Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and I'm really pleased you decided to join me today to learn about quantifiers and demonstratives.

Now, these are small words, but they're really useful to us in our writing because they allow us to be really specific about the things we're talking about.

There's some tricky vocabulary as well in this lesson, but don't worry, I'll be here to help you the whole way through.

Let's get to work.

Today's lesson is called "Determiners: quantifiers and demonstratives", and it comes from our unit called "Key grammar terminology, including determiners and fronted adverbials." By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to use a quantifier or a demonstrative to introduce a noun in a clause or phrase.

So we're going to be working hard today thinking about which determiners are best to use in different situations and how we can use them to introduce new ideas to our work.

Let's make a start.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson: determiner, noun, quantifier, and a tricky one, demonstrative.

Let's try that once more, demonstrative.

Really well done.

Now, a determiner is a word that introduces a noun in a clause or a phrase.

And remember, a clause is a group of words that contains a verb, and a phrase is a group of words that does not.

A noun, as you know, is a naming word for people, places, and things.

A quantifier is a type of determinate, and it's one that indicates or shows the quantity or amount of a noun.

A demonstrative is another type of determiner that indicates which noun is being referred to or which noun we're talking about, or which nouns, plural, we're talking about in some cases.

So let's look at our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by identifying quantifiers and demonstratives in sentences, and then we're going to use them to write our own sentences, and as I said, to add in our own ideas to make our writing a bit more engaging.

So we already know that nouns are naming words for people, places, and things.

Here are some sentences that contain nouns.

See if you can spot the nouns as I read them.

This bath is the perfect temperature.

Our government will never allow it.

She's always getting up to mischief.

And I want to do it, but my conscience won't let me.

So we have the noun bath there.

That's an easy one.

But we've also got temperature and government and mischief and conscience.

Some of those are really tricky ideas.

They're not necessarily things we can reach out and touch, but they're still nouns because they're the names for things.

Now, determiners are words that introduce nouns in a clause or a phrase.

Here are some clauses.

As we entered the room calmly, we formed a queue.

I bandaged your shoulder.

We went to her restaurant.

And we have these nouns, room, queue, shoulder, and restaurant are all things, they're all nouns.

Then we have these words, the, a, your, and her.

These are determiners.

They introduce the noun.

In English, we can't say as we entered room calmly, we have to say as we entered the room calmly or a room calmly or my room calmly.

We need that word before the noun room.

And that word is the determiner.

In the same way, we couldn't say we formed queue.

We must say we formed a queue to make our work make sense in English.

So determiners help us to determine or work out which now we're talking about.

We're talking about your shoulder, we're talking about her restaurant.

So sometimes we're being a bit specific.

Sometimes we're saying which ones we are talking about.

So which sentence here has all the determiners circled correctly? Pause the video and have a think Well done, let's have a look.

In A, we can see programme and sitting room is circled.

Those are both nouns, so that can't be right.

B is the correct answer.

We have the word the in front of programme, and our introducing the noun sitting room.

C is almost there, but we've accidentally circled we as well.

We there is not introducing a noun, is it? It's we watch.

There's no noun being introduced so that can't be a determiner.

Really well done if you spotted B.

Now, we have two types of determiner we may know already, and certainly you use these every day when we speak and write.

We have articles.

Articles help us to show how specific the noun is.

We're talking about, let me explain.

We could say, "I've pulled a muscle." We're not being specific about which muscle we're referring to.

I could say, "I've pulled an important muscle." Again, I'm not being that specific, but I could say, "I've pulled the muscle in my neck." So a and the are all articles.

They help us to show how specific we are being about the noun we're about to introduce.

Notice how they all come in front of the noun, even though we might have an adjective as well, like important in between the article and the noun.

Now, another type of article is a possessive pronoun.

And possessive pronouns help us to show that a noun belongs to another noun.

Remember, if you possess something, it means that it belongs to you.

You have it.

Here are some examples.

He's pulled his leg muscle.

I've pulled my leg muscle.

The horse has pulled its leg muscle.

So each time we've used a possessive pronoun, his, my, its, to show who does the leg muscle belong to that's being pulled.

