Grammar: Word classes: Determiners: Referring to specific people, things, etc

Overview

What are specific determiners?

We use specific determiners to point (or refer) to specific people, animals, things and events. 

In the example below, by using the specific determiner her, the storyteller is pointing to specific grandchildren, ie to Granny Gong's grandchildren:

Granny Gong and     her     grandchildren had upset MegaMonster.                             Pointer            Thing                                    determiner          noun

By using the specific determiner this, Granny points to a specific bottle, ie to the bottle she is holding up, as in the example below:  

"Can you get into    this     bottle?" said Granny.                             Pointer       Thing                                    determiner    noun

We use specific determiners to refer to specific people, animals, things and events:

For a summary of the relationship between the form and the functions of specific determiners, click here:

For more information, click on the menu on the left:

Definite article (the)
Demonstratives (this, that)
Possessives (my, your, his)
Interrogatives (which, what, whose)

Note that the terms Pointer and Thing are written with an initial capital letter to remind us that they are functional terms.