Determiners and quantifiers are words we use in front of nouns. We use determiners to identify things (this book, my sister) and we use quantifiers to say how much or how many (a few people, a lot of problems).

Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how determiners and quantifiers are used. Then, put your grammar knowledge into practice by doing the exercises.  

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e.g. - she is the same girl who sang beautifully at the concert yesterday.
OR she is the same girl that sang beautifully at the concert yesterday.

which one is correct? I've heard after all, same, everyone,etc. "that" is used.

Hello tshantanu0,

The structure here is a defining relative clause and you can use either 'who' or 'that' as the relative pronoun here - it makes no difference. I'm not aware of any rule which says 'that' needs to be used after those words.

You can read more about relative clauses on these pages:



The LearnEnglish Team

Can the Partitive Nouns or Group Nouns followed by 'of' be used as Determiners?

Hello Atuar Rahman,
I think it will be easier to answer your question if you provide concrete examples of what you have in mind. Please provide some and we'll be happy to answer.

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear sirs,

This is the first sentence of a paragraph on writing tips: "It’s important to keep one person per dialogue so you do not confuse the reader."

Why does this sentence use "the reader?" Could I say readers or the readers in the place of the reader? How does the meaning of the sentence change?

I struggle to identify whether "the reader" is a definite or indefinite noun.

On the one hand, it appears a definite noun since the reader means your reader; in this case, isn't a plural form ("the readers") more appropriate? On the other hand, it appears as readers in general. In this case, should not we use simply readers, not "the reader" as the sentence does.

Many thanks.

Hello cbenglish,
The definite article is used here because the speaker is referring to a particular, if imagined, reader:
> the reader who is reading your text <

Other forms are also possible, depending on how the speaker imagines the situation:
> ...the reader (a person who is reading your text)
> ...the readers (a group of people who are reading your text)
> ...readers (any people who may read your text)

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Team,

I wanted to know if there are any reasons/logic behind commission and omission of article 'The'.

Could you also help me understand the difference between - On call and In call; Logged in and logged on.


Hello Abhimanyu Hannah

Yes, there's quite a lot behind the use or omission of articles, but I'm afraid it's not something that can be explained in a few short sentences. I'd recommend you work through the pages in this section, as well as read through our Articles 1 and 2 pages. If you have a specific question after that, please feel to ask it here.

Most people don't differentiate between 'log in' and 'log on', though there is a difference. You can read about it in the or by doing an internet search for 'difference between login and logon'.

When someone is 'on call', they are available to work, but you must call them to ask them to work. This is typical for doctors and IT technicians, among others. I'm not familiar with 'in call', though you can be 'in a call', i.e. you are on the phone at that time and are not available to speak to someone else.

All the best


The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks, Kirk.

About article 'The'. I wanted to understand that is there any reason that why do we use 'the' in the following scenarios:
1. The Dal Lake; but omit 'the' when the name of a lake starts with the word Lake - Lake Michigan
2. How did we come to conclusion that we need to commit 'the' before the names of rivers, seas, deserts, mountain ranges but not in front of a Mt. peak.

I'm trying to find out if there's any reason to it or are they just rules which came into existence over a period of time.


Hello Abhimanyu Hannah
As far as I know, it is not correct to say 'The Dal Lake' -- instead, it should be 'Dal Lake'. That is what I see in the Wikipedia, for example (
As for the irregular use of 'the' before geoforms, I honestly don't really know. An expert in historical linguistics might be able to tell you more about this, but I'm afraid I don't know enough about this topic to say anything with any authority. I usually think of it as something that has developed through use over the time -- this is how most linguistic forms come about, ultimately.
Best wishes
The LearnEnglish Team