Is it his? Is it mine? Is it the horse's? We've used those possessive pronouns to show that.

So possessive pronouns are the words my, your, his, her, our, there, and it's, which we can use to show that possession happening.

So can you find all the articles and possessive pronouns in these sentences? Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

In A, we have the article the introducing the noun video, and the possessive pronoun my introducing the noun face.

In B, we have a introducing that bright bolt of lightning, and our introducing the noun house, In C, we have a, an article, introducing the noun nuisance and her, a possessive pronoun, introducing the noun I.

So notice how those possessive pronouns are the ones showing us who things belong to.

My face, our house, her eye.

Really good job if you got all of those.

Now, we've talked about articles and possessive pronouns, but there are several other types of determiner as well.

And we're going to learn two more in this lesson.

Quantifiers are determiners which help us show the quantity or the amount of a noun we're referring to.

Just like the other determiners, they come in front of a noun to introduce that noun in the sentence.

Let's have a look.

We could say, we have enough signatures.

Many vehicles make pollution.

We need some vegetables for this soup.

He asked lots of questions.

I speak several languages.

We have all these nouns in these sentences, signatures, vehicles, vegetables, questions, languages.

So how have those nouns been introduced? Let's take a look.

We have these words, enough signatures, many vehicles, some vegetables, lots of questions, several languages.

These are quantifiers.

They're showing us how many of the noun we're referring to.

We have enough signatures.

We don't have a very small amount, we have enough.

We have some vegetables.

That's not very accurate, is it? It could be a few, it could be a lot, but we have some.

And we've got several languages.

We know that means more than one, maybe three or four.

So those quantifiers that come before the noun are telling us how many of it we have.

So quantifiers are words or phrases that show the amount or quantity of the noun we're referring to.

So we can put them on a scale.

These would all be quantifiers.

I could say I have no money, and I could say all the trees in the forest had lost their leaves.

That would be the lowest amount I could have would be none.

And then the most would be all.

Let's add some more to our scale.

We could say few, not many, a handful of, a little, some, enough, plenty of, several, many, lots of.

We've gone from the very low end of quantities to the very high end with all.

So I could write that in a sentence.

I could say I only had a handful of friends when I started this school, but now I have many great friends.

Can you spot those quantifiers? We've got a handful of, I started off with not many, and then I end up with many.

So I've gone from a low quantity to a high quantity of friends.

So we've shown that using the different quantifiers, using a handful of and many.

So can you identify the quantifiers in these sentences? Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

In A, we've got some and lots of, that's showing us how much Spanish I know and how much French I know.

In B, we've got plenty of to show how many bargains I've got and a few to show how many shops they were in.

In C, we've got several to show how many yachts there were and many to show how many miles they were away from us.

So all of those quantifiers are showing us an amount of a noun.

Now, there's another type of determiner.

We've talked about articles and possessive pronouns and quantifiers.

Another type is a demonstrative.

Now that's a tricky word, but actually these are words we use a lot in our everyday lives.

And demonstratives are determiners that help us show which nouns we're talking about.

Here are some examples.

This competition is intense.

Those symbols are very complex.

These soldiers are well equipped.

That bruise is getting worse.

Look how I put the nouns in purple.

Competition, symbols, soldiers, bruise.

So which symbols am I talking about? Which bruise am I talking about? Well, these are the demonstratives in these sentences.

This, those, these, and that.

And these demonstratives show us which specific nouns we're referring to.

Not any competition, this competition.

Not any soldiers, these soldiers.

Not any bruise, that bruise.

So they're being specific about which nouns we're talking about.

So what type of determiner is shown in each of these lists? Is it possessive pronouns, demonstratives, or quantifiers? Pause the video and label those lists.

Okay, let's have a look.

A is those, that, and these.

Those are the demonstratives we just talked about.

Your, our, and their show us possession.

So those are those possessive pronouns.

And some, too many, and a few are talking about an amount.

So those are the quantifiers.

Really good job if you've labelled those up.

Now, let's try another one.

Can you see if you can identify the demonstratives in these sentences? And look, I've actually got a demonstrative in that question.

These is a demonstrative telling me which sentences I'm talking about.

It's the ones in front of us now.

