any are determiners. They always come before nouns or noun phrases. We use any in negative sentences, for example, "We are not allowed to have any pets in our apartment." And we use some in affirmative statements, such as, "It is OK to use reference books for some exams." When used as a determiner, some means certain or specific.