DETERMINERS
Determiners play An important role in
English grammar. Determiners are words
or phrases that precede a noun or noun phrase and serve to express its
reference in the context.
The most common of these are
the definite and indefinite articles,
the and a(n).
Other determiners in English include
demonstratives such as this and that,
possessives such as my and the boy's,
and
quantifiers such as all, many, and
three.
In many contexts the presence of some
determiner is required in order to form a complete noun phrase. However, in
some cases complete noun phrases are formed without any determiner (sometimes
referred to as "zero determiner" or "zero article"), as in
the sentence Apples are fruit.
Determiners can also be used in
certain combinations, as in my many friends or all the chairs.
USEAGES
OF DETERMINERS:
- Determiners are the words that introduce a noun and provide some information about it(but do not describe it)
- Determiner indicates whether the noun is referring to a definite or indefinite component, to a component belonging to a definite person or thing, to a closer or more distant component, to a particular number or quantity as they show how many things or people, etc.
- Determiners ‘express situation’ which is its main function; they simplify and explain what a noun is referring to.
For
example when one says ‘that book’, the listener knows which book is being
referred to.
- Determiners are followed by a noun.
EG:
The ball, Five cats, His son, Some
students
- Demonstrative pronouns and Possessive pronouns can stand alone and aren't followed by nouns, whereas Demonstrative and Possessive determiners are followed by nouns.
EG:
This is my laptop. (Demonstratives used as a pronoun)
This
laptop is mine. (Demonstratives used as determiner varying the noun laptop.)
Determiners
include:
1
articles – a, an, the
2
demonstratives – this, that, these, those
3 possessive
adjectives – my, our, your, his, her, its, their, Whose, etc…
4
quantifiers – All, Another, Any, Both, Each, Enough,
Every, Few, Fewer, Less, Little, Many, More, Most, Much, Other, Several, Some
- The quantifiers all, any, enough, less, a lot of, more, most, no, none, of, some, etc are used with both countable and uncountable nouns
- The quantifiers both, each, either, fewer, neither, etc… are used only with countable nouns
5
cardinal numbers – one, two, three, twenty, forty,
hundred, etc..
6
ordinal numbers – first, second, third, twentieth, Next,
Last, etc…
Determiners can be used in certain
combinations.
Common examples are listed below:
1 A definite determiner can be
followed by certain quantifiers (the many problems, these three things, my very
few faults).
2 The words all and both can be
followed by a definite determiner (all the green apples, both the boys), which
can also be followed by a quantifier as above (all the many outstanding
issues).
3 The word all can be followed by a
cardinal number (all three things).
4 The word some can be followed by a
cardinal number (some eight packets, meaning "approximately eight").
5 Words and phrases expressing
fractions and multiples, such as half, double, twice, three times, etc. can be
followed by a definite determiner: half a minute, double the risk, twice my
age, three times my salary, three-quarters the diameter, etc.
6 The words such and exclamative what
can be followed by an indefinite article (as mentioned in the section above).
7 The word many can be used with the
indefinite article and a singular noun (many a night, many an awkward moment).
8 The words each and every can be
followed by a cardinal number or other expression of definite quantity (each
pair of seats, every five grams of flour).
Determiners take the place (or can
take the place) of articles in noun phrases, whereas adjectives do not.
For example, my house (not *the my
house), but the big house.
Adjectives can generally be used in
combination without restriction, whereas only certain combinations of
determiners are allowable .
For example, a big green book is
grammatical, but *every his book is not.
Most adjectives can be used alone in
predicative complement position, as in he is happy; determiners cannot (*he is
the is not a grammatical sentence), except where the same words are used as
pronouns (the problem is this).
Most adjectives have comparative and
superlative forms (happier, happiest; more beautiful, most beautiful), whereas
determiners generally are not (except much/many, few, little).
Determiners often have corresponding
pronouns, whereas adjectives do not.
Adjectives can modify singular or
plural nouns, whereas determiners are sometimes restricted to one or the other
(as with much and many).