So pause the video and see if you can find all the demonstratives here.

Okay, let's have a look.

In A, we've got two demonstratives, these flowers and that vase.

Look how they're coming in front of a noun.

In B, we've got that performance and this showing.

That and this are the demonstratives.

And in C, you've got this school and those places.

So we've got this as the demonstrative introducing the noun school.

Great job if you spotted those six.

Okay, now here's a tricky idea.

Demonstratives and quantifiers might do things other than work as determiners.

They're only working as determiners if they introduce a noun.

Let me show you what I mean.

Here's a sentence.

Please pass me that beautiful ornament.

We have the demonstrative that and we have the noun ornament.

So that is introducing ornament.

The demonstrative is introducing the noun.

That means it's working as a determiner because the job of a determiner is to introduce a noun.

But if you look at this sentence, it says please pass me that.

We still have a demonstrative that, but we have no noun.

So this demonstrative is not working as a determiner because it is not introducing a noun.

So these words will only ever be working as determiners if what they're doing is introducing a noun in a sentence.

Let's test that.

Which of the following sentences contain a demonstrative or a quantifier used as a determiner? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, let's take a look.

In A, it says can I take these.

It doesn't say these followed by a noun.

So that is not working as a determiner.

In B, it says these pieces.

So here we have a demonstrative these, and then pieces, a noun.

So yes, it is working as a determiner.

In C, we have many, which is a quantifier, but it's not followed by a noun.

D has many neighbours.

Neighbours is a noun.

So there the word many, the quantifier, is introducing the noun neighbours.

So it is working as a determiner.

And that's a really tricky idea.

So you've already got the hang of that, you're doing a great job.

Now let's do our first task for this lesson.

I've got four sentences here which include lots of different determiners.

So I want you to find and label all the determiners.

And remember, we know four types.

So let's label them up like this.

Let's put articles with an A.

There's a a, an, the.

Let's do possessive pronouns with PP.

That's my, your, and their.

And all those other possessive pronouns too.

Here's some examples of quantifiers, we'll label them with a Q.

Some, many, and most.

And then we know demonstratives, which we'll label with a D, are words like these and that.

Now, I haven't given you all the options there.

I've just given you some hints.

So you're gonna have to think carefully about what the words are doing in the sentence.

So pause the video and let's label up those sentences.

Okay, let's take a look.

First of all, I'm going to show you all the determiners highlighted.

We have a, our, and some, my, many, and the, those and this, and then a few and this.

Now let's label up the types.

A is an article, our is a possessive pronoun, and some is a quantifier saying how many snacks we've got.

In B, my is a possessive pronoun, many is a quantifier saying how many dogs we've got, and the is an article.

In C, we've got two demonstratives, those questions and this work.

And indeed we've got the quantifier a few and the demonstrative this.

So we're talking about how many reading books we've got.

So that must be a quantifier.

Now, there was a lot to think about there, four different types of determiner, so if you managed that, you're doing fantastic work.

Okay, let's move on to the second parts of our lesson where we're going to think about using these quantifiers and demonstratives to write our own sentences and build on the ideas we already have.

So sometimes, we've seen this already, adjectives are placed between determiners and the nouns they introduce.

So we can say this.

These beautiful flowers will perk up quickly in some fresh water.

Can you see we've got the demonstrative these and we've got our noun flowers, but in between we have the adjective beautiful.

Over here we've got the quantifier some, which is introducing that noun water.

But in between we've got the adjective fresh.

So we have the determiner followed by an adjective, followed by the noun it introduces.

Here's another example.

We'll have lots of great food at this well furnished restaurant.

We've got the quantifier lots of, it's introducing that noun food, but we've got the adjective great in between.

Here we've got the demonstrative this introducing that noun restaurant, but we've got the adjective well furnished in between.

I wonder if you can find the quantifiers and demonstratives in these sentences and the nouns they introduce.

And remember, there may be some adjectives in between the determiner, the quantifier, or the demonstrative and the noun it's introducing.

So you're going to have to look carefully.

Pause the idea and have a try.

Okay, let's take a look.

In A, we have many introducing the noun fish.

Many is a quantifier.

