DETERMINERS

DETERMINERS

1. WHAT IS A DETERMINER?

   • Determiner are words which come at the beginning of the noun phrase. They tell us whether the noun phrase is specific or general.

2. TYPE OF DETERMINERS:

   • DEFINITE ARTICLE: The / Ex: Close the door.
     • Possessives: my, your, his, her, its; our, their, whose / Ex: This is my house
       • Demonstratives: this, that, these, those / Ex: This camera is mine.
         • interrogative: which

3. WHAT DO DETERMINERS DO?

   • Determiners have two main functions: referring and quantifying.
     • Referring means showing us who or what the noun is pointing to or talking about. (Articles, possessives and demonstratives)
       • A: Where’s the newspaper? B: It’s on the sofa.
     • Quantifying’ means showing how much of something there is, or how many
       • Five people were arrested during an anti-war demonstration in London today. There are some letters here for you.

4. THE ORDER OF DETERMINERS:

   • PRE-DETERMINERS: Specify quantity in the noun which follows them, and they are of three major types:
     • 1. Multiplying expressions, including expressins ending in times: twice my salary ◙ double my salary
     • 2. Fractions: half my salary ◙ one-third my salary
     • 3. The word all and both: all my salary ◙ both my salaries
   • CENTRAL- DETERMINERS: The definite article THE and the indefinite article A / AN are the most common central determiners.
     • Ex: all the book ◙ half a chapter
   • POST-DETERMINERS: Cardinal and ordinal numerals occupy the post-determiner slot: the two children ◙ his fourth birthday

5. NUMERALS AND DETERMINERS:

   • Numerals are determines when they appear before a noun.
     • In this position, cardinal numeral express quantity: one book ◙ twenty book
     • In this position, ordinal numerals express sequence: first impressions ◙ second chance
   • SUBCLASS - General ordinals: last, latter, next, previous and subsequent. next week ◙ last orders

6. PRONOUNS AND DETERMINERS:

   • Determiners always come before a noun, but pronouns are more independent than this.
     • They function in much the same way as nouns, and they can be replaced by nouns in the sentence: This is a very boring book.
   • EXAMPLE: That film is excellent ◙ Witness film is excellent