Classes of DeterminersI. Definite and Indefinite articles
the, a, an
II. Demonstrativesthis, that, these, those
III. Possessivesmy, your, his, her, its, our, their
IV. Quantifiersa few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough, etc.
V. Distributivesall, both, half, either, neither, each, every
VI. Difference wordsother, another
VII. Question wordsWhich, what, whose
VIII. Defining wordswhich, whose
I. Definite article
THE1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned
2. when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not been mentioned before.
Where's the library?
3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object
4. to refer to objects we regard as uniquethe sun
5. before superlatives and ordinal numbers the highest building, the first page
6. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of peoplethe Hungarians
7. with names of geographical areas and oceans:the Caribbean
8. with decades, or groups of yearsin the eighties
I. Indefinite Article
A/An
Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels),'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u)BUT: An before a mute h - an hour, an honour.
A before u and eu when they sound like 'you': a european, a university, a unit
1. To refer to something for the first time2. To refer to a particular member of a group or class
3. With names of jobs4. He wants to be a dancer.
5. With nationalities and religions:John is an Englishman.
Kate is a Catholic.6. With musical instruments:
Sherlock Holmes was playing a violin when the visitor arrived.7. With names of days:I was born on a Thursday
8. To refer to a kind of, or example of something9. With singular nouns, after the words 'what' and 'such':
What a shame!She's such a beautiful girl.
10. Meaning 'one', referring to a single object or person
II. Demonstratives
This, That, These, Those
Show where an object or person is in relation to the speaker.
1. Before the noun. 2. Before the word 'one'.
3. Before an adjective + noun. 4. Alone when the noun is 'understood'.
This (singular) and these (plural) refer to an object or person near the speaker. That (singular) and those (plural) refer to an object or person further away. It can
be a physical closeness or distance as in:
Who owns that house? (distant) Is this John's house? (near)
Or it can be a psychological distance as in:
That's nothing to do with me.. (distant) This is a nice surprise! (near)
III. Possessives
my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
Possesive determiners vs. Possesive pronouns
[http://www.smbv.sz.uni-erlangen.de/course/szfau-smbv/grammar/grammar/section4/page1_en.html]z.uni-erlangen.de/course/szfau-
smbv/grammar/grammar/section4/page1_en.html]
Possessive determiners
Possessive pronouns
Example
my mine This is my car. vs. It is mine.
your yours This is your car. vs. It is yours.
his/her/its his/her/its This is his car. vs. It is his.
our ours This is our car. vs. It is ours.
your yours This is your car. vs. It is yours.
their theirs This is their car. vs. It is theirs.
IV. Quantifiers
a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough, etc.
Quantifiers are adjectives and adjectival phrases that give approximate answers to the questions "How much?" and "How many?"
1. Numbers: Ordinal and Cardinal, percentages 2. Quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns
3. A few and few, a little and little 4. Some and any
5. Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO 6. Graded Quantifiers
7. Enough + Noun
1. Numbers: Ordinal and Cardinal, percentages
Cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives referring to quantityOrdinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) refer to distribution.
2. Quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns
Only withuncountable nouns - How much? A little, a bit (of), a great deal of, a large amount of
With uncountable and countable nouns - How much? or How many? No/none, not any, some, a lot of, plenty of
Only with countable nouns - How many?A few, a number of, several, a large number of, a great number of
5. Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO
Some + /Any + /No +
-thing -body -one -where
6. Graded Quantifiers
They function like comparatives and hold a relative position on a scale of increase or decrease
INCREASE From 0% to 100%With plural countable nouns:
many more mostWith uncountable nouns:
much more most
DECREASE From 100% to 0%With plural countable nouns:
few fewer fewestWith uncountable nouns:little less least
V. Distributives
all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
All +1.uncountable noun
2.‘the’ + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form 3.‘my’, ‘your’, etc + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form
4. ‘this’, ‘that’ + uncountable noun/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form
Both +1. ‘the’ /‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form (only when two objects are
being referred to)
Half +1. ‘a’ + uncountable noun
2. ‘the’/‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘those’ + noun
The Ordering of Determiners
Depending on their relative position before a noun,three classes of determiners are distinguished.
1.Predeterminer2. Central Determiner
3. Postdeterminer
It is rare for all three determiner slots to be filled in the same sentence. Generally, only one or two slots are
filled.
1. Predeterminers (can not co-occur)● Specify the quntity of the noun
● All, both
2. Central Determiners● Articles (most common)
● Possesives● Demonstratives
3. Postdeterminers (can co-occur)● Numbers
● Quantifiers
Countable nouns:
● Can be singular or plural● Quantifiers to use: a few, several, each, a small
number of, not too many, every few,
Uncountable nouns:
● Substances, concepts that cannot be divided into separate elements. (We cannot count orange juice, but
we can count a box of orange juice.)● They are treated singular (This news is important)
● Some/any, little/much can be used with uncountable nouns.
● Quantifiers to use: a little, a small amount of, a bit of, not too much
Countable Uncountable
There are two hairs in my coffee!
hair I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom.
lightClose the curtain. There's too
much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise.
There are so many different noises in the city.
noise
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise.
There are so many different noises in the city.
Have you got a paper to read? (newspaper)
Hand me those student papers.
paperI want to draw a picture. Have
you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms. roomIs there room for me to sit
here?
We had a great time at the party. We had a great time at
the party.How many times have I told
you no?
timeHave you got time for a cup of
coffee?
With the change of meaning, certain words can be both countabe and uncountable
[http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-un-countable_3.htm]
In pairs, write sentences in three minutes, include as many determiners as possibe.
[http://www.roydoty.com/illustration/busy-office.gif]
Source/more on determiners:Edufind.com
Main structure based on: http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/determiners_classes.php
The ordering of determiners:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/determin/xdetm3.htm