In between we've got the two adjectives, small and iridescent.

In B, we've got the demonstrative this introducing the noun letter with the adjective important in between.

And in C, we've got these, a demonstrative introducing the noun opportunities with the adjective rare in between.

Now, those were tricky to spot.

So great job if you've got them.

Now, let's try and add in some adjectives to a sentence.

Where could we add adjectives between the determiners and the nouns in this sentence? And what adjectives could we add? We've got the sentence, "That bruise will heal more quickly with some treatment." So I want you to try and spot the determiners and the nouns they're introducing and think what adjectives could we pop in between them to add some more detail about those nouns to our reader? Pause the video and have a hard think.

Okay, let's have a think.

So here we've got that and bruise.

That is a demonstrative, bruise is a noun.

So we could put adjectives in the middle there.

We could say that purple bruise, that nasty bruise, that enormous bruise, that painful bruise.

Here we've got some and treatment, some is a demonstrative, treatment is a noun.

The determiner some is introducing the noun treatment.

So we could say some proper treatment, some real treatment, some professional treatment, some medical treatment.

And then we could use adjectives in both lists to make a sentence like this, that nasty breweries will heal more quickly with some proper treatment.

We've still got our demonstrative that and our quantifier some, but we've added in those adjectives before the noun they introduce.

Really good job if you thought of something similar.

Now, when we're writing sentences, we need to choose an appropriate determiner for what we're trying to show.

And sometimes there'll be quantifiers and sometimes there'll be demonstrative, but not every word will work in every place.

It depends on what we're trying to show and what makes sense.

So if I look at these sentences, I've got blank leisure centre is never open in the evenings.

I could say this leisure centre is never open in the evenings.

In number two, I've said I have blank pain in my shoulder today.

Well, I could say I have some pain in my shoulder today, or lots of pain in my shoulder today.

In number three, I've said, I can almost guarantee that blank team members will not show up.

I could say that those team members or that a few team members will not show up.

Both of those would work.

So we have to think carefully about which determiner will work in which gap to show what we're trying to say in our sentence.

Now you try.

I have put some gaps in these sentences.

Can you pause the video and choose an appropriate quantifier or demonstrative for each of these gaps? Have a go.

Okay, let's have a think.

In A, and yours might be different, but in A we could say, as I look up at these stars, I can't help but feel small.

And B, I could say, striding into the park, she saw several ducks on the pond.

In C, I could say Mrs. Begum loves those biscuits, but I'll get her some flowers for Christmas.

But lots of different demonstratives and quantifiers could have worked there.

I could say Mrs. Begum loves those biscuits, but I'll get her these flowers for Christmas, imagining I'm in a shop and I'm seeing those flowers in front of me.

Really well done if you thought of some great determiners to fill those gaps.

Now let's try some matching.

I've got on the left a group of words and on the right a group of words starting with a determiner, where the determiner is introducing a noun.

So can you match each group of words on the left to the determiners, adjectives, and nouns on the right that could complete the sentence well.

Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, let's have a look.

In A, I would say there's nothing left but a few broken pieces.

In B, I would say I would recommend lots of physical exercise.

And in C, I'd say, let's wander around these ancient ruins.

And I bet you spotted those demonstratives and quantifiers.

We've got these, a few, and lots of in those groups of words on the right.

Great job for matching those up.

Now we can also complete a sentence using a new noun and adjective after a determiner we've been given.

Let me show you.

I've got this part of a sentence.

An aggressive seagull tried to steal some.

There's my quantifier.

I could say some salty chips.

Some delicious chips.

There I've introduced the noun chips plus those adjectives to complete my sentence.

I could do this one.

It would be a shame to interrupt this.

There's a demonstrative.

What am I going to interrupt? I need to choose a noun.

I could say this incredible story, this calm moment.

I've introduced the noun story and moment along with those adjectives to describe them.

Here's another one.

The explanation left me with a few.

That's another quantifier.

What noun can I introduce? I could say unanswered questions, remaining worries, questions and worries are my nouns.

And I've used adjectives as well to add some more detail and interest.

Let's see if you can do the same thing.

Pause the video and think of a way to complete each clause by introducing a new noun using the determiner I've given you.

