English grammar · Class 9
Determiners: a, an, the, some, any, much, many, few, little
A determiner comes before a noun and tells us which thing we mean or how much of it there is. Most choices depend on whether the noun is countable (books, chairs) or uncountable (water, advice).
In the CBSE Class 9 and 10 English Language and Literature grammar list for 2026-27.
The rules
1. a before a consonant sound, an before a vowel sound — it is the sound, not the letter, that counts.
- a university, a one-rupee coin
- an hour, an honest man, an MLA
2. the for something already known, the only one of its kind, or a superlative.
- I saw a dog. The dog was hungry.
- the sun, the Ganga
- the tallest building
3. many / few with countable nouns; much / little with uncountable nouns.
- many books, few friends
- much time, little water
4. a few / a little = some (positive); few / little = hardly any (negative).
- I have a few friends here. (some)
- He has few friends. (almost none)
- There is a little milk left. (some)
5. some in positive sentences and offers; any in questions and negatives.
- I bought some apples.
- Would you like some tea?
- Do you have any money?
- There isn't any sugar.
Common mistakes
She is a honest girl.
She is an honest girl.
Honest begins with a vowel sound (the h is silent).
How much students are there?
How many students are there?
Students is countable: many.
I don't have some pens.
I don't have any pens.
Negatives usually take any.
Practice
1. He waited for ___ hour.
2. There isn't ___ water in the bottle.
3. We have very ___ time left; hurry up!
4. Mount Everest is ___ highest peak in the world.
5. She is ___ European writer.
Made by Shishya (AI-assisted); every answer checked by hand when written. Topic list for Class 9 and 10 from the CBSE 2026-27 English syllabus.