You've got some, several, and these, and you might want to add those adjectives as well for a bit more interest and excitement.

Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, let's share some ideas.

These are just suggestions.

Yours will of course look different.

I could say when we work hard, we can achieve some incredible things.

Things is my noun.

I could say pacing down the street, I spotted several boarded up shops.

Shops is my noun.

Please can you finish these maths questions? Questions is my noun.

So hopefully you managed to introduce a noun and maybe some adjectives as well.

Great job.

Now, perhaps you've heard of a type of subordinate clause called a non finite clause or a non finite -ing clause.

Now we know subordinate clauses don't make complete sense in their own.

They need to be joined to main clauses to make sense.

A non finite -ing clause would be something like leaping into the air.

It doesn't make complete sense in its own, and it starts with that word leaping.

An -ing progressive tense verb.

So we can use quantifiers to introduce a new noun to a clause like that to a non finite -ing clause.

Let me show you some examples.

I've got here, grabbing some blank, I stalked out the door.

Now I stalked out the door is a main clause.

That could be a sentence on its own.

Grabbing some blank is going to be my non finite -ing clause.

It starts with that -ing word grabbing, a progressive tense verb.

I've got my quantifier some.

So I could say grabbing some vital supplies.

I've introduced the noun supplies.

Grabbing some vital supplies is the non finite -ing clause in that complex sentence.

I could do this one.

Eating nothing but a few blank, she sat sadly at the table.

She sat sadly at the table as my main clause.

And then eating nothing but a few blank will be the non finite -ing clause with that -ing word at the start.

So a few is my quantifier.

I'm gonna add in dry crusts.

There's my noun crusts.

And now my non finite clause says eating nothing but a few dry crusts.

Taking several blank, I prepared myself for the race.

Taking several blank will be the non finite -ing clause 'cause it starts with taking, the -ing verb.

So I could say taking several deep breaths, breaths is my noun, and I've introduced that with several, which is my quantifier.

So we've used the quantifier here to introduce the new noun breaths.

We've got our main clause here and our non finite -ing clause is at the start.

Now that was tricky, so let's practise.

I want you to tick the sentences that use quantifiers correctly in non finite complex sentences.

And that's a sentence made up of a main clause and a non finite -ing clause, like the three we just saw.

So which ones look and sound correct to you? Pause the video and have a try.

Okay, let's have a look.

A does work correctly.

We've got applying plenty of, there's our quantifier introducing that noun, sun cream.

B is not correct because we don't say many of, do we? We would just say many, following many small paths would be be the correct quantifier.

And for C, that one's correct.

We've got several as our quantifier introducing my noun, shooting stars.

Really good job if you spotted this.

Okay, let's do our final task for this lesson.

I want you to use the quantifiers and the demonstratives you've been given to introduce a new noun and complete each clause in these sentences.

So you might want to add adjectives as well, like we've been practising.

Here are sentences.

And look, I've put the quantifiers and demonstratives in green and you are going to try and complete those gaps, adding at least a new noun and hopefully some adjectives and details as well.

So pause the video and think really carefully about what you want to add to these sentences using these determiners.

Have a go.

Okay, let's take a look at some examples.

Of course, yours will look different, but hopefully, like me, you've added some nouns and adjectives in those gaps following the determiners.

I said when Mrs. Begum had finished her explanation, we asked some important questions.

Please take some of this delicious food home.

Because your temperature is so high, you'll need lots of careful treatment.

For Christmas, I want these new shoes on that video game.

And, putting on plenty of warm clothes, we rushed out into the snow.

Can you please take those donations to the school office? So we used a mixture here of quantifiers and demonstratives to introduce new nouns and adjectives to our sentence.

Great job if you did the same.

Okay, let's summarise what we've learned this lesson.

We learned that determiners introduce nouns and phrases and clauses, and we learned that there are several types of determiners, including articles, possessive pronouns, quantifiers, and demonstratives.

We now know four types.

Quantifiers are determiners that show how many or how much of the noun we're talking about.

And demonstratives are determiners that show which specific nouns we're talking about.

Really well done in this lesson.

You've made a fantastic effort to get this far.

I really hope to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.